First monitoring scan - disappointed

[Firsttime2023]

Hi everyone, I had my first monitoring scan, day 7 of stims and I am so disappointed 😢 At my baseline scan I had 14 follicles and today I only have 3 responding (15mm, 12mm and 11mm), the rest are still at below 10mm.

I know everyone responds differently but what do you think my chances are of any of the others catching up? My next monitoring scan is on Friday so 2 days away.

I am feeling so disheartened 😔

Hi, what did they say? In my first scan there were loads below the line but I don't remember the exact sizes. The nurse said they were small but that was to be expected at that stage, they kept me on the same dose then three days later they had grown really well and more had come up and I ended up with really good results so fingers crossed! 🙂

On my first round, I only had one big one at my first scan (I forget how many at baseline), and I ended up with 10 by the second scan, got 8 mature eggs. They did give me an extra day of medication to help the others catch up. Hope things look better next scan.

@Waitingforday6@SarahAndQuackthank you both! She didn’t really say a lot to be honest. Just that they would check again on Friday and either book me in for retrieval on Monday or they may decide to keep me on stims for the weekend and scan again on Monday for retrieval later next week. I’m hoping for the latter as obviously I want to get as many as possible 😞
She was very optimistic that I had 1 at 15mm but I found it a bit patronising, like she was trying to be like “wow look you grew 1 dominant follicle!” 😂 Probably me being overly sensitive!
I did ask if I could go on a higher dose of stims (I’m on meriofert 300iu) but she said I’m already on the max dose apparently 🤷🏼‍♀️

I am praying for a miracle that some of the smaller ones have a growth spert in the next few days 🤞🏼🤞🏼

I don't think you are being oversensitive.

I know lots of clinics and lots of individuals working at them are wonderful. But they are a business, and they are there to make money out of people. I think it's quite common to have to insist on getting information and (annoyingly) I think it's really common that they are not forthcoming, because they want people to feel hopeful. I'm not saying that to be all 'doom and gloom,' but because personally, I find it helpful to manage my expectations. When they do the whole 'ooh, wonderful!' bit I do try to tune it out, TBH. Because it might work, but I don't want to be crushed if it doesn't.

I’d say this is pretty normal, I had none near the 12mm baseline needed on first scan and ended up with 27 at the end (had trigger on day 12). First scan is just to check if they’re reacting, it was second and third that really showed the true state!

Thank you for sharing. Wow 27 is amazing! Can I ask when you first monitoring scan was? Mine was at 7 days which seems late and I only have 1 more booked for Friday, so 2 days time.

Thank you, I am the same as you! I would rather be prepared with all the information rather than led to believe it will all be fine 🙄

Of course! I started shots on Friday, had my first scan on Tuesday, then Friday, then Monday and then Wednesday and did trigger Wednesday evening. A week does sound like a while but it probably depends on the cocktail of injections you are on, I'd guess? I started with Menopur and Reckovelle and then added Fyremadel on day 5.

@zirafica Thank you. I guess if I were to trigger on day 12 like you did that's still 5 days away......a few more could catch up. I am just so disappointed. I really got my hopes up when they said I had 14 follicles at baseline scan

There's still time for them to grow, and hopefully they can keep you on the meds a little longer. In my 2nd round for a while 5/12 follicles seemed to be responding but ended up with 9 mature eggs. I did I think 450 menopur that round and stayed on it longer than my 1st round which was 300 or 350 ovaleap and got a better result. Good luck!

Thanks @Orangewillow that’s reassuring to hear. I don’t know why the clinic have told me I’m on the max dose of meriofert when I’ve seen others say they are on 450ui. I’m hoping they will give me more time 🤞🏼

@Firsttime2023 hey, I had quite similar to you but try and be hopeful!

My first scan was day 7 and I was pretty disappointed that I only had 3-4 that were actually growing and a half decent size, on day 9 I had my second scan and they told me I had started to overstimulate which then led to a scan on day 11, I had my collection on day 13 where they told me I had 12 good size follicles they can get eggs from.

It honestly can go from one extreme to the other just within a day or two, it’s absolutely wild!

I hope you’re feeling okay x

Don't worry, on my Day 7 scan (they didn't scan before this) I had 7 growing, and then Day 10, 6 had got to the right size. Then on the day of egg collection (Day 12) they got 13 eggs as lots more had grown! They said I had way more than 13 follicles that had grown too, just they couldn't get eggs from them. So I think lots can grow between Day 7 and egg collection!

@Chlo1995 This is so reassuring thank you. And good to hear that you had scans on the same days as me also.
I know she said that my right ovary was doing all the work and my left hadn't produced any measurable follicles yet, so maybe they will all come to life at tomorrows scan 🙏I think there were 5 in there.

Not sure when your collection was but I hope it all went well? x

@Phlfz Wow I bet that was such a nice surprise for you to get 13 in the end!

Not sure where you are in your journey but I hope you managed to get some good embryo's ❤

Having one dominant ovary also completely normal. I had 5 in left and 22 in the right one.

Thanks! You too ☺️ and hopefully at your next scan theres more follicles, and at collection even more!

I remember the pressure after the first appointment so well. I badgered the nurse until she admitted that if my follicles didn't grow to the line on the graph the cycle would be cancelled but she said that it was too early to tell, there was no reason to believe they wouldn't grow, they were small but that was to be expected at that point and it was all completely fine in the end but the pressure does get to you. I did end up getting an extra two days of stims but had 39 follicles, 31 eggs and 30 mature. I had 22 follicles on day 7 and almost all small so there was growth as well as the follicles almost doubling in number over that time.
But I woke up the morning after the first scan panicking about whether or not they were growing so I completely understand! It all looks completely normal for you but I know the uncertainty is terrible. Hang in there ❤️

@Firsttime2023 honestly I just saw this and thought it was so similar to mine but things can change sooooo quick, it is hard not to be disappointed but try and be hopeful!

Everything did go well, I have just had my 6 week scan a couple of hours ago and we have a little bean so keeping my fingers crossed this is it🤞🏼

This is so amazing, congratulations 🩷🥹 best of luck for the rest of your pregnancy

Thought I would do an update as I had my day 9 scan today!

I have 2 large follicles between 17mm-20mm and 3 that are around 12mm-14mm (I think) so potentially 5 eggs and I have been booked for my retrieval on Monday.

I won’t lie I am disappointed I really did hope my numbers would be more despite knowing its quality over quantity. I had a chat with the nurse and she said they didn’t want to do more stims and potentially risk losing the larger follicles just to give the small ones a chance to catch up when they probably wouldn’t at this point.

However, on getting home and looking at the photo I took of the chart, I am confused. On day 7 they said I had 3 follicles growing all on the right side and the left hadn’t done any work yet. Looking at the chart today there are only 2 follicles from the right showing (blue) and the other 3 are from the left (red). What happened to my third follicle on the right?? Do they just disappear?? Or has the sonographer missed it? I have attached the photo

They do sometimes just disappear, yes.

I get why you're disappointed - it's so rough, this whole process, and everyone wants to be the person saying yay, I got 27 eggs (or whatever). But it is what it is, and you are still ploughing ahead. Good luck!

They do sometimes disappear.. But bare in mind by the time of collection you may have more. Day 10 I had 6 good size follicles, by egg collection on Day 12 I had about 6 more that they successfully got eggs from.