Hi ladies.
Just a quick one. I’m reading the book it starts with the egg and I’m really worried that I’m going to become obsessed with everything I do, eat and use. I feel like it’s making me worse and very paranoid.
Should I finish the book or just chuck it away and not become obsessive over it. I’m scared to do anything now!! 🙈
Xxxxxx
Hi there
I started reading it too and had to stop! Decided that it'll make me overthink everything and stress myself out. Glad I'm not the only one thinking that!
Xx
Honest to god I was like are you kidding me?! I’m all for changing my lifestyle to help me achieve my dream but that’s just stress inducing!! I mean not using perfume, don’t drink bottled water, don’t have takeaways. 🙈🙈🙈 xxxx
I was the same. I know that so many people on here swear by it but I didn’t finish reading it either. I think perhaps it just depends how it all makes you feel. If having all of that info about things that could potentially have some impact, enables you to feel empowered, like you can be doing things to help you then that’s great. Equally I think if the thought of implementing all of these things puts you at risk of feeling like it is taking over your life or causing you more stress then perhaps it might just become counterproductive. So I think everyone is different and you just have to work out what works for you xx
Yes I defo think it’s counterproductive for me. I’ve put it away. No more. I’ll do my vitamins, coq10 and eat healthier. That’s good enough for me. How you doing sweetie? ❤️ Xxx
😅 I know what you mean!
My 2nd round I was particularly obsessive. We cut out all bpa 's, I didnt have a single bit of sugar until the biscuit I had when I came out of egg collection 🙈 and in general incredibly strict!
However it did improve my round...this cycle...im still using natural stuff as much as possible and eating healthier but definitely having more treats and I put on perfume at the weekend 😂!
I would carry on reading it, if anything to broaden your knowledge and if I would take anything on board it would be the supplements..ubiquinol 🙌 being the main one, and just decide what you would like to change or try. I also got hubby on supplements recommended for men too. But really really dont stress yourself over doing it all xxx
I’m already taking the coq10. I did notice that made a difference between first and second cycle. I’ve got hubby on supplements for this go and I’m eating healthier. The whole bpa thing is hard! I would be totally obsessed. 😂😂😂🙈. How are things going with you? Xxxx
Then I think you're doing amazing already!
I agree the bpa thing is very hard! We practically changed half the stuff in our kitchen 🙈 if you can avoid plastics where you can..great but I wouldn't worry, you're already doing lots 💪
I'm doing ok thank you, had the go ahead today to start down reg injections on mothers day! Hopefully a good omen 🤞 xx
I swapped a few of my plastic stuff with my mum who had stainless steel. My water bottle says bpa free but I’ve started using my stainless steel one anyway. I don’t eat out of cans and I don’t use hairspray or scented cleaning products. I bought that koh months ago cos it said it was good for the environment etc. I just hope that’s good enough. 😂😂😂.
I cannot give up my weekly McDonald’s. 😂😂😂.
Oh I would defo say that’s a good omen!!!! Fingers crossed. Xxxxx
You can totally get obsessed with everythingit says cant you. I read the full thing but I read it over a few months before I started any treatment. I jotted bits down that I thought were important. I could ha e done everything out of the book but like you didnt want to be obsessed. So I picked the few things that were doable and didnt take much effort and stick to those......
Getting rid of/cut down on plastics (BPA).
Stopped using hairspray, nail varnish (not too difficult being a nurse) and my biggest vice, dry shampoo.
Only sprayed perfume onto clothes not skin,
Took pre conception vitamins and high dose vitamin d (4000iu)
Ate better. Stopped drinking for the month before treatment.
I got my BFP but who knows whether it was because of that. I just knew that if I didnt try i would regret it, especially as we had to go private from the start and could only really afford the one go.
