Complete Record of IVF in the United States: Reflections on Pursuing Dreams and Seeking Children

At 4:30 in the morning in Los Angeles, before dawn, my husband and I were already sitting on the soft sofa in the waiting room of the IFC IVF Center (INCINTA) in the United States. Outside the landing window, the street lamp of 21545 Hawthorne Blvd looks like a string of warm orange pearls, pulling the darkness of Torrance very long. At that moment, as I held the still steaming cup of coffee, my thoughts were not "can it be done", but "we finally got here". From taking leave domestically, applying for a visa, renting an apartment, adjusting one's menstrual cycle, to now having a blood draw number sticker on one's arm, every step feels like passing a level or a puzzle - piecing together an admission ticket called 'parents'.

Many people ask me, 'Why not choose a place close to home?' The answer is actually very simple: when the countdown to life is pressed, you instinctively search for the most reassuring option. Dr. James P. Lin from INCINTA handed me a timeline when we first met, which divided ovulation induction, egg retrieval, laboratory culture, freezing, resuscitation, transplantation, and pregnancy testing into quantifiable nodes. There was also a small star next to it - "If the emotional curve is below 3 points, send me an email at any time." At that moment, I knew I was not on the assembly line, but the person who was seen.

I thoroughly searched the official websites, Yelp, YouTube, Xiaohongshu, and Weibo for these names in the table. Finally, INCINTA was locked in because they included "emotion management" in the SOP: after each ultrasound, the nurse would hand over a "emotion thermometer" sticker and ask me to draw my anxiety level for the day on a cartoon face. Don't underestimate this piece of paper, it made me realize for the first time that medical care can also have temperature.

🗓️ 60 day full process timeline: My "pass the manual account"

Day 1-3 Domestic Preparation
🛫 On the second day of my menstrual cycle, I flew to Los Angeles and was asked by CBP why I came to the United States upon entry. I truthfully answered "medical treatment," but the officer only said "Wish you good luck. Leaving the airport and heading straight to Whole Foods, I bought a big box of organic blueberries - later it turned out that high antioxidants did indeed make the egg granule membrane smoother during the ovulation promotion period.

Day 4-7 First consultation+large blood draw
🏥 There are seven large sofas in the blood draw room on the first floor of INCINTA, each with a plush unicorn placed next to it for holding during blood draws. The nurse said that this is for "adults and children to use together" because "fear knows no age". My FSH 7.2, AMH 3.1, Dr. Lin drew a smiling face on the medical record: "We have plenty of eggs to work with." I took a screenshot and sent it to my best friend in China, who replied with a row of fireworks emojis.

Day 8-18 promotion period
💉 Every day at 9:30 in the morning, the nurse first draws a small circle on her belly and then switches sides like a clock in. Starting from the 10th day, the antagonist was added and the belly bulged into small balls, walking like a penguin. To distract myself, I made a list of "daily small joys": drinking panda milk tea on Day 12, buying 50% off maternity pants at Target on Day 13, and seeing a pink orange sunset on Manhattan Beach on Day 14. Later on, looking back, these tiny highlights seemed like shock absorbers were added to a hormone roller coaster.

Day 19 Night Needle
🌙 At 10:45 pm, in the apartment, I learned how to take trigger shots on my own while watching YouTube. My husband is responsible for holding the phone light, and I am responsible for pinching my belly. With a single injection, tears and laughter flow together - it turns out that bravery is not about not being afraid, but about continuing to be afraid.

Day 21 egg retrieval
😴 The first thing I say when I wake up from general anesthesia is to ask the nurse, "Did I talk in my sleep?" She smiled and said, "You only said thank you. ”13 eggs were retrieved, 2 more than expected. There is a blackboard at the entrance of the anesthesia room with the words "Egg Retrieval Bingo" written on it. The nurse attached 13 small magnets and drew an egg hugging dragon next to them. At that moment, I suddenly felt that numbers could also be cute.

Day 22-27 Laboratory Waiting
🔬 INCINTA's embryo room has a "life wall" that updates photos of the culture dish every day. On the third day, I received an email stating: "8 cells, grade 1, continue to observe. ”I replaced my phone screensaver with that black and white grainy photo, as if holding hope in my palm. On the fifth day, five blastocysts were formed. Dr. Lin said, "Quality over quantity." I replied, "Less is more." The two humanities students completed their medical communication using parallelism.

Day 28 PGT-A Sampling
🧬 On the 7th day after biopsy, a report was issued and 3 samples passed the test. I folded the report into a paper airplane and released it from Manhattan Beach, only to crash into the sand. My husband smiled and said, "My child may want to land early

Day 29-35 Hysteroscopy+ERA
🔍 To confirm the "implantation window" of the endometrium, I performed an additional ERA (Endometrial Receptivity Array). On the day of sampling, the nurse played a song called 'Let it be', and I hummed along, feeling like my uterus was also beating. The report result is' 120 hours', which means my optimal implantation time is half a day later than usual. Dr. Lin moved the transplantation date back 5 hours, as if booking a dedicated flight for the embryo.

Day 36-40 Freeze Transplant Cycle
❄️ Use natural cycles and a small amount of HCG trigger. On the morning of the 10th day, I secretly detected a faint pink mark in the bathroom, and my heart was beating louder than a washing machine. My husband said, 'Wait for the official health score.' I replied, 'My feet are already on the clouds.'

