What to do/eat if you intend to start IVF?

As I had gone to many doctors, medical practitioners including traditional Chinese medicinal practitioners and also acupuncturists, I’ve had received plenty of advice on what to eat/do and not in order to have a successful egg transfer/implantation, be it fresh or frozen cycle. Believe or not, you may wish to refer to the list below as a reference on what to eat depending on which stage of conceiving you are at. I’ll share a post on what not to do/eat as it’s a long list below.

To improve egg quality

This needs to happen before the egg transfer i.e. during the oocyte retrieval stage, especially if you’ve got eggs but their grades, in the eyes of the embryologists are not ideal i.e. grade 2 or 3. It does not mean that you will not have a successful implantation that will eventually lead to a healthy pregnancy. However, after spending a bomb on the drugs and procedure, you would most likely want the chance of success to be as high as possible and having a grade 2 – 3 egg is just cutting your chances short. In my case, my doctor told me that my eggs were speckled under the microscope (think quail’s egg) and even recommended that I consider an egg donor (I was so disappointed in her but that’s another story for another post.). Luckily, I was recommend to another practitioner who recommended a different protocol.

1. Saizen – This is a growth hormone which my doctor prescribed to me for 3 months before the oocyte retrieval. There are a few downsides to this treatment though:
   • Daily injections – Self-administered.
   • As it’s a growth hormone, my feet grew bigger – some of my shoes just became super tight and uncomfortable.
   • My complexion took a turn for the worst – My skin was a combination of oily and dry + sensitive to begin with. There were more oil secretion, leading to trapped sebum under the skin, more zits and also plenty or blackheads & whiteheads formed.

Be warned! But if it’s all aligned to your goal of achieving a little one you could cuddle and call your own, I guess it’s all negligible and secondary though I’m still trying to come to terms with my i-would-consider-terrible complexion. 😦

On a lighter note, the doctor did comment that my retrieved eggs looked clear and non-grainy which are of commendable quality and suitable for transfer. So all the zits-popping and pimples-squeezing were worth it!

2. Royal jelly – I took this as well although i’m not sure what’s the scientific rationale behind this supplement.

To remove lining completely

This is recommended so that one’s lining is shed completely during one’s menstrual cycle so that when the new one starts to build up, it’s nice and plump with little creases – ideal for implantation to occur.

1. Drink Guinness Stout – Apparently it contains some substance that’ll will make you shed all remnants completely hence recommend to drink 1 can a day once spotting for menstruation starts. AVOID if pregnancy suspected!
2. Eat pineapple – My friend swears by this! Apparently, pineapple is known to have the effect of clearing all lining and ensuring one have a clean shed. Start eating one slide of this fruit from day 1 of spotting to day 3. Do not eat too much as it might cause cramps.
3. D&C – This is also recommended by some doctors to completely scrap off any possible remnants in order for a new fresh lining to build up. This may also be recommended when the doctor discovered kinks in your lining or polyps. I had both. The down side of this is that it’s possibly that one’s lining may take some time to recover i.e. the next time it starts to build up, it may not reach the ideal thickness for implantation hence bringing me to the next point.

To improve lining quality

For implantation to occur, some doctor requires their patients’ lining to be minimally 8mm and/or preferably 10 – 11mm. As such, the following methods have been believed to boost the growth/build-up of lining, especially if one’s lining is not thickening enough repeatedly for egg transfer.

1. Drink red bean soup – On the 5th or 6th day of your menses, or once you noticed your menses is finishing, start to cook this dessert. If possible, cook the beans till it’s mashed and you can drink it together with the soup. If you are not a fan of beans, you may also just drink the soup but the most important thing about cooking this is to ensure all the flavours of the beans have been released i.e. the beans are boiled beyond recognition and the soup is filled with the essence of the bean. If you are too lazy to prepare this on your own, you may also buy those from the Chinese dessert stalls. They work well too.
2. Drink minced beef broth – This is recommended for people who can take beef and very ok with just minced beef cooked in water and a little salt added. 5 days before my transfer, my lining was only 7mm ish… barely sufficient for implantation so I resorted to this. I drank the broth twice a day for 3 days and on the day prior to transfer, it went to 8.3mm – Just passed! Phew.
3. Acupuncture – This is said to improve the blood circulation in that area hence I’ve been going for this since I started trying my 2nd or 3rd IVF cycle.

