At the end of our orientation session with Dr. K, before he handed us off to a nurse for some detailed instruction on medications and injections, he gave us an update.
Even though I was slightly terrified to do so, I had asked Dr. K to order an AMH test to potentially determine my ovarian reserve. Last year, when my ob/gyn tested my AMH, it came in at 0.1 - VERY LOW.
Interpretation | AMH Blood Level |
High (often PCOS) | Over 3.0 ng/ml |
Normal | Over 1.0 ng/ml |
Low Normal Range | 0.7 - 0.9 ng/ml |
Low | 0.3 - 0.6 ng/ml |
Very Low | Less than 0.3 ng/ml |
(via this site)
This reading generally drops as you get older - you run out of eggs, your ovarian reserve goes down, your AMH goes down. Pretty straightforward.
Except...
Fifteen months later, my AMH level tested at a 0.6. IT WENT UP. A test indicating my ovarian reserve went up to Low, bordering on Low Normal. I can't even express how excited this makes me. Honestly, it's just not supposed to happen.
My shock and confusion was obvious, but Jared turned to me and said simply, "Stress." And Dr. K agreed. The ridiculous amount of stress we were under last year, with me in a new job, financial issues, trying to conceive, and learning that we were dealing with infertility, clearly took a toll on my hormone levels. But I had no idea that the difference would be so drastic.
Even better? Jared's sperm count improved as well, so we're in great shape for our IVF cycle.
2011 has been tough, because we decided to take the year to keep trying for a baby on our own. We weren't mentally prepared for IVF at this time last year, and it seems like our bodies weren't ready either. We're that much better off now, and that much more likely to be successful. It's been really difficult to believe the old adage that 'everything happens for a reason' throughout this process. I haven't been able to come up with a reason why we're dealing with infertility. But there is a reason why we didn't do IVF in 2011. We were meant to do it in 2012, when we're Most Improved.
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