What can an u/s tell you about infertility?

[callieollie]

I called my dr. after more months of no luck ttc and asked for more testing. I have an appointment in August and he'd prefer to discuss everything then and figure out our plan of action but in the meantime, he did want me to get an u/s down the morning of the appointment. He apparently isn't concerned about when in my cycle it is because he wants it no matter what so I'm wondering, what is he looking for and what could it possibly tell us about why we aren't getting pregnant and have had 2 miscarriages?  I will be around CD7 so not sure if he'll be able to see anything more (or less) at that point of the cycle. Thanks!

[lifeguard]

The u/s I had while ttc were about making sure everything looked ok. They check all the structures & make sure nothing looks strange. They may also inject a saline solution through your cervix & watch it bubble through your uterus & out the fallopian tubes to make sure the tubes are clear, although usually they tell you ahead if they are doing this as it can be painful (the uterus doesn't like it & cramps). As well, as you have already conceived they may not be concerned that the tubes are blocked.

Good luck.

[RosieL]

I'm having an ultrasound in a couple weeks too, and I'd like to know more as well. 

[catheleni]

From the form that my gyno gave me for the "antenatal resource center," I am getting a "gynecological ultrasound" too, with saline....checking tubal potency. 

Want to know more too....

[RosieL]

When will yours be? If I have a normal 10 day LP I'll have the ultrasound on the 22nd or 25th.

[callieollie]

It's going to be the morning of a scheduled appointment I already have on August 15th so I'm not positive in the cycle where it will be, but likely around CD7.  

[RosieL]

I just looked at my checklist and the ultrasound says "antral follicle" baseline vaginal ultrasound. 

[herent]

A baseline ultrasound is usually done very early in the cycle around day 3 yes during AF.  It checks for Antral follicles which are tiny baby follicles getting ready to mature.  Just a regular ultrasound to check for structure can be done anytime, it checks for any abnormalities, fibroids, enlarged or cystic ovaries, they can look at thickness of lining as well.  Generally a HSG or saline test is done at a seperate time. 

[RosieL]

When they look at antral follicles, what are they looking for?

[callieollie]

From what I've looked up online, it seems like antral follicles can give you an idea of ovarian reserve. Some sites even said that if you have, say 10 follices, you have about 4 years left of childbearing years.  I found info here:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poor_ovarian_reserve

Does anyone know - I will likely be further along in my cycle when I have my u/s done. Probably around CD7.  Will the number of follicles be useful then?  If I remember from what I read, it seemed like you start out with the most follicles fairly early in your cycle and then they all slowly die off until you have the dominant cycle. So would that mean that by CD7, I might have a lower number than i actually would have if I did it on CD3, therefore making it potentially look like I have a poor ovarian reserve? Anyone know how many die off and at what rate?  In other words, is there a way to figure out if you have 6 follices on day 7, how many you would have had to start with on CD3?  

I imagine they'll be looking and counting follicles at my u/s even though I don't think they are actually checking for that. I am pretty sure they are just looking at the structure of everything and making sure I don't have any ovarian cysts or anything else going on.  

[MamatobabyA]

I had a bajillion ultrasound during 5 years of infertility treatment.  It's a very useful tool for examining your uterus and ovaries.  My very first ultrasound was just a structural exam.  They checked the size and shape of my ovaries.  He also looked at my uterus to check for anomalies (which he found and were later corrected during surgeries) as well as measure the thickness of the lining.  He checked the blood flow to my uterus by checking the arteries.

After my initial appointment and surgeries, other ultrasounds were used to measure follicles.  They were done on cycle days 3 and 12.

[gozal]

At my first RE visit, I had an u/s to check on my uterus, ovaries, and tubes, and to measure the thickness of the endometrial lining to see that everything seemed fine visually - normal ovarian size and location, no ovarian cysts, obvious masses in the tubes, adhesions anywhere, fibroids, endometrial hyperplasia. On monitored cycles, I have a baseline u/s on cd3. The doctor checks to see how many basal antral follicles are developing on each ovary - which is different from an antral follicle count, basal follicles are bigger - and she measures the lining. This provides something to compare the cd12 u/s to and is basically just to check that everything is normal and that the cycle is underway. She also does E2 levels on cd3 and depending, sometimes more b/w, to help interpret the u/s findings. I hope that is helpful!

[RosieL]

Thanks MamatobabyA and gozal, those were both really helpful responses. 

[mole]

When I go in for my first appointment, I will be on cycle day 23, which is usually 9 DPO for me. Of course I will probably not be pregnant (wouldn't be going in if things were working right) but just.in.case. I get magically lucky- this would be too early for a BFP- Does anyone know if the ultrasound harm the theoretical embryo? I have absolutely no ability to change my appointment with the fertility specialist- I needed to wait more than 2 months to get this initial appointment.