Can someone share the IVF 'schedule' with me...

[Floweryfields]

Would someone tell me when undergoing IVF - what's the schedule of 'procedures' what days off from work would you be needing to have and over what period.
Thank you.

[Bengal]

Ausgirl

One could say you only need one day off for the Egg Retrieval, I have gone back to work the next day, though my work is administrative, however I have had egg pick ups where I needed two full days off, and then gentle walking the third day. It all depends on how your body handles the egg pick up and what kind of work you do.

The appointments for the scans and blood Tests can be time consuming, especiallly if the clinic is running late, there have been cycles, where I have needed two mornings off just for repeat scans etc, that is the most frustrating. Then you need time off for transfer, and I had the two days off for the Egg Pick up

When I look at it, I am away from the office quite a lot

HTH

My employer is so flexible, they know what we are going through, I would love to know how everyone does it that hasn't told their employer

[~TT40~]

im subbing as we are about to start...as in anyday now AF will come (she should be here already..) and i can start my down reg cycle. but thats the one thing I am really stressing about is getting days off work, cause im under the impression we wont get much notice when it comes to pickup and transfer...

gl with your journey too!

[Floweryfields]

we wont get much notice when it comes to pickup and transfer

- how much notice is not much? I know very little about the whole process - what determines when they do these procedures?

Oh and not to lead anyone astray - it's not me doing the IVF.

[Mad Scientist]

It can be as little as one day's notice but the FS will usually have a general idea of when your appointments should be. Its not so much the days but more like the times that can be last minute. ET day is pretty straight forward once you know when your EPU will be too. Good luck to those coming up to starting their cycle!

[kimmi]

You should generally have an idea at the first scan when the doctor would like to do a pick up BUT it could be give or take couple of days.

Once you have the egg pick up, your doctor will probably have already decided if you are having a 3 or 5 day transfer. So from egg pick up, you should know in advance that your implantation will be in 3 or 5 days time after that.

Cycles really differ, I guess it's up to how you respond to the drugs. If a lot of drug dose adjustment needs to be done through a cycle,your fs will probably want to see you more often for scans. I have also known girls who have only had one, maybe two scans through the whole cycle.

I myself didn't have ANY blood tests except for the final pregnancy test.

I would plan ahead enough to tell your work you will be having some medical procedures and need a little flexibility for appointments.

The whole process from start to pregnancy test is about 4 - 1/2 weeks. The last two weeks are just waiting though! The first two weeks is go go go!

[Floweryfields]

Ok - I think a staff member is starting IVF - she is a very private type person and not sharing, which I totally understand - however for me it would be easier to schedule days off for her if she would give a little bit of info....
Anyway, she told me a while back that she thought she'd need some days off towards the end of March but had no idea when. Then rang last Friday afternoon late to say she needed this Thursday off, she'd just found out. She's also said she'll need a day next week too, but not sure which day yet.....so for me it sounded likely that she might be doing IVF.
What do you girls think?

[butterfly_warrior]

It's possible.

But I've never had that much notice for EPU. The longest notice I've had is "take no puregon tonight, just lucrin, you'll trigger tomorrow night" and then EPU is approximately 36 hours after that. If it's another day off for transfer - that will pretty much depend on how long the embryos are grown for. The longest it would be is day 5, possibly day 6.

I tried to give my employer notice of what was happening when (I was very open about undergoing IVF), and in the end I just had to say sorry, I don't react normally, nothing in this is predictable, I'll let you know when I do. Also, the shortest time I've had off work after EPU was two weeks, but I have pretty nasty reactions as I produce so many eggs.

[kass]

Like butterfly has said, it's really hard to predict when things will happen. Especially if it's her first cycle - there are heaps of variables. I'm pretty predictable with mine, but even so, from the start of a cycle, I'd still only be able to narrow things down to a two week window of 'things might happen here'

Things will basically go like this:
~ 7 - 10 days of injections, then a bt to see how things are going. Depending on the bt, either more injections and another bt in a couple of days, or an ultrasound in a couple of days.
If the ultrasound shows things are where they should be, then the trigger would usually be the next day, with pick up in 36 hours, so 3 days notice tops.
If things aren't where they should be, then another ultrasound would be done in a couple of days
Bloodtests and ultrasounds can be done multiple times, so it's not until the final ultrasound that she'd know for sure when the pick up would be.

I've never had complications so I've been able to go back to work the next day. Many people have a bit of pain and take 2 days, some people overstimulate and need a week or more. Complications can be serious and lead to hospitalisation.

The transfer usually happens 2 - 5 days after the pick up. I think most clinics aim for a day 5 transfer, but again it varies and she won't know for sure until after the pick up. Even then it could change.

I'm sure she'll be doing her best to give you as much notice as possible (assuming it is ivf) There are lots of reasons that she wouldn't want to tell you what she was doing, so I wouldn't push her about it, but if you have early starts I'm sure she'd appreciate it if she didn't need to be in until 9/9:30 to accommodate bloodtests and ultrasounds. My clinic opens at 7:30, and its not unusual to get there at opening time and then wait an hour or more to be seen. Just a thought.

[Floweryfields]

Don't worry, I am not the pushy type and totally respect her privacy. I was just curious (an excited) for her if she is, being in childcare, and given the lady in question has been married for quite a while and there has been no mention of children lately (though she used to say my future kids, this, that etc alot once) that it might be the case. I've also noticed how in the past 12-18mths she seems to walk away from 'babies due' convos between staff. Any./...
All staff work a rotating roster so they do 9-5, 6-2, 8-4 and 8.15-4.15 on a rotating weekly basis so I am imagining any testing has managed to secretly fit around this roster!

Perhaps the day off this week might be for the US and then the day she'll need next week will be for the pick up? Ahh who knows, I guess time will tell!

[kimmi]

Darl, from someone who has a totally supportive boss, the process is so much more amazing with people like you! (especially when you can tell her you already knew when she announces her pregnancy ) My boss is incredibly supportive. I told the wife of my CEO knowing she owuld understand after adopting themselves 30 years ago.

BTW you wouldn't need a day off for an US, I'm wondering if It the EPU!

[Floweryfields]

Okay, now I'm not sure I'm on the right track here! Today she said she won't know till tomorrow what day she needs next week - won't that depend on how the embryos develop, or could it depend on how many they find?
She also said she might be able to do a half day whatever day it is - so if she's having transfer, would that be the case or not? Maybe it's nothing like what I am thinking......

[kass]

That makes sense. If today was collection, then tomorrow they'll tell her how many eggs fertilised, and what day they plan to do transfer. Depending on what time of day they schedule her transfer (which she might not be told until the day before) she may be able to work in the afternoon - you're usually in for a couple of hours only.

I always prefer to go home and relax after a transfer