Good luck xxx
That’s great. Thank you for sharing lovely. I’m going to implement a few of them and it’s the ones you have done so that’s good to know that you got your BFP. How far along are you? Are you keeping well? Xxxxx
Theres no harm in doing a few bits is there, it's just everything in moderation I suppose. Thank you, I will be 6 weeks tomorrow but my clinic only do pregnancy tests and not bloods and scan 3 weeks after OTD so I'll be almost 8 weeks at scan day, it's taking so long, its worse than the 2ww Haha. I've been feeling ok other than 2 horrendous migraines which gave me nausea and dizziness. Kinda glad of the symptoms in a way. Thanks for asking xxx
Omg that is so long!! Will be worth it tho when you see your precious wee baba on the screen. Hopefully the time will go in quickly for you. Exciting time’s for you. Xxxxx❤️
I was smoking, getting drunk every weekend... Eating takeaways wearing makeup perfume the lot when I was trying naturally and my 4 year old is in bed asleep . Of course when I found out I was pregnant I turned healthy lo xxx
Hi,
I bought the book as well but after a few pages I stopped reading ... I think it is taking trying to get pregnant to another level ...
Trusting your doctor, taking vitamins, eating well, working out and sleeping well will hopefully get me there. By overthinking everything and overdoing stuff you will end up feeling stressed and drained.
I have read comments from a few women who followed the rules for 6 mc and it did not change anything for them ...
I say take one day at a time and enjoy yourself, this process is hard enough without following the rules of some book x
I agree ❤️❤️❤️ Thank you xxx
Our day to day lives are stressful enough with out that!!! I haven’t read it but have really enjoyed reading other books about IVF.
read a few comments on here about that book and thought, no, I’m going to have to start a new life if I get that book! X
Haha your not joking! 😂😂. I would have to rub myself out and start again. 🙈.
I’ve taken some minor changes and will implement them. Healthy happy life and if it doesn’t happen it’s not meant to be.
Hope you are well. Thanks for sharing xxxx
Hey! Finish the book and forget about it! I read it too and the only things I took from it are the boys about supplements - which o still consult every time I need to replenish my stock! I am guessing you are already eating and drinking and exercising accordingly? You are are going to be fine. For it was like information in and information out!
Hi. Thanks for sharing. Yeh I’m exercising, eating healthy apart from the occasional treat, I’ve started yoga and meditation and I’ve added vitamin d to my supplements. I was already taking pregncare and coq10. Started hubs on a vitamin as well. I don’t drink alcohol anyway so didn’t have to cut that out and I’ve cut out caffeine. Hopefully it’s enough.
Hope all is good with you in your journey. Xxxxxx
Hey. I totally understand how you feel! It can be so overwhelming and make you worry you are doing everything wrong. But 99% of pregnant women did not read this sort of thing before hand and turned out ok.
Having said that for me the book was a positive. I read it the whole way through and like others selected bits that made sense to me. So for example some (not all!) of the supplements and generally advice around healthier living purely because it made sense to live healthier for the wider benefits. I don’t know if it helped but it made me ‘feel’ better so the entire experience wasn’t as bad as it could be.
I think if it’s something that’s going to stress you out then it’s definitely not worth it so absolutely makes sense to not read if that is where your gut is going.
From a personal level I have a gut feeling the coq10 and vitamin C helped me have a good embryo crop (although I’ll never know - it may be just fluke!) but I definitely did not change my make up or household cleaning products! There’s is only so many sacrifices we on this journey can make!
Good luck with your journey. X
Oh and the Zita West IVF book is very good alternative. Far less intense and less scientific. Much more about general tips and guidance for getting through the process a long with the top line info on being healthier.
Thank you sweetie. That’s good to know you didn’t change everything. I was always for a healthier lifestyle with supplements. Didn’t think I would have to change my makeup and stop wearing nail polish. 😂😂. Not for doing that. As you say, we sacrifice plenty already. How are you doing on your journey? Xxxx
Yes, gave up halfway as thought it was adding more pressure. Did take some ideas away from it but decided to draw a line with a lot of it.
Good luck xx
Thank you for sharing and your well wishes. I hope all is good for you on your journey also. Xxx
If you're already living a healthy lifestyle, feel free to get rid! You can't control your entire environment and you will go crazy if you try to.
