Next we see what's called a Graafian follicle. This is a huge
follicle, it's just pre-ovulatory. And inside here this dense
mass here you can see is the developing oocyte.
The next thing we saw was the corpus hemorrhagicum, which means
ovulation has already occurred. And this Graafian follicle is
now filling in with blood. After ovulation occurs, a few days
later, we see the formation of the corpus luteum, the corpus luteum,
like Thomas said, is the structure that produces progesterone.
It produces progesterone throughout the luteal stage of the cycle,
but also will continue to do so if indeed she is pregnant to maintain
pregnancy.
So, another important thing that we had to do with Shanthi was
to get her used to all the people and equipment that would be
around her and under her during the procedure. This is very important.
And we also needed to actually place some of the equipment inside
of her reproductive tract to see how she would respond. But we
had to wait until she was well into this follicular phase of the
cycle because an animal's response to these kinds of procedures
may change over the course of the cycle. We needed to know what
she was going to do around the time of ovulation.