[SweetPrincessLauren]

Hi all! I just joined this site today; I regularly post on Ovusoft but they are down till Friday . I hope you can help shed some insight. I started stims on Sat for my 1st IVF cycle(Menopur 75IU; Follistim 150IU). Yesterday I went in for BW & US and I have 3 small follicles on one side and 5 small follicles on the other. I keep worrying should I have more should they be bigger ? Can someone tell me how quickly the follicles should start growing once you start stims; maybe share your follie counts and measurements throughout the stim phase? Before I started stims I was worried about OHSS now I'm freaking out that my cycle could get cancelled for the exact opposite.

The dr. advised me to increase the follistim to 200 and add the ganarellix. But she didn't seem overly concerned. I go back tommorrow for BW & US after 5 days of stims (2 days at increased dosages) and I'm
hoping that those follies have really grown!!!
Any insight is much appreciated!
Thanks!

Lauren (Me) 32 DH 36
DX: MFI
TTC #1 Since Jan 2006
IVF # 1 May/June
Started Menopur 75IU Follistim 150IU 5/23; 5/26 Ganarellix & increased to 200 IU Follistim
ER & ET TBD expected June 1-5

[snownsun]

Lauren,
How many Follikles did you have in your base ultra sound before you started stims?
I started stims on the same day as you. My US was on Monday. I had at my base ultra sound 5 follikles on the right and 7 on the left. When I had my US on Monday the doc said there were 2 measureable ones on the right and 3 measureable ones on the left, the other ones were too small to measure. My doc wasn't concerned about that at all, because he said it was too early in the game to know.
Were any of yours measureable or were they all too small to measure.
I understand your concerns, I felt the exact same way!
It will be fine.

[SweetPrincessLauren]

My baseline US showed 5 Anterial (Sp?) Follicles on each side. At my US yesterday the DR said the follicles were very small; so I'm guessing not measurable. I am that they've grown by tomorrow.

[SweetPrincessLauren]

Marion, Thanks for the imput! After I looked at your sig, I noticed our circumstances are very similar (but I've got a couple years on you). I wish you lots of hope we get our together! I'll post tomorrows US results. Let me know how you make out at yours!

Lauren

[eco-friendly]

I don't think I even asked about my follicle count at the beginning, but about 6 days in to the stims I had 4 measurable follicles in each ovary. So 8 total. I was a little bummed - why couldn't I produce 30 total? By the time of ER, they estimated I had 10-15 follicles.

But, I couldn't be happier with my current situation. I think I read in an IVF book that most people only have 5-13 eggs after stims (if it's done well?)...

Good luck - you're doing great!

[arichardson]

My antral follicle count was 5 on the left and 8 on the right. After two days of stims, they were 7 on each, all about 8 mm. After five days of stims, they were 9 on each, all about 10-11 mm. My RE was very happy with this and called me a "perfect responder". The most important thing he noted was that they were all about the same size. If you get any lead follicles, you may lose the smaller ones, cause they have to go ahead and retreive the larger ones before they ovulate on their own. I always make a point to ask how many on each side and what size they are. I also ask about my lining each time. My lining is 7 mm.

Good luck!

[SweetPrincessLauren]

Well it looks like this cycle is going to be cancelled . I'm so bummed. The three follicles on my right side are 8,8 & 9. There was actually only one follie on the left on Tuesday. That one is the biggest at 11 and there are 2 other small ones. Todays counts & measurements are what the Dr would like to have seen on tuesday but at this point the dr doesn't expect the small ones to catch up and she doesn't think the others grow enough (I'm at stim day 6 and my clinic doesn't like patients stim for more than 10 days.) Plus my lining is only at 4 and my E2 level was low on Tuesday. The Dr is going to discuss with the other Dr on staff and call me back but it sounds like they want to cancel. I know in the grand scheme of things it's better to cancel than proceed and get a BFN because the conditions weren't optimal (or cancel any way because nothing makes it to transfer). But I'm still upset. I was really hoping to buy DH a father's day (Daddy to be) card.

[SweetPrincessLauren]

The Dr. called back and she increased my dose of Menopur and wants to see me tomorrow for another ultrasound and we will decide from there. I had just talked my self down from the ledge (I know, I'm a DQ) and decided it would probably be better to wait! Our insurance gives us a $25,000 allowance towards treatment. I was hoping well have something to freeze incase we don't get a BFP. So if it looks like this is not going to be a successful cycle, to me it makes sense to cancel and wait till next month (and save our money). Anyone else have an opinion? I hope this will be an easy decision tomorrow!

[alfowler]

Lauren~ I am kind of in the same boat. I only had 3 follies at day 5. I go back in the morning to see what they are doing and will have a better idea then whether to cancel or not. I also have 25,000.00 lifetime infertility coverage so I have to be careful about where that goes. I just don't know if I try again next month if it will get any better. 3 may be as good as it gets!

I wish I had the answer for you but i don't know what I am going to do myself. Good luck!

[kristyr41982]

I've had 2 different cycles where the same thing happened. 1 cycle the follicles all took off about 7 days into it and I stimmed until day 16 or so. The second cycle was cancelled because I quit responding and they never grew above size 14. I hope you are successful. It is still early.

[SweetPrincessLauren]

Well, what a difference a day makes (and an extra dose of menopur. I now have 7 follies all between 10-13! I'm still not 100% out of the woods. The Dr wants me to keep up the meds over the weekend and come in again Monday. If they keep growing they get to the size he'd like, they'll do a retrival tuesday or wednesday. He told me some people are just slow responders but once they get going everythings fine. With the 10 antreal follicles at my base US the dr says at best response I probably wouldn't get anymore than that so seven out of 10 isn't bad I guess. GROW EGGIES GROW!

[eco-friendly]

Originally Posted by SweetPrincessLauren

Well, what a difference a day makes (and an extra dose of menopur. I now have 7 follies all between 10-13! I'm still not 100% out of the woods. The Dr wants me to keep up the meds over the weekend and come in again Monday. If they keep growing they get to the size he'd like, they'll do a retrival tuesday or wednesday. He told me some people are just slow responders but once they get going everythings fine. With the 10 antreal follicles at my base US the dr says at best response I probably wouldn't get anymore than that so seven out of 10 isn't bad I guess. GROW EGGIES GROW!

That's great news!! I hope they keep growing!! Good luck!

[kristyr41982]

That's wonderful. I only got 7 eggs at retrieval, 6 fertilized and we got 3 embryos out of those transferred. Two with my fresh IVF and one with a FET.