To follow up from my last post about the ultrasounds, I am actually attaching a few images so you can see the difference.

 This is one of my ovaries on Day 10, Cycle 1, when I was going to acupuncture once a week. You can see the dominant follicle forming. The dominant follicle can be defined as "the large cyst in the ovary during each menstrual cycle. An egg is released from the dominant follicle with ovulation-it supplies the majority of estrogen and all the progesterone for that particular menstrual cycle" (the Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research).

Basically, this is good news. It means I am getting closer to actually ovulating.

Here is a follow up photo on Day 15, Cycle 1:

See how much bigger it is? I went home that night and took a positive OPK (ovulation predictor test). I probably ovulated that night...when Alex was away on business. Perfect. This was the point when I told my acupuncturist that since I know I ovulated, I want to take a mini-break. Turns out, consistency is key here.

 

Here is Day 14, Cycle 2:

You can see that there are a lot of follicles in my ovary, but none of them are dominant, meaning I am not close to ovulation in this photo.

 

Here we go again, Day 20, Cycle 2:

Same thing. Nothing is happening! Grrrrr!! This is the point where the ultrasound tech mentioned I might have something called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, otherwise known as PCOS. If you search for other ultrasound photos of women with PCOS, you will see photos that look very similar to the one above. It is referred to as "the string of pearls" based on its appearance. The ultrasound tech asked our Physician Assistant if that's what it looked like, and she said it most certainly did.

 

As of now I have an appointment at the end of the month to see a doctor outside of the one I work in to get an official diagnosis, and see if there is anything I need to do fertility-wise. I do feel blessed that I was able to discover this so early in my TTC journey. Some women go through a year or more of TTC before figuring out that this may be holding them back.

 

It is amazing to see the difference between the cycle in which I used acupuncture and the one in which I didn't. Just goes to show how much acupuncture was helping to regulate my cycle, making me ovulate, and treating a condition I didn't even know I had at that point. Back to acupuncture I go! Just had a session this weekend, and will continue to go once a week.

 

As of now I am taking an OPK once a day, because I know that I will ovulate in the cycle at some point, I just don't know exactly when. Since my history pre-acupuncture was cycles ranging between 6 and 7 weeks, I am guessing somewhere around CD 30.