One of the things I’ve noticed over years of doing IVF is that patients who come in with a clear understanding of what’s going to happen do better — not just clinically, but emotionally. The unexpected is harder than the difficult.
So here is the most honest, complete walkthrough I can give you of what an IVF cycle at Punit Fertility, Kandivali actually involves — from start to finish.
Before injecting a single hormone, I need a complete picture of where you’re starting from. This includes:
This baseline determines your stimulation protocol. There is no single standard protocol — I customise based on your ovarian reserve, age, and any previous cycle data.
The cycle starts on Day 2–3 of your period. You’ll give yourself daily subcutaneous injections of gonadotropins (FSH and/or LH) — I teach you how, and it becomes routine after the first day or two. The goal is to grow multiple follicles simultaneously.
Monitoring: you’ll come to the clinic every 2–3 days for transvaginal ultrasound scans to check follicle growth and blood tests to track hormone levels. I adjust the medication dose based on your response. This monitoring is where most of your clinic visits are concentrated.
Side effects: bloating, breast tenderness, and mood fluctuations are common. Most women manage this well. Severe ovarian hyperstimulation (OHSS) is monitored for carefully and managed if it develops.
When the leading follicles reach approximately 18–20mm, you’ll give yourself a “trigger shot” — usually hCG or a GnRH agonist — to mature the eggs for retrieval. The timing is precise: egg retrieval is scheduled exactly 34–36 hours later. This is the injection you cannot miss or get wrong.
A day procedure. You come in fasting, receive intravenous sedation (you’re not under general anaesthesia — you’re comfortably sedated), and I retrieve the eggs using a fine needle guided by ultrasound through the vaginal wall. You’re not aware of this happening. It takes about 20–30 minutes.
Immediately after, our embryologist counts and assesses the retrieved eggs. You’ll know the number within an hour of waking up. Some women feel fine within hours; others are sore and bloated for 1–2 days. Most take one day off work.
The eggs go straight to the embryology lab. Depending on sperm quality, fertilisation happens via conventional IVF or ICSI. The next morning, the embryologist checks fertilisation — typically 70–80% of mature eggs fertilise successfully. You’ll get a call with this update.
Embryos are cultured in the laboratory under carefully controlled conditions. We watch their development daily. By Day 5, the best embryos reach blastocyst stage — this is the optimal point for transfer, as it naturally selects the most viable embryos.
You’ll get updates throughout this period. This part of the process is entirely in the embryologist’s hands — and it’s where the best labs make a real difference.
The lightest part of the cycle. You come in with a comfortably full bladder (for ultrasound guidance), and I pass a thin, flexible catheter through the cervix to gently place the embryo(s) in the uterine cavity. No sedation needed. It takes about 5–10 minutes. You can go home afterwards and resume normal, gentle activity.
Progesterone supplementation (pessaries or injections) starts immediately and continues for several weeks if pregnancy is confirmed.
Twelve to fourteen days between transfer and your blood pregnancy test. I won’t minimise this — it’s genuinely hard. Most patients find this the most emotionally difficult part of the whole process. Gentle activity is fine. There’s nothing you can do (or eat, or avoid) that will change the outcome — the embryo either implants or it doesn’t. Try to be kind to yourself during this time.
A blood test measuring hCG — the pregnancy hormone. Positive: you’ll have an ultrasound at 6–7 weeks to confirm a heartbeat and the number of sacs. Negative: we’ll have a conversation about what happened, what our next step is, and — if frozen embryos remain — when to plan the next transfer.
At Punit Fertility, we’re available throughout your cycle — for questions, for concerns, for the moments when the anxiety peaks and you need to speak to someone who knows your case. This is a partnership.
👉 Begin your IVF journey at Punit Fertility, Kandivali Mumbai
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