If it helps, the science in it is a mixed bag . . . as I recall, when I looked into the studies she cites, a few things have reasonable evidence behind them but many of her points are based on studies that are inconclusive, or can't be replicated, or based only on animal studies, or conflict with other studies out there, etc. The advice in the book is definitely not all equally good.
I decided the Coq10 / ubiquinol advice was good and also unlikely to be harmful, so I followed it and I do think it helped.
The evidence around caffeine is not that great (which is why the NHS is not telling people to stop completely), so I felt it would be sensible to cut down to one cup of coffee a day. I did write to the manufacturer of my coffee machine to ask if there is BPA in the plastic in the device 😂(there isn't!)
I also stopped wearing perfume and nail varnish but didn't stop using normal soap, shampoo, deodorant etc until the IVF cycle started, when I switched to unscented products. xx
I found this book really helpful! I definitely haven’t taken absolutely everything on board but I certainly made some changes (the biggest one was that my Vit D is on the lower scale of things even though I took a supplement but according to the book it was an insufficient level for fertility). I took some key learnings from it and made some changes. You just can’t get obsessed though (I’ve been there too). We’re under enough pressure as it is. If it’s driving you mad then stop. If you can pick and choose the things you need to look at without sending yourself crazy then I would say definitely read on! Good luck xx
Honestly, take a few decent vits, eat well and do some exercise. If you smoke, give up. If you drink, no more than 14 units a week as per guidelines. The only round that worked for me was when I chilled out a bit!! Xx
I know how you feel. You need to be informed but when I read books about it, its all I can think about so I've limited how often I read to try not to be so obsessive x
Great, I've just ordered this book and its arriving today lol 🤣🙈🤷♀️ xxx
Take it with a pinch of salt. As a few girls have said, there are some good things you can take from it. I flicked through the rest last night and I’ve taken some lifestyle changes. I’m not going to allow myself to become obsessed. I unfortunately have the kind of of personality where I need to know everything and be in control. This book just made me worry I would become obsessed. Xxxx
Ok thanks hun, yeah will just see if there's anything I can do easily that will help but wont concentrate too much on it xxx 🤗
Read it see what it has to say and pick and choose what you rmbr...don't have to do all of it...I started making notes but too many notes I gave up and used more for reference like when to start and stop certain supplements. Use as a guide ow you'll go nuts! 😂😂Xx good luck 
Hi! So I just wanted to let you know my experience thus far.
I have endometriosis that is quickly forming endometriomas. My last round of IVF was unsuccessful. Despite having the endometriomas removed in October there were three new ones in January. They rapidly grew bigger and bigger and were over 50mm by my next round’s baseline scan. I took the book with a grain of salt. I listened to it in audio form so I was doing other activities and not getting super stressed. For about a month I have added fruits/veggies to my diet, I take the recommended supplements, I cut caffeine and alcohol. I don’t stress over sugar. I only eat out of plastic if it’s too hard to avoid. As my beauty products have run out I’ve replaced them with unscented products (if affordable). I’ve been doing this for a month and my endometriomas are shrinking! I’m in the middle of stims for my second round and they have each gotten 2mm smaller on every ultrasound I’ve had. I’m pain free and feel great. I have 5 follicles, last round I ended up with seven. I’m on a min stim protocol though so less was to be expected. Good luck to you!
Hey there...knowledge is power... and advice is free ( well what you paid for the book) - there are so many books and the internet is full of information and it can be overwhelming, but what I've found by arming myself with knowledge, is that patterns start to emerge... and eliminating toxins from our environment and diet makes sense not only for when we are trying to get pregnant but for our health overall. We all know excess sugar, meat, alcohol, caffeine, toxins causes inflammation and inflammation makes us sick if it's sustained...so we choose what we want to eliminate and what we don't. There's no right or wrong I guess.