There’s this really famous and knowledgeable practitioner in Ang Mo Kio Ave 5, Zou Yu Min which everyone recommends on Singapore Motherhood but I prefer the other physician, Dr Qiu. Dr Qiu also practices at Dr Zou’s clinic on Tues and Thurs morning and has her own clinic at the other side of Ang Mo Kio on other days. I prefer to see her at her clinic for various reasons:

• I could really feel her hitting the right spots with the needles.
• She increases the number of needles when I told her that my lining was not as thick as expected.
• She tries her best to do what she can for what you need, rather than make you feel like it’s a run of the mill.
• It’s cleaner – The whole place is bright and uncluttered.
• It’s less crowded – I’ll go at the time I arrange and there would be the no. of patients as there would be the no. of beds. No queues, no impatient faces.
• She replies whatsapp messages so I would just text her when I’m going to check if she’s in and pop by at the time we agreed on.
• I don’t feel the pressure that someone’s waiting for the bed that i’m on while I’m receiving treatment.
• Dr Qiu does exactly what Dr Zou would, except she does everything herself. In Dr Zou’s clinic, Dr Zou will be the one who put in the needles but it’s her assistant who will remove them and her husband will the one collecting the fees.
• There’s somewhat more privacy – In Dr Zou’s clinic, you can hear literally all conversations she have with everyone else.

If anyone of you are keen, here’s her contact.

Name of Clinic: Ci Yuan TCM Physician & Acupunturist
Name of Practitioner: Dr. Qiu Xiao Qian
Tel: 98625782
Address: Blk 128 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 Street 12 #01-1843 Singapore 560128
Consultation Hours:
Mon, Wed, Fri – 10am – 1pm, 2 – 730pm
Sat, Sun 10am – 3pm
Closed on public holidays

4. Drinking ELO water – Again, this is touted as a good way to boost the oxygen intake which is believed to improve the quality of lining as well as the lining growing beautifully so I’m taking it. It’s not cheap though. Check out the prices at this website and good news! – There’s a upcoming sale on 9 – 11 Nov. 😀 Imma stocked up!

5. Take walks in parks with big trees during dawn and take deep breaths – This is a cheap and also effective way of increasing the supply of oxygen to your body and of course, your uterus but seriously, everyone’s rushing to go work in the morning – Who has time?! If you are a housewife, good for you. Do this and save some money. 😉

To improve implantation

1. Acupuncture – After you’ve transferred, you are encouraged to head back for a poking. If it’s a day 3 eggie transfer, it’ll be a session on the day of transfer after the transfer and one more the following day. If it’s a day 5, then it’ll just be on the day of transfer after the transfer.
2. Walking – Instead of lying on the bed the whole time during the two weeks wait, it is recommended to do light walking. Please don’t attempt a marathon or HIIT – That’s just plain stupidity because your body is already not able to sustain a pregnancy on its own and there you are thinking it’s alright to give it your all to do some exercise to keep fit and stay slim instead of focusing on what’s ideal for the little being you have endured so much to nurture within you – Sorry for the rant because I was also ticked off before and I’ve realised my mistake so lashing it out at any silly goons out there. :p

Light walking is good because it improves blood circulation and also encourages implantation to take place.

