Can you "force" ovulation?

Im a bit confused as to the whole HCG/Ovidril shot and the timing of Ovulation.

1. Does giving the HCG shot "force" ovulation to happen?

2. Can you make it happen anytime you want or do you need to wait until a certain time?

3. for EXAMPLE, if I wanted ovulation to happen on day 3, if I give the shot on day 2, would it actually happen on day 3? even though its WAY too early in the cycle?

Last month when we did IUI, the doctor said that most likely it will happen on day X. but when we went in for blood, she kept saying "based on your bloodwork, not yet" so we went in, every other day for a whole week until it was the right time for the HCG shot.

4. If the HCG shot "forces" ovulation, then why did we have to wait an extra week (from when the doctor first thought the time was) ?

This month (we are doing injections this month), the doctor said, we have 3 eggs now, but more are growing. the doctor doesn't want too many eggs, so she is planning on doing the IUI this weekend.

My concern is that its too early in the cycle for the IUI.
This weekend will only be day 13...but the last few cycles, ovulation was on day 16, 20, 16, 23.

Im so confused.

Message edited 9/4/2013 1:17:55 PM.

Re: Can you "force" ovulation?

The HCG shot will force you to ovulate around 36 hours later. I have read though that if you are already surging on your own, you may ovulate sooner than that. My RE told me to take the trigger after seeing that there were a few mature follicles. My IUI was scheduled for 36 hours later (but by the time I got it done it was more like 38.5 hours). In the past I have done IUI's 24 hours after trigger though. Good luck!

ETA each cycle varies... this past cycle my IUI was on Day 12 (was not expecting to have mature follies already on Day 10!), however I have had IUI's in the past on CD 13, and 14... it really just depends on how quickly your follies are growing that cycle.

Message edited 9/4/2013 1:34:13 PM.

Can you

They will trigger you when they are happy with the size of your follicles. My RE liked doing it when he saw they were about 18+

Your follies are probably growing faster this cycle than they did in the past. Especially since this cycle is an injectable cycle (assuming it's your first)

Can you

Thats the weird thing....last time we did IUI (with Clomid) the trigger was determined by the blood work.

We went in for bloodwork and ultrasound, then the doctor said "IUI in probably 2 days, but lets wait for the bloodwork"

Got a call that said "Come back in 2 days for more blood" this went on for another week.

No more ultrasounds for that week, only blood every other day.

So based on that, it seemed like the trigger was based on the bloodwork not the size of the follicles.

Re: Can you "force" ovulation?

they actually take several factors into consideration when deciding the time you should take the shot and force ovulation. they do look at the size of your follicles to make sure they are mature but they also look at your hormone levels, particularly estrogen.

here's a great website that i found that describes all of the normal levels and at the bottom is a chart that shows what happens with hormone levels leading up to and after ovulation.

hormone levels

every cycle is different. and keep in mind that you can always ask your doctor what they are looking for in the sono and bloodwork. good luck!!

Can you

That is a good site!!

It even talks about non-pregnancy stuff (cholesterol, etc)

Re: Can you "force" ovulation?

1. Does giving the HCG shot "force" ovulation to happen?

yes, 99% of the time.

2. Can you make it happen anytime you want or do you need to wait until a certain time?

im not sure if you HAVE too - but it wouldnt make sense if the follicles weren't mature.

3. for EXAMPLE, if I wanted ovulation to happen on day 3, if I give the shot on day 2, would it actually happen on day 3? even though its WAY too early in the cycle?

well technically you can take the shot but i doubt you would release eggs as they would not be mature at all. on day 3 you have tons of tiny follicles but even with meds only some will continue to mature and release a fertilizable egg. without meds most women with "normal" fertility will mature one or sometimes two follicles.


4. If the HCG shot "forces" ovulation, then why did we have to wait an extra week (from when the doctor first thought the time was) ?

that doesnt make sense. they should be doing both bloodwork and sono at each monitoring appointment. my guess is maybe your e2 was low showing that the eggs were not mature enough yet despite their size on sono? additionally you were only on clomid which generally wont cause you to produce like 10 mature eggs - BUT it still doesnt make sense. they should really do both bloodwork AND sono at every single preovulation monitoring appointment. without the combination of both there is no true way to know the status of how many follicles you have and if they are mature. its a huge risk to not do a sono and then do an IUI - even with lower e2 numbers you have no idea how many mature follies you are dealing with - so you could be risking high order multiples and not even know the risk ahead of time. this is much more of a risk with injectables than with clomid.

i wouldnt worry about the day of your cycle being different - thats pretty normal. esp if you switched from clomid to injectables since the response with injectables is generally much quicker than clomid. but it can also be a lot more powerful and difficult to control precisely without a lot of meds so im guessing she wants to trigger you and do the IUI before smaller follicles catch up leaving you at risk for high order multiples or having to cancel the cycle. i did this a few times and it really depends on your body and the maturity of the of the follicles as to whether this is effective. i had cycles where we prob triggered a little too early - but i was generally a strong responder to injectables so it was the only way to avoid having too many eggs. the good thing is that every injectable cycle your doctor will learn more about how you respond and will be able to adjust the meds accordingly. unless of course you get pregnant this cycle and then you wont have to worry about it good luck!

