IVF Positivity Planner – Daily Plan of Things That Make Me Happy

I recently launched my IVF Positivity Planner, and the response has been so positive to it….

“The planner is fantastic. I use it every day and it has changed my mindset completely for our second FET cycle. Feeling very happy and positive. If we have another failed cycle I'll be buying another one to see me through the next stage!”

I thought it would be helpful to share some of the things in the planner so you can see how it can help and support you through TTC and going through IVF, and also give you some help in filling it in.

When I sat writing the planner I knew what I wanted it to do, how I wanted it to help, and I had so many ideas that I had to make sure that everything deserved its place in the book – which means that all the things that made the final cut are important and will help you with the things you tell me you need help with.

Over the next few weeks I will share information on how the different sections and exercises will help you, and give you support, ideas and prompts for filling in the planner.

I’ve designed the planner to be like a supportive friend that helps you along the way, not an extra burden or thing to do. I didn’t want you to feel pressure to think of lots of different answers to every question, as I know it can be overwhelming, for example, to think of 3 things you’re grateful for every day. But hopefully these blogs will give you that extra bit of help in filling it in and feeling happier and stronger whilst going through IVF.

The first section I am going to talk about is the daily happiness plan. The planner includes 12 weeks of journaling pages, so I have given you 12 weekly planners, so you can plan in something that makes you smile for every day you are using the planner. Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be anything big or expensive every day, just something that puts a smile on your face and brightens your day (because let’s face it, we all need that!)

One of the things that gets forgotten when trying to conceive is to take care of ourselves emotionally. We put so much focus on eating right, having sex at the best times, avoiding doing activities that we enjoy and help us relax. Our mind is constantly on doing everything we can to conceive, and it makes us feel anxious, on edge and stuck in a rut.

Struggling to conceive is hard enough, but having to give up the things we enjoy and that help us relax just adds more insult.

We forget that we should still be happy, that TTC can take a long time, and it’s a long time to be sad and deny ourselves the things that we enjoy.

We forget the little things that make us smile, and we tend to focus on what we don’t have and all the things that are missing from our lives, which makes us feel even worse.

It’s time to start putting the focus back on your emotional wellbeing. On doing things that make you happy, making time every day to do something (no matter how small) that makes you smile.

Realise how important you are, and how important it is to look after your emotional health. You can’t keep going every day if you are not looking after yourself and you are feeling like you are running on empty.

The daily happiness plans help you put the focus back on looking after yourself physically and emotionally, so you are fully recharged and feel more able to cope with the day to day triggers and going through treatment.