Do you recommend taking off work or requesting telework for IVF

[Anonymous]

For those of you who had successful IVF cycles and great stim results, do you recommend taking vacation or requesting to telework during the process? We are beginning the process in July, but my clinic wants me to come in June as soon as I get my period. I am assuming I will be on birth control for a month. I typically try to be stress free but we are increasing our presence in work soon. Do you recommend taking time off or requesting telework during the IVF process? If so, which stages? I am assuming i need to take off and rest before and after the retrieval. Should I take off during the stims? I am pretty petite, and I know people will wonder why I am bloated if I go to the office. Does the clinic tell me where I am in the process so I can take off? I am meeting with my supervisor next week so any advice would be appreciated.

[Anonymous]

I did 5 rounds of IVF. I only had to take off the day of retrieval and the day of transfer each time. Monitoring appointments start at 7 am at my clinic. I would go in for the earliest appointment and then head in to work.
I did not tell anyone at work while I was in the process and no one was the wiser. Your workplace might be different but I did not feel comfortable sharing with my coworkers and there was no need to. I just used sick and annual leave as needed.

[Anonymous]

I saw no need to take off more than the day of retrieval and the day of transfer as well. Maaaaybe the day after transfer if it was an afternoon transfer.

[Anonymous]

Play to win. You’ll want those days off when you have your baby. Also, I personally found work to be a very good distraction during the whole IVF process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who had successful IVF cycles and great stim results, do you recommend taking vacation or requesting to telework during the process? We are beginning the process in July, but my clinic wants me to come in June as soon as I get my period. I am assuming I will be on birth control for a month. I typically try to be stress free but we are increasing our presence in work soon. Do you recommend taking time off or requesting telework during the IVF process? If so, which stages? I am assuming i need to take off and rest before and after the retrieval. Should I take off during the stims? I am pretty petite, and I know people will wonder why I am bloated if I go to the office. Does the clinic tell me where I am in the process so I can take off? I am meeting with my supervisor next week so any advice would be appreciated.

Don’t worry people won’t notice that you’re bloated. Only you will.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did 5 rounds of IVF. I only had to take off the day of retrieval and the day of transfer each time. Monitoring appointments start at 7 am at my clinic. I would go in for the earliest appointment and then head in to work.
I did not tell anyone at work while I was in the process and no one was the wiser. Your workplace might be different but I did not feel comfortable sharing with my coworkers and there was no need to. I just used sick and annual leave as needed.

Same here. I did 6 rounds over two pregnancies. No one knew. Earliest appointment then drove from fairfax to DC to be at my desk by 845.

[Anonymous]

I think this is dependent on how you react to IVF, which is hard to know ahead of time. I had a rough time both physically (OHSS) and emotionally and ended up taking about a week of unplanned sick days around the end of my sim cycle. In retrospect, taking time off from the get go probably would have made it less stressful, though again I think I had a tougher time physically than the average. At a minimum I think it makes sense to try to keep your schedule as light as possible and telework if you can, and don't hesitate to take time off if you need to. Good luck, I am rooting for you!

[Anonymous]

I think work is a good distraction. It’s not like you’ll be on bed rest the whole time. Sure, if you can telework that is more helpful so you aren’t having people watching your comings and goings. Did 3 ivf cycles, the last one during Covid with remote work was obviously easiest but it is doable with a regular work schedule with some flexibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Play to win. You’ll want those days off when you have your baby. Also, I personally found work to be a very good distraction during the whole IVF process.

100% this

I took off day of retrieval and worked from home the day after, but I could have gone into the office that day. I was uncomfortable, but still functional. I had 22 eggs retrieved. My clinic was about 10 minutes from my office, and I scheduled all bloodwork and ultrasounds as early in the morning as I could.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who had successful IVF cycles and great stim results, do you recommend taking vacation or requesting to telework during the process? We are beginning the process in July, but my clinic wants me to come in June as soon as I get my period. I am assuming I will be on birth control for a month. I typically try to be stress free but we are increasing our presence in work soon. Do you recommend taking time off or requesting telework during the IVF process? If so, which stages? I am assuming i need to take off and rest before and after the retrieval. Should I take off during the stims? I am pretty petite, and I know people will wonder why I am bloated if I go to the office. Does the clinic tell me where I am in the process so I can take off? I am meeting with my supervisor next week so any advice would be appreciated.

Don’t worry people won’t notice that you’re bloated. Only you will.

This

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Play to win. You’ll want those days off when you have your baby. Also, I personally found work to be a very good distraction during the whole IVF process.

This. The last set of IVF, I took off the day of retrieval and that was it. Even after transfer, they encouraged me to go about my normal activities minus anything strenuous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think work is a good distraction. It’s not like you’ll be on bed rest the whole time. Sure, if you can telework that is more helpful so you aren’t having people watching your comings and goings. Did 3 ivf cycles, the last one during Covid with remote work was obviously easiest but it is doable with a regular work schedule with some flexibility.

+1. I only took one day for retrieval. I did all my monitoring appointments at the earliest time. No one noticed I was even doing this whole process. I found being distracted with work very helpful. Of course, no judgement on women who had more side effects than me and took more time.

[Anonymous]

Do not tell your supervisor you’re doing IVF if you want to avoid stress.

[Anonymous]

How do you deal with IVF and work travel? My work is going back in person over the summer and I'll be expected to start travelling (though there is no reason I can't participate via video conference for almost everything) and I'll be doing IVF as well? Do I say I can't travel because I'm doing IVF? Say I can't travel because I have a medical condition that requires in person management?

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you for all of the advice. I appreciate it. That being said, I wanted to telework on my blood draw days because I need to put in my full hours at work and don't want to stay longer on some days. Should I just go to work and take an hour of leave when I can't make my full day? Was it stressful getting to work after?