Tips for the 2 Week Wait Wait Wait

The two week wait (tww) is tough.  It can be a nail biting, tear-your-hair-out stressful waiting game.

I’m talking about that period of time between embryo transfer / IUI / potential conception and the pregnancy test. It can feel like 2 years! The actual number of days depends on your clinic. Sometimes it’s only 8 days. Sometimes 17 days. Or somewhere in between.

However long you have left, here are some tips to consider for that wait and beyond.

Tips for the 2 Week Wait Wait Wait

1. 99% is out of your control.

• Once you’ve had the transfer or potential conception, it’s mostly out of your hands whether it goes well and more to do with the embryo and other internal happenings that you can’t control now.
• I hope that’s a bit comforting. But it’s tough, so it can be hard to not worry about what you should be doing. Deal with that worry on your own and with your partner, friend and/ or coach or other mental health professional. Don’t suffer alone.
• Read more on this from tips by Dr. Beth Taylor from Olive Fertility Centre.

2. Don’t stay in bed all day but don’t do any activity that raises your body temperature too high.

• This one is in your control.
• Resting up is good, but staying in bed all day or any kind of constant bed rest is not.
• Walk around, do some light exercises like walking or yin yoga to get your circulation moving, but nothing too vigorous that makes you really sweat or make it difficult to hold a conversation while you work out.
• Don’t take a bath, sauna or hot tub.

3. Lots of women have zero symptoms or have symptoms that come and go.

• Many women worry that no symptoms means you’re not pregnant. Wrong! Many pregnant women have no symptoms.
• Yes, even if you have symptoms they can disappear suddenly and everything could be normal.
• Yes, the symptoms you experience may be from the medications your fertility clinic have you on. So it’s best not to focus on the symptoms at all (easier said than done, I know).

4. Spotting is common in the 1st trimester and very common for IVF pregnancies.

• I know it can be scary when it happens if and when you spot or bleed in pregnancy. It’s more likely it will happen than it won’t (about 50% likely) if you’re pregnant through an embryo transfer. It can be brown and old blood, or bright red new blood.
• It could be implantation bleeding. Other reasons we spot or bleed in pregnancy is relatively unknown.
• If you do spot or bleed, talk to your clinic right away. But remember that many, many women have spotting and even period-like bleeding and go on to have healthy babies.
• The key is to manage the worry. Take a deep breath, relax and focus on your self care.

5. Laugh!

• Laughter is one of the only things you can do to actually affect your outcome. Just a teeny tiny bit, but that’s something. It’s possibly because when you laugh your brain is told that you’re not stressed and that everything is safe to proceed as normal.
• So, laugh it up! Check out these tips.

6. Focus on self care & distractions.

• Be gentle with yourself! – Do some reading, colouring and other relaxing activities.
• Meditate! – Here are some apps to help you with that here.
• Distract yourself! – Take a break from everything pregnancy related. Like a home project like managing all your photos.
• Socialize! – Get out and do something relaxing with family or friends from a safe distance or on video chat.
• Work! – If you feel up to it, keep on working hard. Dive into it. Lots of women keep working and love having that to focus on during the two week wait.

7. Act as if you’re pregnant.

• This is an obvious one, but it’s important to highlight that you’re pregnant unless proven otherwise (PUPO).
• Follow guidelines for a healthy pregnancy such as zero alcohol, lower mercury intake and continue to take your prenatal vitamins and any other direction from your doctor.

8. Celebrate this moment.

You did it! You made it to this point. Congratulations! It’s easy to focus on what’s next, but take the time to acknowledge what you’ve done to get to this milestone. It doesn’t have to be a huge gesture. Facial? New book? What will you do to celebrate? 

As always, if you need more personalized support, please reach out to me for a free 45 minute call. I’ve got your back for whatever is happening now and for what’s next.