Follicle size

[Peale]

I am 43 yrs old. Today is day 10, my lead follicle is 18 mm and I have two more that are both 14mm. My egg retrieval will be on day 12. Do you think the 14mm's will become developed enough by then?  If not, do you think it is even worth it to go through with the egg retrieval with only one good follicle?

[rita02]

are you taking clomid? my md put me on it to increase the size of follicles. anyway from what i was told the folicles grow 2-3mm per day until the eggs are released. good luck and baby dust to you!

[projectbaby]

How did they stimulate your follicles??? what did they use??? and it does only take 1 egg.... do you usually produce more than 3 eggs??  Can they wait a little longer???  So many questions!!!  I just went through IVF.... I got my BFP, but I am waiting to m/c...the numbers did not double as they should!!

[SeattleRed]

I just went through my first round of Letrozole and had my u/s which showed that I had already ovulated and that I was at only 10.5 instead of the 18 needed to inseminate. Maybe this is a 'dumb' question, but is there anything I can do to increase my size in follicles???  We've had one miscarriage in the last 5 months but have been trying for almost 2 years. I'm 33.

[Heather5]

Hi BabylessinSeattle! Letrozole generally helps the follicle(s) mature...but how do you know that the follicle was only 10.5 if you had already ovulated? After ovulation, the follicle collapses, so I'm not sure if it can be measured at that point. Did you have an ultrasound before ovulation as well? And did you use a trigger shot or OPKs?

[LisaRG]

Hi,
Same boat for me.  On day 10 my lead was 18mm and 13/14mm for the other 2.
My RE advised against IVF so I converted to IUI.
After acupunture I had a natural surge and the next day they did IUI.  I didnt need the trigger shot.
I am now 8 dpiui and waiting. I have some symptoms, but I am 44 and the odds are against me.  I have one DD who is 3 and concieved naturally at 40 and 2 following mc - so who knows.
I am Keeping my fingers crossed, "it aint over till the fat lady sings."
Good luck to you

[SeattleRed]

Good point, Heather...I was going off the other follicles that hadn't left the 'room'. They measured at 10.5 so you're right, I don't know the size of the ovulated follicle. RE decided to not go ahead with the HCG shot & insemination, seeing I already ovulated and BBT confirmed that I had indeed ovulated. Next round, we'll have the u/s on day 10 to help with this. Also going to get more progessive with acupuncture.  So here's another question: Can we get pg and successfully keep a pregnancy if our little follies are small?

PS. Why didn't they teach us all of this in sex ed?!  :) It might have saved me years of birth control pills!  :)

Thanks for the feedback. I am always looking for advice! I appreciate it.

[Heather5]

Oh, I see :-) That makes sense then. If you ovulated on your own, the follicle should have already been mature, so I wouldn't worry about that. The "left-over" follicles at 10.5 just wasn't mature enough by then, so that's probably why they were still there. And since you had already gotten a natural surge and ovulated, it would be too late for the HCG trigger and IUI.

It's not uncommon to get more than one follicle on letrozole, and they might not all be mature enough by the time of ovulation. Even with an HCG trigger, only the mature once will be released (although a nearly mature follicle still has about 36 hours to mature before ovulation actually occurs after taking the trigger).

Did you BD around the time you ovulated?