Follicle

[Noemi2017]

Hello Atomic, i had ultrasound today cd15 for me and my follicle was 10mm. My doctor told me it will annovulatory cycle can it grow up later? Last month i had ovulation cd20. Does something help for grow up follicle? They recommended me Ivf due to my age, im 38.

[Throwaway_panther]

A follicle can tend to grow 1-2 mm unassisted a day, so I'm confused why he'd say anovulatory when you tend to O on CD 20. Follicles tend to mature and ovulate between 16-20+mm, so I wouldn't think the cycle is a bust yet?

There are definitely things that help follicles grow without IVF first. Femara/clomid can. Injectables like Follistim/Gonal also help this. How long have you been TTC?

[Noemi2017]

Hello Tp, she told me that and she didnt offer me femara or clomid. Just ovitrelle/pregnyl, IUI and IVF which she prefers coz my insurance company will pay me 3 cycles till age 39.

[atomic sagebrush]

Yes it can still ovulate! Just keep eating full fat dairy every day, 4-6 eggs a week, and salmon every week. In fact for now let's do 1 serving of salmon, 1 serving of red meat per week till that egg pops. you have dropped fiber, yes??

We are plagued with doctors who do not seem to understand delayed ovulation. You can and absolutely very very likely still WILL ovulate.

The odds are very high you do not need IVF. At 38, your odds of success with IVF will be low anyway!

In English we have a saying "To a little boy with a hammer, everything he sees looks like a nail that needs to be pounded" and reproductive endocrinologists are the same way. They immediately jump to IVF for all problems. But the thing is, for IVF to work, you have to put all your eggs into one basket, quite literally! Trying naturally only requires ONE egg, while IVF success takes lots and lots. You have to avoid trying to conceive for many months while you do pretesting and get on the medications and reguate your cycle, and then they'll retrieve eggs from one cycle, possibly 2 or 3 if you can afford it. And if that's a bad cycle (or two) and you don't make LOTS of eggs - which older moms usually do not - then you've wasted all that time for nothing. And since you would likely prefer to put back an XX, that cuts your chances down even further since you'll be eliminating the XY option.

In the meantime, if you keep trying naturally, you could have had a shot at many eggs. Even if you are only making 2-3 good eggs a year, you'd still have a better chance at conceiving than taking a whole year to prepare for 2-3 cycles and end up with nothing to show for it if you don't respond well to the medication.

But, that's just the way I see it - follow your gut instinct on that. It's always possible to do pretesting and see what your egg reserve really looks like first and then decide. I just hate when doctors present IVF as someone's only option when it really isn't and may even be lower chances of conception for many people.

Can you give me another rundown of everything you're doing to sway and also to conceive now? I just want to be sure I have the most accurate info

[Noemi2017]

Thx u Atomic for your answer, i am really unhappy of it and i would prefer ttc naturally. I dropped fiber as u said and eating daily full fat yoghurt, 3-4eggs weekly and 1x weekly salmon. I just take folic acid 1200-1600mg daily. And we do e4d and i planned +1more attempt when i get first positive opk this month. Due ff i ovulate every month but it vary from cd17-23.

[atomic sagebrush]

Are you doing anything like shallow release, jelly, frequency???

Has DH had a sperm analysis?

[Noemi2017]

Atomic i dont do jelly or shallow release. I lay down for 15min after dtd. Dh had sperm analysis and it was good.

[atomic sagebrush]

Stay laying down longer, and spend part of the time on your tummy instead of your back.

I would add in female O if you haven't already, as well.