If your insurance does not cover IVF it can be a very costly endeavor. Most likely you are not going to spend “extra” money frivolously or on procedures that you do not absolutely need. In our cycle, we actually did decide to opt for an elective procedure primarily for peace of mind. My fears prior to the cycle were all over the board, but they were dominated by concerns over my husband’s role. He was to give his sample on the day of my retrieval and all I could think of was “stage fright.”
I was so worried that he would feel so much pressure to “perform” at that exact moment that he would have issues, even though he had never had trouble before in all of the times he had been forced to do the same thing. I worried that the timing would be so important that it would have to happen within a very specific time frame and a traffic accident or a missed alarm clock would delay him and ruin the cycle. I worried that something he ate or drank would cause his “good” sperm to go bad and we would have squandered the opportunity. Plain and simple – I just worried, endlessly.
So, we opted to have him go in at the beginning of my cycle just when I was starting on medications and monitoring and provide a sample that would be frozen and used for emergencies. He was definitely not excited about having to do “that” there multiple times, but he did admit that it relieved his mind to know that we had options if something happened on the day of the retrieval. Ultimately, we didn’t end up using the cryo-preserved sample (fresh is best if possible). I don’t, however, consider it money wasted or just another way that the clinic got a hold of our hard earned bucks. It was worth it just to take at least one worry, one fear off our shoulders.
I think that there are a lot of things that can be done like that to make the process more bearable. If you have been told by your doctor that laying down after the procedure for a day or three doesn’t make a difference but you just can’t stop worrying that you should be immobile then try to find a way to take off work or get some free time and stay on the couch for a couple of days. It might not help, but it sure won’t hurt. If you really believe that your stress is going to affect the outcome and you can’t get over it then by all means get acupuncture or a massage (pregnancy safe) and try to really believe that it will take some of your worry away. And, if you fear performance anxiety on your part or your husband’s try to put the support system (or back-up sperm) in place to make you feel comfortable at every stage along the way. Placebo effect or not, it does have an effect and if that is to make you a little less stressed and not so worried then I definitely think you should do what will make you a calmer, more stress-free patient!
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