Ultrasound of the Ovaries

Hi Ladies,

Well, to cut a long story short I had a Papsmear today and informed my Gyno that I am off the Pill. Because I have Polycystic Ovaries and I am TTC he suggested that I have an US of the Ovaries on the 25th Jan so that he can detect whether or not I am Ovulating. BUT here is where I don't get it...According to my Ovulation Calendar I am due to Ovulate on or around the 16th of January...won't the Ultrasound be useless unless I am Ovulating? Or can the Ultrasound detect WHEN you Ovulated? :confused:

When we were leading up to TTC I'd have an ultrasound on day one of my cycle to check that I did ovulate, or if a cyst grew instead. This is how I got the diagnosis of PCOS, because I didn't ovulate. Instead my body held the egg and it would become a cyst.

Yeah that sounds right. The ultrasound will detect the corpous luteum (the bit where the egg came out) if it didn't burst out like it should it will look like a cyst like Leasha mentioned which will indicate that you have tried to ovulate but the egg didn't make it out. I have had numerous scans for different reasons. One a few days after O and the others 2 and 3weeks after O and they have always been able to confirm I have ovulated by the collapsing corpeous luteum (which is what is suppose to happen if your not pregnant) if you were to get pregnant that corpeous luteum would produce progesterone to sustain the pregnancy so to speak until other things take over further down the track. So even a week or so later should still be able to confirm if you have ovulated and what side.

Emmy that is some really good info you got there, i had one of those Corpus Luteum still while i was pregnant last time, they just wanted to keep an eye on it and the scans i had they just checked it each time, makes me understand what they were talking about now :doh:

DANNIIM my sister had a scan at about 8-9weeks in 2005 I think and the report that she read before taking it to the Dr said she had a corpeous luteum cyst. She freaked out for ages thinking she had a nasty cyst on her ovary which would mean needing it taken out. It wasn't until she saw the Dr that they explained that it was a good thing (meaning it was normal and producing progesterone and sustaining her pregnancy in those early weeks) I am not sure at what stage they can't see the corpeous luteum in pregnancy. It must be towards the end of the 1st trimester but thats a guess. I think I have seen them pick it up an NT scans so maybe longer.

Thanks for the advice everyone :) it has given me a better understanding of what might be happening to me.

To try and see if anything is happening I bought a Ovulation Test Kit (7 Tests) last night and did the first Test with the result of negative but I will continue to test evey day as they suggest and then see if my body is Ovulating at all. Someone told me that I might be Ovulating at random times?

I think that the US is the only sure way to know whether or not things are happening down there. :crossfingers: that everything is working OK but we'll soon see.

My Doc said that if I am not Ovulating then he can get me on the stuff that will make me Ovulate. Are the Drugs expensive?