We are all unique and the way we handle perceived stress is different... I had abnormally high protein cytokines (inflammation) that they thought were activating my natural killer cells to eliminate any embryo that was trying to implant (thinking it was a mini organ transplant) ...so I had a choice - take drugs or deal with my lifestyle to bring down inflammation. I followed what was in Rebecca's book and much more...I changed my diet, took loads supplements, cut out dairy, caffeine and alcohol, started Tai Chi, acupuncture, reflexology, hynotherapy etc etc....and my inflammatory markers came down to normal within 3.5 months and the doctors couldn't believe I'd done it naturally... (drugs only suppress the symptoms they don't deal with the root cause of the problem)
3rd and final round of IVF coming up at age 46..who knows if I've done enough? I don't...but what I do know is that I would have regretted not sorting out my lifestyle in order to give us the best shot at being parents. Once you're aware, you can't unaware...and books filled with information give us the tools to work with. What we do with the tools is up to us....and what works for one person may not work for another...our powerful mental state has so much to do with it too...hence the use of placebos in all the drug trials! Best of luck, and do what works for you, what you think is best for you....you know your body and your lifestyle better than anyone!
Wishing you all the very best for this next round. Sounds like you’ve done all the right things. Will pray for you 🙏🏽😘
Hi there
I couldn’t recommend the book more. It’s only exhaustion from my now 17 weeks of pregnancy that’s stopped me from writing a short essay on here extolling Rebecca Fett’s masterpiece!
I couldn’t agree with FertileMind more about the fact knowledge is power. It definitely made me feel more in control. I didn’t feel at all compelled to take every last thing on board. I just did what felt logical and manageable. There are quite clearly different sections for different fertility diagnosises - particularly the bits about the different supplement plans. I followed the advance plan for endometriosis and advanced maternal age and simply ordered all the recommended supplements online for my husband and I.
In terms of the lifestyle changes again I didn’t find it that bad. I let all my old stuff run out e.g washing up liquid, dishwasher tablets and washing powder then replaced it all with zero fragrance and colour stuff from the recommended online stores.
I went from having 9 eggs collected first round (ended in MMC) to 6 collected second round (30% drop in 8 months having moved into a brand new build with brand new carpets, beds and mattresses etc plus my husbands obsession with plug in air fresheners not knowing everything was secreting hormone disrupting toxins until I read the book!)
That second round ended in a chemical.
After that I was determined to find out what was going wrong. I read the book, threw out the air fresheners and opted for having the windows open all the time, got rid of all plastics and non stick in the kitchen, switched to fragrance free body lotion and toxin free nail polish, forgot about my obsession with layering scents using a combination of perfume and Victoria secrets body splash, continued eating healthily and mainly organic, no diary or gluten (really not hard these days) and took about 10 supplements a day (hubby took about 6 a day) for 2 months in the run up to my 3rd cycle.
I then added some advice my cousin got from the Zita West open evening which was to drink a vanilla protein shake every morning and a shot of organic beetroot juice every night once I started stimming. They didn’t specify night but I would pour it into a wine glass and sip it with my olives and crisps before dinner! 😀 I also ordered Zita West cook book “Eat Yourself Pregnant” and the breakfast bars, brownies and some other delicious recipes are now firm favs!
3rd cycle 16 eggs collected (yes jumped from 6 to 16 in under 3 months!) 10 fertilised and we ended up with 6 blastocysts. I had 2 transferred in December and I’m now 17 weeks pregnant with one baby thank God 🙏🏽 4 Frosties in storage.
Just ordered Rebecca’s book on baby brain development in pregnancy and first year.
Please don’t give up on it. I’m so glad I didn’t and I wish you all the luck and baby dust in the world 💕😘
That’s awesome news Fifikoko well done! Yes yes yes.... the more we support our bodies in health, the better our fertility. 16 after 3 months of changes, what a fab result. Yes Zita West’s book is great. I’ve started reading Dr Gabor Maté.. stress during pregnancy can impact the baby in the womb’s brain development, so very important to limit stress, and it passes onto the baby. So happy your changes reaped rewards, and you’re right, it’s not difficult to do! it’s a lifestyle change which will help overall health and immunity in the long run. We need to keep our immune systems strong with Coronavirus. Well done and congratulations!
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