Your Holistic IVF Week-By-Week Guide: Part 3 (Egg Retrieval & Embryo Development)
How to Recover, Rebuild, and Stay Steady Between Retrieval and Transfer
You’ve made it through the stimulation phase, and your eggs have been retrieved. That’s a huge milestone and it deserves to be noted.
But what happens now?
For many women, this part of the IVF journey can feel strangely quiet. You go from daily appointments and active medications to…waiting. Meanwhile, your body is recovering from the procedure, your hormones are in transition, and your embryos are developing in the lab. This is a tender time, both physically and emotionally. The focus shifts from follicle growth to healing, receptivity, and trust.
Here’s how to support your body (and heart) in the days after retrieval and before transfer.
Goals During This Phase:
Reduce inflammation and support recovery
Rebuild nutrient reserves
Balance hormones post-retrieval
Stay connected to your nervous system
Support healthy embryo development (yes, even from the outside)
1. Prioritize Nourishment for Recovery
After retrieval, many women feel bloated, crampy, fatigued, or emotionally off. Your ovaries are enlarged, your estrogen is shifting, and your body is healing from the procedure. Now is the time for warm, easy-to-digest, anti-inflammatory meals.
Best foods post-retrieval:
Bone broth, lentil soup, congee, or veggie stews
Roasted root veggies (sweet potatoes, carrots, beets)
Healthy fats: olive oil, avocado, ghee
Wild-caught fish or pastured eggs
Ginger, turmeric, cinnamon to calm inflammation
Avoid: raw salads, cold smoothies, alcohol, and processed sugar during this window. Your digestive and immune systems need gentle support.
2. Rest + Circulate
You don’t need total bed rest, but your body does need time to recover and restore pelvic circulation.
Take slow walks when you feel up to it
Legs-up-the-wall (Viparita Karani) for 5–10 minutes
Consider acupuncture 2–3 days post-retrieval to support healing and hormone recalibration
Avoid high-impact workouts or intense movement
3. Use Targeted Supplements Wisely
Always follow your provider’s guidance, but common post-retrieval support may include:
Omega-3 fatty acids to reduce inflammation
Magnesium glycinate for cramps, bloating, and stress support
NAC or alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) as gentle antioxidant support
Oral electrolytes to rebalance fluids, especially if bloated
If you’re at risk for OHSS (Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome), stay in close communication with your clinic.
4. Support Embryo Development with Your Environment
No, you’re not directly influencing your embryos in the lab. However, the way you care for yourself during this time can affect your hormone levels, inflammatory markers, and uterine environment for the next step.
Try:
Visualization or meditation: Imagine healthy embryos developing.
Affirmations: “Even in uncertainty, I am still whole.”
Digital boundaries: Limit IVF forums, news, or social media if it spikes anxiety.
Sleep and screen breaks: Your nervous system thrives on rhythm, not overstimulation.
5. Emotional Anchoring During the Quiet
The in-between days are emotionally complex. You may feel excitement, relief, fear, grief, and hope, all in one hour. Let it be messy. Let it be just as it is.
What helps:
Journaling: “What am I feeling today, and what does that feeling need?”
Connecting with someone safe who can hold space without trying to fix
Avoiding the temptation to jump ahead in your mind. Right now, all you have to do is be here.
When the Cycle Doesn’t Go as Hoped
Not every IVF cycle leads to a transfer. And if you're here because your cycle didn’t progress the way you hoped, whether no eggs were retrieved or no embryos developed, please know this: you are not alone, and you are not to blame.
While these outcomes are difficult to consider, they are heartbreakingly real. Remember though that this is not the end of your story. But it is a moment to pause. This outcome is heartbreaking, but it doesn't mean the door is closed. It may be pointing you gently toward a new layer of understanding and next steps.
If No Eggs Were Retrieved
You didn’t fail.
Your body didn’t fail.
And this one cycle doesn’t define your future.
When you’re ready, here are a few next steps to consider:
Schedule a follow-up consult with your fertility doctor to review the cycle and whether protocol adjustments could help.
Ask about further testing if appropriate.
Give yourself space to rest and process. Taking a break is not a step backward. Healing is not lost time.
Seek integrative support like acupuncture, nutritional therapy, or counseling to help you recalibrate physically and emotionally.
If No Embryos Developed
Sometimes, eggs are retrieved, but fertilization fails, or embryos stop developing. When you're ready, here are some thoughtful steps forward:
Ask for an embryo development summary from your clinic: When did the arrest happen? How were the embryos graded? This helps guide future decisions.
Review sperm quality, egg maturity, and lab protocols. Sometimes even minor adjustments can make a meaningful difference.
Talk with your provider about possible changes to stimulation, timing, or lab techniques.
Allow yourself time. Decisions don’t need to happen today. Grief and clarity often come in layers.
Consider all options — only when you're ready, and always on your terms.
You are still on the path. And support is always available.
Reminder
You don’t need to have all the answers. You don’t need to feel calm all the time. This part of the journey asks only this: tend to what’s here now.
Coming Next in This Series:
Part 4 – Embryo Transfer & the Two-Week Wait: Holistic Strategies to Support Implantation.
We’ll cover transfer-day rituals, what supports implantation, and navigating the 2 week wait.