From First Consult to Transfer: A Week by Week Calendar

For many people, the path to parenthood is a complex journey. In vitro fertilization (IVF) offers a structured and scientific timeline. The typical IVF calendar may seem daunting, but treating it as a series of distinct phases helps manage the overwhelming process. This guide explains the IVF process stepwise as an 8-week journey. Combining advanced clinical procedures with holistic support like we do at Luma fertility, aiming to make this process less stressful for our patients.

Week 1: First Consultation

The IVF cycle timeline ideally starts with collection of data. We need to have a blueprint of your fertility, which involves a deep dive consultation and a comprehensive diagnostic process.

• Ovarian Reserve Testing: Blood tests for Anti Mullerian Hormone (AMH) and Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), with an Antral Follicle Count (AFC) ultrasound, helps predict your egg yield.
• Semen Analysis: Male factor of infertility affects nearly about 50% of the cases. Advanced methods of sperm analysis goes beyond simple counts to even checking for DNA fragmentations.
• Holistic Review: Assess biomarkers like sleep, stress and nutrition to prepare your overall biology before the cycle starts.

Week 2: Pre-treatment and IVF Cycle Preparation

The success rate depends on synchronization to ensure a cohort of follicles that grow in unison, for which we often manipulate the menstrual cycle before stimulation.

• Priming: You may start birth control pills or estrogen. This quiets the ovaries, preventing a single dominant follicle from growing too early and suppressing the others.
• Lifestyle Optimization: Based on your holistic report, this is the week to implement dietary changes or begin supplements. Reducing inflammation at this stage can positively influence the follicular environment for the IVF cycle calendar ahead.

Week 3: Baseline Scans and Medication

• Baseline: A transvaginal ultrasound confirms clean ovaries with a slender uterine lining on the 2nd or 3rd day of your cycle.
• Injections: When you are prepared with the baseline, we start daily gonadotropin injections. These hormones stimulate the ovaries to make multiple eggs. 

Week 4: Ovarian Stimulation

• Monitoring: Estradiol levels are tracked to measure follicle growth, aiming for 18-22 mm. For this, blood tests and scans are done every 2 to 3 days.
• The Antagonist: Around Day 5 or 6 of stimulation, the antagonist is added to prevent premature ovulation to ensure the eggs remain in the ovaries until we are ready to retrieve them.

Week 5: Trigger Shot and Egg Retrieval

• The Trigger: When follicles are mature, you administer a trigger shot that induces final egg maturation.
• The Retrieval: Exactly 35-36 hours post-trigger, the egg retrieval is performed under sedation. This is an important date in the IVF egg retrieval calendar.
• Safety First: The RI Witness system uses the RFID technology to track every tube and dish, ensuring your biological material is identified and safeguarded completely.

Week 6: Fertilization and Embryo Development

• Fertilization: Retrieved eggs are fertilized with sperm using ICSI method.
• Culture: Fertilized eggs divide into blastocysts in 5 to 7 days.
• AI Assessment: Unlike standard grading, we use EmbryoAID, Violet & Magenta to objectively analyze embryo viability. If you are doing PGT-A testing, biopsies are taken at this stage, and embryos are frozen to pause the IVF calendar briefly for genetic results.

Week 7: Embryo Transfer

• Preparation: If frozen, you may have spent the prior week priming the uterine lining with progesterone.
• Procedure: A catheter guides the best-selected embryo into the uterus. This is a painless procedure, often described as similar to a pap smear but with far more emotional weight.

Week 8: The Two-Week Wait (2WW)

• Implantation: After the embryo is transferred, the blastocyst hatches and implants into the uterine lining.
• Beta hCG: The IVF transfer calendar comes to the final path of IVF with a blood test 10 to 14 days post transfer to confirm pregnancy. A blood test for pregnancy confirmation is advised by the doctor as it gives an accurate test report.

Conclusion

Sailing through an IVF calendar or an IVF FET calendar (Frozen Embryo Transfer, requires patience and trust; an understanding of the biological journey reduces stress and anxiety. From the precision of an IVF egg retrieval calendar to the transfer days, every week serves a purpose. With advanced technology like AI grading and holistic support, Luma fertility aims to turn this rigorous timeline into one of the many IVF success stories we celebrate.

FAQs

1. What is the timeline for IVF transfer?
   A.In a fresh cycle, transfer occurs 5 days after retrieval. In an IVF FET calendar, the transfer happens roughly 4-6 weeks after retrieval to allow for genetic testing and uterine recovery, typically falling in Week 7 or 8.
2. When should I start IVF after a consultation?
   A.Most patients begin the active IVF cycle calendar about 2-4 weeks after consultation, allowing time for diagnostic testing and cycle synchronization.
3. What are the most critical days after embryo transfer?
   A.The first 48 hours are key for initial implantation, but clinically, the entire 10 – 14 day wait is critical. Maintaining progesterone support during this window is vital for success.
4. What is the hardest stage of IVF?
   A.While retrieval is physically demanding, most patients find the two-week wait in the IVF timeline calendar is the most emotionally challenging due to the uncertainty and anticipation of results.