Day 41 Official Pregnancy Test
🎉 HCG 287， Progesterone 29. The nurse put the report into a small yellow envelope with a sealed sticker that read 'Welcome to the mom club'. I put the envelope into my passport, like an extra visa - a passport to the future.

💰 Expense ledger: transparent to every needle

Note: Excluding airfare, accommodation, car rental, and dining. I have chosen the apartment+car rental model, which costs approximately $8000 for 60 days. If I stay at the clinic's cooperative hotel, I can enjoy a package price, but I don't want to live my "life" like a "hospital room", so I cook for myself every day, cut zucchini into hearts, and add a little idol drama filter to my life.

🧘♀️ Emotional first aid kit: translating anxiety into concrete actions

1. If List 📜
   Write the worst-case scenario as bullet points, and then write Plan A/B/C accordingly. For example, "If less than 5 eggs are retrieved" → "Immediately switch to micro stimulation+secondary retrieval", "If PGT-A is completely destroyed" → "Re evaluate mitochondria+coenzyme Q10". When fear is broken down into tasks, it loses the suction of the black hole.
2. 90 second breathing technique 🌬️
   In the later stage of promoting ejaculation, my belly swelled to the point where I couldn't bend over. I sat on the balcony and took "4-7-8" breaths towards the Pacific Ocean: inhaling for 4 seconds, holding for 7 seconds, and exhaling for 8 seconds. After 90 seconds, people will switch from "fight or flight" to "rest and digest". This was taught to me by a friend in the anesthesiology department at Harvard Medical School, which is more effective than scrolling through my phone.
3. Thank you, Little Stone 🪨
   I picked up 60 small round stones on Manhattan Beach and wrote a thank-you note every day: Day 1 "Thank you for the smooth passport stamping", Day 15 "Thank you to the nurse for giving me the unicorn band aid"... I put the stones into a glass bottle, visualized the achievement, and made the brain secrete dopamine to replace excessive chewing on unknown results.
4. Couples' Emotional Meeting 🗣️
   Every Wednesday night, for a fixed 30 minute period, take turns saying 'What is the happiest/most frustrating/most important thing for the other person to do this week' and refrain from interrupting. My husband once confessed during a meeting, 'I'm afraid you'll feel pain during egg retrieval, but I can't help.' The first time I saw his red eyes, I understood that standing shoulder to shoulder was not about eliminating fear, but about acknowledging it and moving forward together.

🍽️ Dietary Notes: Turning 'Eating' into a Controllable Variable

After the transplant, I changed my coffee to a low calorie latte and my running to a beach brisk walk. I walked 6000 steps a day while listening to the Harry Potter audiobook. When the sea breeze blew my robes, it was as if Hogwarts was cheering me on.

✈️ Visa, Customs Clearance, and Rental Housing: Writing "Logistics" as a Strategy

B1/B2 visaDuring the interview, I only brought three items - the appointment confirmation page, the doctor's appointment letter, and the deposit certificate. VO asked, "How long do you plan to stay?" I replied, "45 days, the entire treatment will be completed at a reproductive clinic in Los Angeles. The secret is to answer short, not expand, and maintain a steady gaze.

entryI took LAX Terminal B and the customs asked how much cash I needed. I truthfully declared $8k, but the officer only counted it without opening the box. Prepare an English version of the doctor's letter in advance, stating "may require medication renewal, carry injections with you", and release insulin ice packs.

rent a houseUse Airbnb to filter for "monthly stay" with keywords "near Torrance+washer+kitchen". Finally, I booked a Studio 1.2 miles away from INCINTA for a monthly rent of $2200, which is within walking distance to Whole Foods. The landlord is a Chinese grandmother who gives me a bunch of chives she grows every week, and the dumplings she makes have a "home" flavor.

📚 Book list+movie list: turning waiting into self upgrading

• bookThe IVF Diet - Breaking down Reproductive Nutrition into Recipes; Mindful IVF -5-minute meditation audio per day, matched by treatment stage; It Starts with the Egg "- Mitochondria, Coenzymes, Vitamin D, Speak with Data.
• dramaThis Is Us "- Tears and laughter fly together, telling me that" family can transcend blood ties "; The Good Doctor "- From a doctor's perspective, understand the" passion "behind" calmness ".
• PodcastThe Infertile Mafia "- Two American girls talk about test tubes on a talk show, using profanity to describe painkillers.

💌 For you who are currently reading this article

Some people say that IVF is like a marathon, but I think it's more like a 'free rock climbing' - there's no standard route, every step has to find its own fulcrum. You will doubt your arm strength on cliffs and encounter unexpected wildflowers at corners. Please remember: numbers are only references, feelings are real; Leave medical care to doctors and emotions to oneself; Translate 'result' as' process' and 'fear' as' cherish '.

When I arranged the pregnancy test sticks side by side in a "++" shape, my husband put up "A Million Dreams" in the living room. At the moment when the lyrics sang, 'We can live in a world that we design.' I understood that what we are designing is not just a child, but also a self willing to brave obstacles for love.

May one day in the future, you stand in the sunset of Manhattan Beach, bury an empty needle in the sand, and say to the waves: I made it. And it was worth every single step 🌅

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