How much time off of work for IVF ?

mskeenan · September 2015

Hi all ! I am most likely starting Ivf in October and am concerned about missing work since I have already been missing work the last four months for my fertility treatments . Since this is my first IVF cycle - I was curious how much time off of work you will think I will need (aside from the quick monitoring appointments ) ? I am so nervous about IVF and still not clear on the process ... But any feedback you could give would be great !

HBamama2B · September 2015

It's not that bad! 2 days off sick minimum seems the norm, maybe as much as 3-4 depending! I wasn't expecting to take much if any time off, but I'm home today so that shows me. Lol. I think it depends on your response.

My levels and follies shot for the moon so I had monitoring every morning but was only late to work once. I planned to take day of and day after off for both the ER and ET, but I've seen posts of people heading straight back to work after ET. My ER is Friday so I only required that day, but I took today off since I felt sick yesterday from the high estrogen (2700+!). I wasn't expecting to feel bad before ER and didn't plan for it... It seemed like most people are fine before ER. ?? That said, I could work through it if I had to.

If your ER ends up being on a Friday and you feel well, you may only need the day of the ER off! Maybe the day of the ET too if you prefer and your RE recommends rest.

Im excited for your cycle and I hope you get a H&H 9 months. I know it's been a long road for you. I'm really rooting for you and your soon to be bigger fam!!!

mclorn · September 2015

I was also worried but for my fresh IVF cycle I didn't end up needing to take ANY time off! I did my monitoring appointments first thing at 6:30am, my ER fell on a Monday and I have Monday's off, therefore my transfer fell on a Saturday so I just rested all weekend... then back to work. I decided to just wait and see how it went before I requested any time off. I am doing an FET next week though and it falls on a Tuesday, so I am taking Tuesday and Wednesday off... so it just really depends how the days fall and for a fresh IVF you really won't know much in advance. I definitely did not feel like I needed to take time off for discomfort, etc, so just did the minimum my doctor recommended. Hope this helps!

tripledaggerWed95976 · September 2015

I took 2 days off following my retrieval, I was in a lot of pain. I was fine after 2 days though

lizg19 · September 2015

i took the day of my retrieval off (this past Wed) i'm back to work - barely any spotting but yesterday the cramps were bad.

I will take another day off during my ET - i read that some girls go back to work if they have a desk job. i decided to take the day off.

In addition, my ultrasounds and block works were done early in the AM and i was only late to work a few times.

Hope things work out for you

Good luck and baby dust for everyone !!

HBamama2B · September 2015

GL @lizg19 !!

2legbaby · September 2015

I only took the day of the ER off and didn't have any pain/discomfort and was back to work the next day- hope this helps!

LCK0830 · September 2015

Good luck @mskeenan ! I'm so sorry about your last cycle. I followed the beta thread and was really cheering for you and the other women. FX your IVF cycle is successful!

I was very overwhelmed by the IVF process but now that I'm in it its not bad. I've been going in for US and BW everyday to every other day, depending on my estrogen levels. My doctor, and it seems like most doctors, have early morning appointments so I haven't had to miss any work yet. My ER is scheduled for next Saturday and my ET the following Thursday. I'm going to take that day off and will work from home on Friday. So, as it stands now, I'll only take one day off during this cycle.

kuposa17 · September 2015

I am blessed with a job where no one cares who takes off work and for how long, super chill boss, so I was expecting to take A LOT of time off, also because I am a bit of a wuss. It turned out that I only took 3 full days off. ER was on a Sunday so I took Monday off (was still sleepy from anesthesia) then transfer was on a Friday, took that day off. Two days before ER (Fri) I took the day off but that was due to nerves and feeling overwhelmed. Our first ivf attempt in June was cancelled due to poor response, so when it looked like it might happen again in Aug, I got freaked out and took the day off off. I think most other people would have been tougher and just gone into work, and if my boss and coworkers were not laid back, I might have toughed it out. Soooo...as someone who admits to being a lazy wuss with a chill boss, even *I* didn't end up taking too much time off. Good luck @mskeenan !! You can do it!