3.  Start on your support plan before the transfer – My body does very poorly in the area of progesterone production. In fact, I highly suspect that in addition to my eggs looking old, that’s also one of the reason why my previous cycles were not successful until I met my most recent doctor. She started me on progesterone and also other meds 2-3 days before I transfer – I was on a long cycle plus had a suppression injection so external support is extremely important, especially if the body is not going to start its engine once it receives signal that there’s implantation. Starting on the support meds i.e. estrogen and progesterone is also equivalent to sending signals to your body to prep it to receive a new life. Even though I started my support plan early, the production of progesterone had constantly remained at a bare minimum throughout my two weeks wait, much to my disappointment. According to the doctor, my body uses up the progesterone way faster than others. It’s also not helped by the fact that I’ve thyroid (this is strictly my own opinion) and that progesterone converts to cortisol when one’s stressed (and I feel I’m constantly stressed!) so the ample support was really helpful – alternate day proluton injection, daily endometrin vaginal pessaries x 3 and oral utrogestan intake x 3.

Disclaimer: Please note that all doctors have different practice – some don’t fancy you telling them what to do and different patients require different levels of support so the above are strictly for your reference, not for you to impose on your doctor. It’s also important that you find a doctor you are comfortable with and is willing to trust to do the right things for you – I changed doctors at least 4 or 5 times, especially when I realised that the protocol is very much the same or we don’t feel that we are well taken care of as much as they’ve promised.

4. Avoid taking barley water, chrysanthemum, green tea, unripe green papaya, pineapple, uncooked food (sashimi and medium well steak…), crabs (my favourite…) etc. anything that’s known to be cooling that might impede implantation.

To improve chances of conceiving

I left this portion till the end as it might rubbed some people the wrong way. I do not mean harm or harbour any evil intention, or even try to sway non-believers into doing what I did. I’m also not insinuating that by doing the following, you will definitely be successful. But as with all couple who are trying and have failed, I merely tried my best, be it any methods (as long as I feel they are acceptable and within my means) to try and have a kid. So, if you are uncomfortable reading on, feel free to skip it.

1. Setting up an altar for previous failed IVF cycles/miscarriages/abortions – As I’ve started the post with believe it or not, it’s really up to your beliefs, religion etc. to decide if you want to do this. I did, for a piece of mind and for the fact that if my previous failure has resulted in wandering spirits, I want the best for them too – I hope they rest in peace. I did so in the recently passed 盂兰盆节超度法会 where they chant scriptures and prayers for a whole day as long as you’ve registered for whoever you’ll like the monks to pray for on the day.

The email i wrote to was sed@kmspks.org and below is just a message I typed:

您好。
我想提我的冤亲债主以及堕胎婴灵超度。请指点寺庙几时有举办超度法会。我想参加。谢谢。

Translation: Hi, I’ll like to invite the monks to chant scriptures for whoever I’ve offended in the past and present and also my lost children in order to free them for their sufferings and in hope that they may reincarnate. Please advise when is the ceremony and registration period. I would like to participate.

They’ll reply to you with the date of the next ceremony, and the date to register. You may go down to register during the period and you are also highly recommended to go down to the temple on the day of the ceremony to offer your respect.

2. Chant or write scriptures – There’re a few scriptures that’s recommended in one of forums in Singapore Motherhood. I managed to find the PDFs of some of these scriptures and did what was recommended. PM me to find out more.

3.Consult a medium – My mother-in-law is a believer so I am keen to know what’s going on in this arena as well and I did consult a shifu, not exactly a medium. Again, depending on everyone’s level of acceptance as well the level of sins committed, the characters of birth or also known as 八字，the shifu will recommend you do different things in order to redeem yourself in hope to be more successful in conceiving

4. Pray to 注生娘娘 – There’re different saying about this. You can pray to the gods after you give birth or if there’s a gender you would like to have or even before you conceive just when you intend to try. There’s also a few famous temples, well known to have blessed couples with children. You can easily google and there’s a couple of forums on singapore motherhood talking about this topic. I’ll be offering my respects if I have a smooth delivery. *Prays hard for one*

Ok, so that’s all that I’ve collated for your reference. All have been tried and tested so… you can be certain I’m not selling any one item or promoting any treatment because I’m endorsed or sponsored. :p