IUI Tips and Tricks Healthy eating! I feel like this one can’t be emphasized enough, and will probably be included in almost every blog I write. Make sure you eat plenty of whole foods and minimize process foods as much as possible! Eat lots of veggies, fruits, proteins (beans, nuts, lean organic meats), drink lots of water, and make sure to take a multivitamin or prenatal every day so your body gets all of the nutrients it needs. Manage stress. Life is filled with stressful things, and investing time and money into infertility treatments is hardly stress-free. It’s not always possible to just get rid of it all together, but try to find things that help you manage it. Things like acupuncture, spending time outside, getting sun, going for walks, reading a book, going to the gym, meditating, whatever helps you de-stress. Robutussin cough syrup for the male- who would have thought? The idea is to help with sperm motility and to clear things up a bit! I have no idea if this made a difference or not, but it was one of the first things my OBGYN recommended to my husband when we found out he had low sperm count and slow motility. He did it faithfully every morning, and things seemed to improve when we went in for our IUI. Wear some comfy pajamas/sweats to the procedure. The IUI itself really isn’t very painful, but afterwards I experienced a little bit of mild cramping and bloating. Eat a pineapple. I haven’t actually tried this one, but I have friends that did it for IVF and swear by it. In fact, one friend told me she would force me to eat it even if she had to shove it in my mouth herself if I ever ended up having to do IVF! There’s no medical proof that it works, but it is definitely worth a shot! To find out more about the pineapple trick and all of the details, click here. Sex after the IUI. If nothing else, this helps keep the intimacy in trying to conceive, but many clinics actually highly recommend you do this anyway! Find things to fill your time during the two-week wait. Make a bucket list with your spouse/partner. Who knows, maybe this will be the last two-week wait you have in 9 months! Find things that you’ve wanted to do or haven’t done before- it will make it go by faster and you will enjoy it so much more and have good memories to look back on. Have a weekend getaway Come up with a project/craft to work on Anything to keep you as busy and stress free as possible, and believe me, I know that is hard to do! -Rachel