NicWalker10 · September 2015

I have only taken 1 day off during IVF thus far and that was for the day of ER off and that's just because of the anesthesia! I had no pain or soreness, just a little bleeding after and felt 100% fine the next day. Haven't made it to a transfer yet (fx we get there soon!!) but my RE recommends resuming your normal activities w/o having to take the day after. There's some information out there about keeping the blood flowing after the ET and that too much rest isn't great for the process.

Being "in cycle" was not nearly as bad as I anticipated--although I can tell you when that box of meds comes it is def intimidating! I had very clear instructions on how to do everything and watched the videos. I did the injections myself and had no issues doing it. Needles don't bother me, so aside from it being weird to inject myself with anything, it was ok. Some minor bruises, but no soreness or anything. It does get a little uncomfortable down there as the follicles are growing and I felt puffy and crampy with some back pain, but just kind of like terrible PMS and it was only for a few days so it wasn't too bad. I got used to the US every day and it was very quick. as mentioned, ER was a breeze and a short procedure nothing to be even slightly worried about!

The worst part of the process to me is the waiting--waiting to find out how many eggs retrieved, waiting to find out if they are mature, waiting to find out if they fertilize, waiting to find out if they survive, waiting for a transfer and waiting for a BFP! TO an extent, the in cycle process was the easiest part because it was very methodical and I felt like I was doing something to further the goal--all of the waiting for answers to things you cant control can get very frustrating.

I wish you the best of luck with your IVF cycle and hope it's a success!

oxinfree · September 2015

I was teaching while going through my cycles and unfortunately couldn't get too much time off. I took the retrieval day off, and transfer day off, but not much else. You'll need to see what your body feels like and what you need personally. It's different for everyone. I personally regretted not setting aside more time, especially since I was teaching phys-ed and being really active during the 2ww. This next cycle I'm planning on keeping my schedule open, but I know not everyone has the luxury of doing that. Do whatever feels right to you!

Wicked4589 · September 2015

Retrieval and transfer days were the only times I took off.

khochanadel · September 2015

I ended up having to take far more time off than most here (just want you to have the balanced perspective!) My RE splits between 2 locations - one that is SUPER convenient for me and one that is not at all. Any time I would have to drive to the other office in the morning rush hour traffic across town would make me super late to work, and I was always waiting on my RE as well. The appointments where I just went in for monitoring with the nurse weren't that bad, nor were the ones close to home. Twice I missed really important meetings but luckily my boss is super chill as well (his wife teaches sex ed so I let him know what we were going through).

I got OHSS during my stim cycle, so I got really sick and had to be admitted to get IV fluids 2 days before my ER. Got to go home (with strong meds) the day before ER but was unable to do much. Then of course took ER off but it was on a Friday so I was in really good shape to go back Monday. We did a freeze all since my OHSS made fresh transfer impossible. FET cycle has been much easier. Only 3 appts, and I took off the day of my transfer so I could get acupuncture and rest afterwards.

So for me - probably a total of 5 days between the hours waiting to see my RE at appts, the 2 days of pre-ER sickness, ER, and FET. Hope this helps!

mskeenan · September 2015

These are all such wonderful responses ladies thank you ! It's good to hear a variety of answers so I can know what to expect ! My doc told me to only take off the day of the retrieval but I'm just going to see how I feel !!! Thank you for the support !!

Rachd110 · October 2015

@mskeenan thanks for posting this. I was wondering the same. If this IUI cycle does not work I'm moving on to IVF. I have my beta next Wednesday. Good luck!

mskeenan · October 2015

Good luck to you @Rachd110 ! Hope you don't have to move on to ivf ! But if you do I'll be cheering you on ! I'm still waiting on a word from insurance to see if part of the procedure will be covered . If not , I'm back to IUI !

alexiskiriluk · October 2015

@mskeenan I am at in the waiting room to talk to the RE about IVF right now. Let's hope this works for us!!

mskeenan · October 2015

Good luck @alexiskiriluk ! I had my IVF education conference this week and I was so overwhelmed !! It's a really cool process though when you think about it (minus the crap we have to go through ) I hope it goes well !!!

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