Over many years and many cycles, I started compiling a list of things to help maintain sanity while enduring the excruciatingly long 2ww (2 week wait – the wait from when you have an IVF transfer until when you can test).
The good news is that often if you are doing IVF abroad as part of an IVF vacation, you are still relaxing and then traveling home for at least the first part of your wait. But then you get home, get unpacked, and bam!, it hits you. The embryo obsession. So, here are some ideas for the rest of your wait.
I’ll share what I have – and feel free to add your own ideas. The goal is to have enough non-stressful things going on that you don’t get obsessively focused on “am I?” or “am I not?” pregnant.
Things to do to distract yourself during the 2 Week Wait:
- Drink 96 oz of water every day!
- Limit yourself to XX number of minutes a day to think about your embryos, then say STOP and distract yourself – visualize the embryos snuggling in for a long hibernation (around 9 months)
- Plan activities to distract yourself – such as:
- Play games (board games, card games, video games, crosswords, sudoku, solitaire)
- Do some crafts (knit, crochet, sew, beading, stamping…)
- Art therapy: write a song or an essay or a book or draw a picture…
- Organize your photos into albums
- Organize your CDs
- Listen to your favorite music or meditations on CD
- Read something light and funny
- Watch a video or go to the movies (take DH to a drive-in if you have one)
- Listen to stand-up comedy
- Chat on the phone, email all your friends
- Go to acupuncture
- Sit on a park bench and people-watch
- Go for a long drive
- Go for a walk in the botanical gardens
- Make a list of things you’ve never seen in your town (stores or tourist sites you haven’t been to) and then go see them
- Visit with nature (beach, lake, forest, mountains, waterfalls…)
- Walk a dog (yours, a friends, or volunteer at a local rescue)
- Get a pedicure
- Retail therapy
- Cooking therapy (there’s gotta be something you love to make or would like to try)
- Invite a friend over for tea (decaf). You can include a fruit salad that just happens to have fresh pineapple, for the bromelain…
- Spend an hour at your local bookstore or library
- Visit a planetarium
- Research a place you’d like to vacation
- Go out to brunch
- Go for a picnic
- Go to a club and listen to live music
- Pick berries
- Plant some flowers
- Sunbathe at a lake, beach or in your backyard
- Go camping, build a campfire, roast some marshmallows
- Watch a sunset
- Go to church or wherever else your spirit can draw strength
- Walk to an ice-cream shop
- Go to a comedy club
- Visit a museum or art gallery
- See a play
- Watch a live sporting event
- Play mini-golf
Surely, you all have some to add to this list? I look forward to hearing your ideas!