When it comes to what you eat, a lot of what you were eating before your egg retrieval will continue to be good for you, though you may also need to manage post-retrieval bloating or nausea as you recover.
What to Eat Before and After Egg Retrieval →
Key elements of a post egg-retrieval diet:
- Electrolytes
- Nausea
- Fibre
Electrolytes are the focus after an egg retrieval, because you're likely feeling some fluid imbalance (thanks to that bloating we mentioned). The good news? You can enjoy some salty snacks! (Ever wonder why so many people post-retrieval opt for french fries? It's part superstition, part required sodium for recovery—a win-win.) Though it doesn't happen to everyone, nausea can be part of recovery. It will likely take a bit of time to feel well enough to eat and so opting for something easy and sip-able, like soup, is a great place to start. And finally, fibre can help bind and eliminate excess estrogen which tends to be high post-retrieval.
(This is not meant to replace medical advice and any dietary changes should be discussed with your healthcare provider.)
Chicken Noodle Soup for After Egg Retrieval
This chicken noodle soup recipe offer a bit more than those standard post-retrieval french fries (though we totally understand hitting up the drive thru on your way home). You'll still get salty goodness from some sea salt, and spinach offers important fibre.
Ingredients:
- Whole, organic chicken
- 3 carrots (peeled and diced)
- 2 large onions (peeled and diced)
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 3 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp. black peppercorns
- 2 tsp. sea salt
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cup brown rice noodles
- 2 cups packed spinach
Method:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Prepare a roasting pan by placing 1 tbsp. olive oil on the bottom.
- Place your chicken into the roasting pan and coat with remaining olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Roast for 1 hour or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Once cooled, remove all the meat from the chicken and shred, placing in a sealable container in the fridge.
- Place the chicken carcass into a large soup pot.
- Add in 1 carrot, 1 onion, apple cider vinegar, 2 tsp. sea salt, black peppercorns and bay leaves to the pot.
- Cover the chicken and vegetables with water.
- Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, leaving for four hours.
- After four hours, strain the broth, removing the vegetables, spices and chicken carcass.
- Set aside ⅓ of the broth to sip on in the hours following your retrieval. The remaining ⅔ will be used for your chicken soup.
- Add 1 tbsp. olive oil to your soup pot and add diced onion and garlic, and sauté until soft and fragrant.
- Add in your carrots and cook until soft.
- Add your chicken meat from the fridge and cover with broth.
- Bring to a boil and then reduce and let simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add in noodles and cook until soft.
- Add in spinach and cook until wilted.
- Remove from heat, spoon some soup into a bowl and enjoy when you’re able to handle more food, post-retrieval.
