What you can do to ease the stress of your fertility journey.
1. IVF and other fertility treatments can be a distance run, not a sprint. Take care of yourself to prevent illness, stress and burnout. 2. Form your Care Team before you start. Think about who is going to be on your Care Team and how much you want to share with them depending on what your IVF outcome could be, whether positive or negative. Consider including OB/GYN, Maternal/Fetal Medicine, Primary Care Physician, Doula, Childbirth Educator, Family, Friends, Peer Support Groups and of course Mental Health Therapist (we happen to specialize in this stuff and would be honored to walk with you on your fertility journey) 3. If you are starting IVF with a partner, strategize your communication beforehand. Make sure you are both setting aside time to talk together. Make sure you're discussing logistics and planning for appointments and treatments, but also how you're feeling about the journey ahead and what you need from each other in order to feel more supported. 4. Fatigue is one of the biggest complaint doctors see from patients undergoing IVF. Set yourself up at work and home to make sure you aren’t under added stress during your IVF cycle. That can include not scheduling work projects during your cycle and/or meal prepping food to have ready in your freezer. Keep things as easy and simple as possible. 5. Identify things that make you feel cared for so you will have things to look forward to while you are in your IVF cycle. That can be a new show/book you’ve been wanting to dive into, a manicure/massage, or a dinner at your favorite restaurant.
Did you know Elizabeth, Founder of Sage Tree Therapy, recently wrote two new books?
"My Weekly Pages: A week-by-week planning and reflection prompt journal" is her favorite way to journal while incorporating components of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. This is the perfect way to start a new journal practice or strengthen your existing mindfulness practices.
Features of My Weekly Pages include:
Monthly prep sheet for every four sets of weekly pages
To-Do trackers and planners
Intention setting
Exploration of thoughts, feelings and emotions
Mind mapping
Gratitude practice
Tons of journal prompts
Lots of room to doodle and scribble
"The Sweet Spot of Self Care Workbook for Moms: How Sleep, Food, Energy & Stress Influence our Self-Care" Elizabeth has curated the most effective and useful psycho-educational content for moms everywhere! Ideal for the newly pregnant or or experienced parent. It's never too late to establish excellent self-care practices! This workbook is jam packed full of insight and guidance on how to best take care of ourselves as moms.
Journal prompts
Art activities
Behavior trackers
Logs
Assessments
Coloring pages
much, much more!
Don't miss our on Elizabeth's honest and direct take on how moms find their "sweet spot" of self-care by tuning into four human drives - Sleep, Food, Energy and Sex.
