IUI and exercise and diet

[Krista D.]

Hi!
I just had an IUI done yesterday and the doctor told me the only exercise I can do is walk for a total of 30 minutes a day (15 minutes slow/moderate pace, rest for 10 minutes and walk another 15 minutes). He said even if the pregnancy test comes back positive, I still can't exercise! After doing Cathe workouts for years, this is driving me crazy! I feel like I'm going from full force with my workouts to nothing. I know that I will have to really watch my diet. Any advice on this situation? How did you handle not exercising? What about my diet? Do I focus on eating more protein and fiber to keep me full? This is my 4th time doing a fertility treatment (I've done IVF twice and IUI once before, all unsuccessful) and maybe that's why I'm on such restriction? Thanks in advance for any advice

Krista

 

[RapidBreath]

Not a mom, but when I had to be off my feet due to a shattered foot, I did meditations and ate completely clean, I lost a lot of weight doing that. I prefer guided meditations. They are easier to do than meditating on your own, it's less lonely

I am so sorry that you are bored. It sucks being without Cathe. I was off my feet for four months. Hugs.

 

[poachedsalmon]

Hi Krista,

I did IVF three years ago and had to do 2 cycles (first unsuccessful, second one successful). Both times, I was told to dial down the intensity of my workouts significantly. It was frustrating because I was used to working out at a pretty intense level. I did lots of fast walking and that was pretty much it. I didn't change my diet too much, if I remember correctly. I think I just cut back on calories since I wasn't burning that many calories anymore. My diet was pretty healthy, so I didn't make too many changes.

I think the wisdom is that intense exercise can inhibit fertility, so the doctors want to make sure that you aren't reducing your chances of a successful pregnancy in any way. Those two weeks while waiting for that pregnancy test are especially important. They really want you to take it easy during that time period.

The level of caution varies across doctors. For some, they are really cautious and want you to limit exercise even after you're pregnant. For some, they say limit it to moderate exercise, others might say you can dial it back up but pay attention for signs that you're overdoing it. If you're going through all of this to get pregnant, you don't want to do anything to jeopardize your chances, so I was okay with erring on the side of caution.

Throughout the pregnancy, I had to keep my workouts at light to moderate intensity, but that was mainly because of my age and the fact that I was carrying twins.

Good luck! Just keep the end goal in mind and that will help you get through it.

P.S. Have you ever thought about acupuncture? It was suggested to me after my first IVF was unsuccessful. I did it for my second cycle. I don't know if that helped or not, but my second IVF worked and that was the primary difference between the two cycles.

 

[Krista D.]

Thanks for the advice ladies! Meditation never crossed my mind! I will give it a try. And the acupuncture idea was great too! I've never tried it. Did you do it several times before your IVF was done?
Thanks again for the ideas! I'm willing to try just about anything to help me manage my stress lately. Just keeping my fingers crossed that things work out this time.

 

[poachedsalmon]

I did do acupuncture several times before the embryo transfer. I'm pretty sure it was once a week. The acupuncturist I worked with was experienced in working with fertility patients, so there was a whole protocol that he followed with every patient depending on the IVF protocol that was being done. In fact, I did one session about 30 minutes before the actual transfer. The fertility clinic allowed the acupuncturist to come into the transfer room and do a session for about 20 min!