The importance of preparing...

I was recently talking with someone who is in the midst of infertility and on the brink of an IVF cycle. We were talking about the MANY things that go into it, and how much you really have to advocate for yourself, ask questions and become known by both your doctor and his or her nurses. I found it so very important to truly and deeply understand the process as well as the drugs. And I would encourage every single person to do the same. Yes, your doctors and nurses do this for a living and have the education and experience to back them up, but it us YOUR body, YOUR future. 

In just the few minutes we talked, we touched on so many aspects of this journey:

• Making a plan with your spouse about how far is too far.
• Preparing your heart, mind, body and checking account for what is about to happen. 
• Having a plan for number of embryos to transfer prior to the sometimes emotional morning of the transfer. 
• Understanding your calendar and the drugs you will be taking. 
• Making a decision about where your drugs will come from- domestic vs. international. 
• The importance of cool socks. 
• The amount the general public knows about infertility and the IVF process. 
• The scary reality that even some of your IVF (or any treatment for that matter) peers know very little about what they are about to do. 
• The fact that sometimes participating in medical studies doesn't outweigh cost of treatment/sanity. 
• Balancing hope with reality. Having a guarded heart while still experiencing pure joy. 
• Gatorade. 
• Tricks for injections.

If only every person who jumped feet first into fertility treatment was more than consultation appointment educated.