Worried about follicle size...

rawilli

Hi ladies!

So, I'm on my 5th round of Clomid. (The first 3 were prescribed by an OBGYN who did NOTHING. I try not to get upset thinking about that. I just wish I had found this board sooner.) Last cycle, the date that the RE determined ovulation (by u/s and lab work) and the date that I got AF did not equal a good LP. I have a sneaking suspicion that my progesterone level was off. 

This month, I'm being monitored just as closely as if I were having an IUI and they determined on day 8 (Tuesday) of my cycle that my lining was too thin, so I started Estrace tablets (not taken orally, if that makes sense) and when I went on day 11 (Friday), I had an 11mm follicle (and a 6mm, but I doubt that's going to be acceptable). She said that I'd most likely be ovulating on Xmas Eve (Monday) and that my estrogen levels were good. I should also mention that on day 8 (Tuesday), the tech noted 3 follicles (1 on my left, 2 on my right). 

Yesterday I had heavy EWCM and pain on my left side (where the 11mm follicle was spotted). I'm guessing I ovulated today. This means that my follicle would be at most 14mm, which is SMALL. My temping hasn't showed a shift and an OPK hasn't given me a +. However, I have PCOS so I don't really trust OPKs. 

Do you guys think that maybe I haven't ovulated yet? Maybe the follicle grew more than the average b/c of the Estrace tablets?

This up and down of emotions is horrible! I'm preparing myself to hear the bad news tomorrow (follicle was too small to produce a viable egg) but hoping for the best, it would be the best Xmas present ever!

karda2011

Are they doing another ultrasound on Monday? Follies usually grow 1 to 2 mm per day. If you had an 11 on Friday it should be 14 to 17 mm on Monday. My RE says a mature follie is 20 to 26 mm. I would suggest another ultrasound Monday. As for ovulation pains, they can happen before, during and even after ovulation. The same is for EWCM.

ETA stupid bump mobile!

DebateThis

It's hard to tell but I am guessing you haven't ovulated yet.

When in doubt, hump it out!

ETA: I think your RE was pretty close in his estimates that you'll be ovulating Monday, given the size of the follie on Friday. They tend to grow about 1-2mm a day. 

FWIW, every RE has different measurements of what they consider a "good" follicle, but I conceived with a 17mm so I think you're somewhat in the right range.

If this cycle winds up being a BFN, though, you might want to consider switching to Femara or injects. After five cycles of Clomid with no success, it's time to try something else.

rawilli

karda2011:

Are they doing another ultrasound on Monday? Follies usually grow 1 to 2 mm per day. If you had an 11 on Friday it should be 14 to 17 mm on Monday. My RE says a mature follie is 20 to 26 mm. I would suggest another ultrasound Monday. As for ovulation pains, they can happen before, during and even after ovulation. The same is for EWCM. ETA stupid bump mobile!

Yep. I'll have u/s and lab work done. 

Last cycle, I had a 23mm Corpus Luteum and I did get AF on my own (2nd time this year, 2nd time since I was 12 or 13-yay for losing 70lbs!). 

Yeah, I read that about EWCM. I'm new to the EWCM and ovulation pain. I'm still feeling a bit of discomfort on my left side, so hopefully it hasn't happened yet. Yesterday was the first time that I've been monitoring my CM that I noticed it was CLEARLY EWCM.

P.S. Bump mobile is FRUSTRATING!  

 

rawilli

DebateThis:

It's hard to tell but I am guessing you haven't ovulated yet.

When in doubt, hump it out!

ETA: I think your RE was pretty close in his estimates that you'll be ovulating Monday, given the size of the follie on Friday. They tend to grow about 1-2mm a day. 

FWIW, every RE has different measurements of what they consider a "good" follicle, but I conceived with a 17mm so I think you're somewhat in the right range.

If this cycle winds up being a BFN, though, you might want to consider switching to Femara or injects. After five cycles of Clomid with no success, it's time to try something else.

 Yeah, I want to ask the nurse tomorrow what they consider to be an acceptable follicle size. 

Well, since my first 3 cycles of Clomid were completely unmonitored (lovely OBGYN and stupid, uneducated me), I'm not convinced Clomid is or isn't working. I ovulated last month on Clomid and I'm gearing up to ovulate this month on Clomid and they noticed an issue in my estrogen level this month, so I'm hopeful.

Since you can only take Clomid 6 times in your lifetime, I definitely want to ask if I'm better off switching to injectables. However, my RE said that b/c of my age (25, almost 26) he doesn't want me doing injectables (his example was octomom). But if he sees that I only had one good follicle the past two cycles, he may change his mind. We'll see...

vpine

If this cycle ends in BFN, I would switch to injects/IUI. Not sure why he mentioned octomom since there are a) every other day blood draws and b) ultrasounds to see how many follicles/ size before the trigger shot/IUI, they will bench you if you have too many mature follicles. 

rawilli

vpine:

If this cycle ends in BFN, I would switch to injects/IUI. Not sure why he mentioned octomom since there are a) every other day blood draws and b) ultrasounds to see how many follicles/ size before the trigger shot/IUI, they will bench you if you have too many mature follicles. 

I was beginning to think the same thing. I went 2x last week for blood draws and u/s and I'm going again tomorrow... 

DebateThis

rawilli:

vpine:

If this cycle ends in BFN, I would switch to injects/IUI. Not sure why he mentioned octomom since there are a) every other day blood draws and b) ultrasounds to see how many follicles/ size before the trigger shot/IUI, they will bench you if you have too many mature follicles. 

