Is IVF Painful? Here’s Hoping My Personal Experience Will Help You Decide

Those who decide to go in for IVF often worry – is IVF painful? Here is a mother speaking of her personal experience with IVF.

My first IVF attempt was a failure and I gave birth to my twin girls in my second attempt with IVF.

Is IVF painful?

Many others who might be considering it ask me – is IVF painful? Here’s what I say –

In my personal opinion, pain is bearable in IVF. I know, pain bearing capacity, differs among individuals, so you will have to gauge for yourself.

I feel that IVF pain falls under 2 below categories which are:

• Physical Pain
• Mental and emotional pain – Anxiety and fear

Physical pain of IVF

In IVF, egg collection and embryo transfer are the important procedures.

There are some injections which are administered to enable growth of follicles. The actual pain of injections is ordinary pain – you will be OK, if you don’t fear injections.

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There will be many vaginal scans in the whole process. At my first scan, I felt little uncomfortable during the scan, but after that got used to that.

Then, there are tablets to be taken regularly.

Egg collection is usually done under anaesthesia, and it wasn’t painful for me. For those who wonder – is IVF painful, some women and not all, might feel pain after egg collection.

Embryo transfer is the final step and I didn’t feel any physical pain after that.

I felt bloated at times and wasn’t hungry much after the injections. Apart from that, there wasn’t any physical pain which was unbearable, for me.

Mental pain/Anxiety of IVF

To be honest, mental pain was more when compared to physical pain. Dealing with my emotions was a huge challenge.

The actual process

During my first IVF, there was a lot of anxiety and fear regarding the success of the procedure. I would google about what happens next, and felt that I had all symptoms of pregnancy, but result was negative.

During two week wait (in which I needed to wait for the embryo to embed) of my second IVF, I didn’t attempt to browsed about these symptoms. I relaxed, read a lot of books, and listened to music to while away my time.

I know it’s very difficult not to think about the results. But I understood that it’s not in my hands, and this attitude helped me a lot.

IVF cycle failure

Dealing with IVF cycle failure is very difficult and I have experienced it in my first attempt. It is OK to cry and be upset. But try to accept it and give time for yourself to recover. Don’t rush for another cycle immediately. Discuss with your doctor, and then start only when you are both physically and mentally ready.

IVF is a journey which requires both physical and mental health.

Believe me – IVF pain is very much bearable. Eat healthy and try to be happy.

First published here.

Image source: Tasha on pixabay

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