How to stay positive during your IVF journey?

Infertility is a physically and emotionally draining struggle for many couples, unfortunately, stress is compounded when we try to conceive month after month, and many couples become emotionally distressed when they are facing conception problems. Undergoing fertility treatments can be an emotional, stressful experience. Experiencing feelings of negativity during this time is perfectly normal, but they can be difficult to work through nonetheless.

Getting a grip on our negative mental and preventing depression before it creeps in can make a huge difference for many couples and improve the odds of natural conception (even in difficult cases).

Here are 7 ways to become more positive during fertility treatments:

1. Be kind to yourself: Undergoing fertility treatments is bound to be stressful at times, both mentally and physically. While it’s easy to fall into a spiral of negative thoughts, try to remember that any trouble you’re having conceiving is not your fault. You’re not to blame for anything, and your body isn’t either. No one is to blame; it’s just the situation you’re dealing with.

2-Be grateful: At first, it may feel difficult to find gratitude amongst the pain of infertility. It is way too easy to focus on all of the negativity of infertility. Being grateful is a way to combat negative thinking. It retrains your brain to be on the lookout for positive things rather than negative ones.  Identify a negative thought when it sneaks up and also what triggers them and replace a negative thought with a positive one.

3- Open up to the right people:  While it’s understandable that you may wish to maintain some privacy during this sensitive time, it’s important to work through your feelings with people you trust. Keeping emotions bottled up inside of you will only lead to more negativity and stress.

4- Remember to keep living your life: It’s easy to be all-consumed by the physical and the emotional effort involved in undergoing fertility treatments, but try to make some time for the things and people you love. You’re not defined by your fertility, and getting your mind off of treatment will help you clear your head, better process your emotions, and re-energize yourself to continue the journey.

5- Use the power of the mind: It is an amazing thing.  Our very lives are oftentimes the result of our own thought patterns, whether they are positive or negative ones.

6- Change your unrealistic expectations of the IVF process:  Rather than relying on misinformed information, understanding the basics of conception will help to develop realistic expectations about the IVF journey. Patients with realistic expectations will be better prepared for the emotional rollercoaster and the complications that can occur along the way. Ask your fertility specialist about your chances of falling pregnant and what you should expect throughout the IVF process.

7- Make It Fun: You can find ways to make this sometimes crazy and emotional journey of infertility fun! Create a beautiful, decorated basket to store all of your medications and your daily medication checklist.

Keep it in a visible spot to remind you that there is beauty in this journey, even when the medications can have unpleasant side effects, or in the case of some IVF injections – cause some anxiety.