I was beginning to think the same thing. I went 2x last week for blood draws and u/s and I'm going again tomorrow... 

I agree with vpine, maybe. Do you know off the top of your head what your AFC number is? My RE said similar things about not allowing me to do injects w/o IVF, but it was due to a combo of my age, weight and antral follicle count being so high. I was/am at higher risk of OHSS or HOM.

At the very least I would switch to an IUI cycle if you plan to do one more round of Clomid. You might as well get the most bang for your buck out of round 6, if you can, and after five cycles of Clomid TI isn't very successful, statistically.

rawilli

DebateThis:

rawilli:

vpine:

If this cycle ends in BFN, I would switch to injects/IUI. Not sure why he mentioned octomom since there are a) every other day blood draws and b) ultrasounds to see how many follicles/ size before the trigger shot/IUI, they will bench you if you have too many mature follicles. 

I was beginning to think the same thing. I went 2x last week for blood draws and u/s and I'm going again tomorrow... 

I agree with vpine, maybe. Do you know off the top of your head what your AFC number is? My RE said similar things about not allowing me to do injects w/o IVF, but it was due to a combo of my age, weight and antral follicle count being so high. I was/am at higher risk of OHSS or HOM.

At the very least I would switch to an IUI cycle if you plan to do one more round of Clomid. You might as well get the most bang for your buck out of round 6, if you can, and after five cycles of Clomid TI isn't very successful, statistically.

Due to PCOS, my AFC is very high. I'm guessing my weight would be an issue as well. Although I've lost 70lbs since March, I still am considered overweight.

I feel so robbed of those 3 months on Clomid.

I'm just not sure if I'm ready for the added stress that IUI brings, financially and emotionally. Why does IF have to be so hard???

DebateThis

rawilli:

DebateThis:

rawilli:

vpine:

If this cycle ends in BFN, I would switch to injects/IUI. Not sure why he mentioned octomom since there are a) every other day blood draws and b) ultrasounds to see how many follicles/ size before the trigger shot/IUI, they will bench you if you have too many mature follicles. 

I was beginning to think the same thing. I went 2x last week for blood draws and u/s and I'm going again tomorrow... 

I agree with vpine, maybe. Do you know off the top of your head what your AFC number is? My RE said similar things about not allowing me to do injects w/o IVF, but it was due to a combo of my age, weight and antral follicle count being so high. I was/am at higher risk of OHSS or HOM.

At the very least I would switch to an IUI cycle if you plan to do one more round of Clomid. You might as well get the most bang for your buck out of round 6, if you can, and after five cycles of Clomid TI isn't very successful, statistically.

Due to PCOS, my AFC is very high. I'm guessing my weight would be an issue as well. Although I've lost 70lbs since March, I still am considered overweight. I feel so robbed of those 3 months on Clomid. I'm just not sure if I'm ready for the added stress that IUI brings, financially and emotionally. Why does IF have to be so hard???

IUIs will be no more stressful than your clomid cycles aside from your H having to give a sample the morning of the IUI. The monitoring is the same - CD3 for baseline ultrasound and bloodwork, CD10 u/s and bloodwork, IUI around day 12-14ish, then 7dpo bloodwork. Seriously, it actually took a lot more stress off my mind knowing full well that we quite literally put the sperm exactly where they needed to go to have the best possible outcome.

But yeah, IF blows goats.

DebateThis

By the way, who's your RE? What suburb are you in?

deelopi9

rawilli:

DebateThis:

It's hard to tell but I am guessing you haven't ovulated yet.

When in doubt, hump it out!

ETA: I think your RE was pretty close in his estimates that you'll be ovulating Monday, given the size of the follie on Friday. They tend to grow about 1-2mm a day. 

FWIW, every RE has different measurements of what they consider a "good" follicle, but I conceived with a 17mm so I think you're somewhat in the right range.

If this cycle winds up being a BFN, though, you might want to consider switching to Femara or injects. After five cycles of Clomid with no success, it's time to try something else.

 Yeah, I want to ask the nurse tomorrow what they consider to be an acceptable follicle size. 

Well, since my first 3 cycles of Clomid were completely unmonitored (lovely OBGYN and stupid, uneducated me), I'm not convinced Clomid is or isn't working. I ovulated last month on Clomid and I'm gearing up to ovulate this month on Clomid and they noticed an issue in my estrogen level this month, so I'm hopeful.

Since you can only take Clomid 6 times in your lifetime, I definitely want to ask if I'm better off switching to injectables. However, my RE said that b/c of my age (25, almost 26) he doesn't want me doing injectables (his example was octomom). But if he sees that I only had one good follicle the past two cycles, he may change his mind. We'll see...

Ask your RE how many cycles he'd be willing to do. Every RE has a different timeline for Clomid - mine will do up to 10 cycles, of course, monitoring my lining.

rawilli

DebateThis:

By the way, who's your RE? What suburb are you in?

I go to Fertility Centers of Illinois in Orland Park.

rawilli

So, the verdict is in. My follicle is now 21! It was actually at 15 on Friday, not 11. I go back on Friday for a progesterone blood draw. My lining is an 8, so I'm staying on the Estrace to ensure a nice lining for embryo implantation. Now, I just have to pray to God that I ovulate! My temp has been slowing decreasing over the past few days and before that it was a steady 96.8 and today it is 96.6, yesterday 96.7. I hope it takes a bigger dip tomorrow!

karda2011

Great! I'm glad your follie is nice and ripe!