Baseline Follicle Count

GK2009 · August 2015

Hi Everyone-
I went to the RE for BW and sonogram yesterday so I can get the greenlight to start injections for IVF. I got the okay and I started Lupron last night. The only thing that has been bugging me is that my baseline follicle count seemed low. I had 4 in my right ovary and 5 in my left. Does 9 seem like a low number? My nurse once said that with IVF "you need to plan to lose something every step along the way" which is a statement that doesn't sit well with me. I am just really scared of getting cancelled again, but I am more afraid of going all those extra steps and ending up with nothing. I know we can't predict the future but the whole process makes me so nervous. Do any of you mind sharing your baseline counts? Could there be more that the doctor didn't see? Any advice?

Thanks!

Jodee37 · August 2015

my antral follice count (aka baseline) is 4-6 on average. but my ovaries are shit so there's that. i think 9 is great. remember, you will continue to recruit more follicles in the beginning of stim. what you start with is not the end result.

edited because math is hard.

ellebelle2384 · August 2015

What @Jodee37 said. I don't think 9 is a bad AFC and you will recruit more follies along the way. One of the doctors at my practice said a similar statement as your nurse but she was talking about specifically once you retrieve the eggs you will lose something every step then (like retrieved, mature, fertilized, made it to day 3 or 5). Do you think that is what she was referring to instead?

GK2009 · August 2015

Thanks for the encouragement. I didn't realize you could pick up more along the way. I had thought that my nurse meant... "If you have a baseline of 9, maybe we only retrieve 7, then only 5 get fertilized, etc..." and so on... They don't explain very much when I am in the office and I am always super anxious so my mind goes blank until later when I try to recall everything. I just kept thinking that 9 sounded like a low number. I am really trying to be optimistic. I wish I had my husband's attitude... nothing bothers him. Haha.

I know this is a tough road for everyone-- thanks for sharing your information and words of support.

Davie813 · August 2015

First, 9 sounds perfectly fine, and yes, you might well recruit a few that aren't showing up now.
Second, AFCs can go up and down, sometimes by quite a lot. The first one I ever got--before I actually started treatment with an RE--was 7, which I was upset about at the time. Subsequent AFCs have ranged from 16-21, so who knows? The cycle with the 7 follicles was only diagnostic, so I can't say how many would have been recruited, but I imagine it would have been in line with others (and even though I have crappy egg quality, I'm a decent responder).

GK2009 · August 2015

Thanks-- today is day 4 of the meds and I went back this morning for BW and sonogram. I am... once again... a very slow responder. I am on the highest dose of meds and they hardly saw any growth. Actually, they didn't get to see my left ovary at all because it was "hiding"-- but they said that also indicates lack of growth because they should see it better. They also said my right ovary only has 3. So, that was disappointing... it feels like I always leave that office with bad news.

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