Re: Can you "force" ovulation?

Posted by FlowerWife



1. Does giving the HCG shot "force" ovulation to happen?

yes, 99% of the time.

2. Can you make it happen anytime you want or do you need to wait until a certain time?

im not sure if you HAVE too - but it wouldnt make sense if the follicles weren't mature.

3. for EXAMPLE, if I wanted ovulation to happen on day 3, if I give the shot on day 2, would it actually happen on day 3? even though its WAY too early in the cycle?

well technically you can take the shot but i doubt you would release eggs as they would not be mature at all. on day 3 you have tons of tiny follicles but even with meds only some will continue to mature and release a fertilizable egg. without meds most women with "normal" fertility will mature one or sometimes two follicles.


4. If the HCG shot "forces" ovulation, then why did we have to wait an extra week (from when the doctor first thought the time was) ?

that doesnt make sense. they should be doing both bloodwork and sono at each monitoring appointment. my guess is maybe your e2 was low showing that the eggs were not mature enough yet despite their size on sono? additionally you were only on clomid which generally wont cause you to produce like 10 mature eggs - BUT it still doesnt make sense. they should really do both bloodwork AND sono at every single preovulation monitoring appointment. without the combination of both there is no true way to know the status of how many follicles you have and if they are mature. its a huge risk to not do a sono and then do an IUI - even with lower e2 numbers you have no idea how many mature follies you are dealing with - so you could be risking high order multiples and not even know the risk ahead of time. this is much more of a risk with injectables than with clomid.

i wouldnt worry about the day of your cycle being different - thats pretty normal. esp if you switched from clomid to injectables since the response with injectables is generally much quicker than clomid. but it can also be a lot more powerful and difficult to control precisely without a lot of meds so im guessing she wants to trigger you and do the IUI before smaller follicles catch up leaving you at risk for high order multiples or having to cancel the cycle. i did this a few times and it really depends on your body and the maturity of the of the follicles as to whether this is effective. i had cycles where we prob triggered a little too early - but i was generally a strong responder to injectables so it was the only way to avoid having too many eggs. the good thing is that every injectable cycle your doctor will learn more about how you respond and will be able to adjust the meds accordingly. unless of course you get pregnant this cycle and then you wont have to worry about it good luck!

Re: Can you "force" ovulation?

Posted by Lillies

Posted by FlowerWife



1. Does giving the HCG shot "force" ovulation to happen?

yes, 99% of the time.

2. Can you make it happen anytime you want or do you need to wait until a certain time?

im not sure if you HAVE too - but it wouldnt make sense if the follicles weren't mature.

3. for EXAMPLE, if I wanted ovulation to happen on day 3, if I give the shot on day 2, would it actually happen on day 3? even though its WAY too early in the cycle?

well technically you can take the shot but i doubt you would release eggs as they would not be mature at all. on day 3 you have tons of tiny follicles but even with meds only some will continue to mature and release a fertilizable egg. without meds most women with "normal" fertility will mature one or sometimes two follicles.


4. If the HCG shot "forces" ovulation, then why did we have to wait an extra week (from when the doctor first thought the time was) ?

that doesnt make sense. they should be doing both bloodwork and sono at each monitoring appointment. my guess is maybe your e2 was low showing that the eggs were not mature enough yet despite their size on sono? additionally you were only on clomid which generally wont cause you to produce like 10 mature eggs - BUT it still doesnt make sense. they should really do both bloodwork AND sono at every single preovulation monitoring appointment. without the combination of both there is no true way to know the status of how many follicles you have and if they are mature. its a huge risk to not do a sono and then do an IUI - even with lower e2 numbers you have no idea how many mature follies you are dealing with - so you could be risking high order multiples and not even know the risk ahead of time. this is much more of a risk with injectables than with clomid.

i wouldnt worry about the day of your cycle being different - thats pretty normal. esp if you switched from clomid to injectables since the response with injectables is generally much quicker than clomid. but it can also be a lot more powerful and difficult to control precisely without a lot of meds so im guessing she wants to trigger you and do the IUI before smaller follicles catch up leaving you at risk for high order multiples or having to cancel the cycle. i did this a few times and it really depends on your body and the maturity of the of the follicles as to whether this is effective. i had cycles where we prob triggered a little too early - but i was generally a strong responder to injectables so it was the only way to avoid having too many eggs. the good thing is that every injectable cycle your doctor will learn more about how you respond and will be able to adjust the meds accordingly. unless of course you get pregnant this cycle and then you wont have to worry about it good luck!

What will we ever do without FlowerWife

Can you

FlowerWife:

It doesn't make sense to me either.
But we went in for a ultrasound and bloodwork, and the doctor said - IUI most likely Weds, but waiting on the bloodwork for confirmation.
Later that day we got a call and were told to come in for bloodwork in 2 days. We went in for blood every other day for 3 more times. So basically a week or so after the doctor thought we were going to do the IUI. It was all based on bloodwork.

Very strange.

Thanks for the response!