Free Download: Your Ultimate IVF Checklist

When navigating fertility treatments or trying to get pregnant, it is natural to become consumed with the complex feelings and thoughts of everything you are experiencing.  The logistics, the instructions, the wealth of emotion and mental overload, can take up so much space in your mind and heart it’s hard to focus on anything else. 

One of the most effective strategies to manage the complicated process is daily journaling.  Spending a designated amount of time each day to document how you are feeling and what is on your mind in order to process it all in the healthiest manner. 

Here are six benefits to implimenting a journaling practice while as part of your fertility journey.

Processing Complicated Emotions
Fertility treatments can trigger incredibly complex and difficult emotions.  These feelings are often difficult to communicate so it’s common to internalize the feelings, which only increases the stress and anxiety.  Journaling offers an emotional outlet to express deeper fears, hopes and worries without concerns of judgement. 

Supporting Stress Relief
A consistent journaling practice can be an effective tool in decreasing general stress and anxiety while managing your fertility treatments or trying to get pregnant.  When you take some quiet time to physically write down what is weighing on your mind you will find that you can manage those stressors with more clarity and calm. Journaling can allow you to recognize what triggers are causing the stress and help you to identify the best ways to address them.

Practicing Gratitude
When navigating fertility treatments, it can be very difficult to shift our focus from the stress and pain and find joy.  When journaling you can commit to listing 2-3 aspects of your life that you are grateful for and spend some time on the positive.  This can be an opportunity to encourage positive self-talk and shift any negative thoughts you are stuck on.

An Effective Tracking Method
A daily journaling practice can help you document how you are feeling through your treatment.  Identifying patterns with symptoms, side effects, or changes in your overall wellbeing can be helpful to share with your medical team as they adjust your protocol and medications.

Related Read: Your Fertility Treatment Toolbox

Staying Organized
Journaling can offer you a sense of control by keeping all of your treatment related logistics organized.  Within your journal you can keep a log and calendar to track appointments, medication instructions, and notes for conversations with your medical team. An organization process can be highly empowering in an intimidating and overwhelming process like fertility treatments.

Communication Tool
Use your journal as a way to bridge communication with your partner or loved ones who may struggle to understand what you are going through.  If you are comfortable doing so, share with them some of your written thoughts and use this as a way to convey how they might be most supportive of you on this journey. 

Related Read: Self-Care During Your IVF Cycle

Documenting Your Journey
Documenting this important chapter of your life may be helpful to you in the future when sharing the story with your future children or supporting a friend with their own fertility experience.  You may find it interesting to go back and read about how you navigated this challenge and remember the coping tools you found most effective.

Related Read: Connecting With Your Partner During An IVF Cycle

How to start a journaling practice

In order to begin a consistent journaling practice it’s important to make it easy for you to succeed.  Choose what you will use for your journal – a spiral notebook is just as effective as a fancy journaling specific book – and keep your journal along with a pen in a place where you have access to it during the times you plan to journal. 

Choose a time and place that are best for you to focus.  This may be first thing in the morning before you get out of bed, while drinking your morning coffee, before you go to sleep, or any other time you are confident you will be uninterrupted in your practice. 

*Some find journaling right before going to sleep helps to clear the mind and supports rest.   

In the beginning you may want to set a timer – start at 5-10 minutes while you get used to the exercise.  Commit to writing the full time without distractionand increase the timer as the practice becomes more natural for you. 

Practice free-writing by writing down whatever comes to mind.  Don’t concern yourself with spelling, grammar or even complete thoughts.  Just put pen to paper and write any thought that comes to your head. Eventually, with practice, the thoughts will come more clearly and you will find it easier to begin.

Use prompts for inspirations for topics.  You can begin with a prompt but if your mind wanders elsewhere, follow it.  Find a list of journal prompts at the end of this post.

Consider dividing your daily journal into parts. 
Part 1 – Practice gratitude with 3 things that bring your joy. 
Part 2 – List 2-3 thing that are not serving you and you will try to let go of that day. 
Part 3 – Journal your general thoughts or focus on a prompt for the day.

Commit to journaling for a minimum of 5-10 minutes each day for 30 days.  Be aware of how you feel while actively writing, after completing the task, and how it makes you feel after a consistent practice of a couple of weeks.  Once you are in a rhythm of journaling each day the habit will become a natural part of your routine. 

Related Read: Positive Affirmations For A New Season

Try these journal prompts to inspire your writing process.

What does my ideal future look like?
What are my biggest fears in terms of my fertility journey?
How is my fertility journey affecting my relationships?
How has my fertility experience affected my mental health?
In what ways am I taking care of myself?
What forms of self-care are most effective for me?
Who in my life can I turn to for emotional support?  How can I better communicate my needs?
What kind of parent do I want to be?  What am I most looking forward to in raising children?
What feelings do I need to release right now?
What are three things that have made me proud recently?

Journaling is just one of several strategies for finding a positive mindset in a challenging situation. If this method doesn’t work for you, let me help find a solution that does. My private coaching sessions are a great opportunity to identify what mindset tools will be the most effective for you. Set up your free consult call today.

Are you struggling to find center and calm while trying to get pregnant?  I would love to help you navigate this challenging road and make the journey more positive.  Schedule a chat today and follow Positive Fertility on Instagram for daily support and inspiration!  

Don’t forget to download your FREE Ultimate IVF Checklist – a must read for anyone preparing for an upcoming treatment cycle.