intro - low AMH any advice welcome (child warning)

susieandmarty

Hi everyone - I wanted to introduce myself and share my story.  I would love to hear from ladies who may be in the same boat as me or have knowledge of this situation.

DH and I have been working on baby #2 since June.  After an incredibly wonky cycle for me - I called my GYN and quickly moved on to an RE.  Due to high FSH during my wonky cycle (14) the RE sent me for an AMH.  Since that wonky cycle my FSH was 5.9 on day three and 3.7 on day 21 which are both well within the normal range. 

My AMH came back at .25 - I am pretty devastated by this result.  I have Femara waiting for this cycle, additional day 3 testing, ultrasound and HSG I need to do, but my next appointment is not until the 11th - I assume then, I will make an injectable plan and a ivf plan if necessary.  Right now I am just desperately waiting on my period.  I expected it yesterday, but it has not arrived. 

I must admit I am in total shock about this.  DH and I have a daughter who is fantastic and 18 months. It took about 5 cycles to ceonceive her, so I have not had any other testing and don't know if these problems excited when she was conceived in September 2010.

I am 34, DH is 39 and had a stellar S/A.

Thanks for reading, sorry of this intro is long

Neesey

Please post a child warning in your subject line as a courtesy to the ladies in this board. Most of us are still trying to conceive number one and it can be hard to hear about kids on a bad day. I'm sorry about your diagnosis. Please be sure to read the newbie link at the top of the page too. Good luck at your appointment.

katib77

Thanks for adding the siggy warning.  I'm sorry I can't offer advice on low AMH as that's not one of our problems.  I hope your RE is able to come up with a good plan for you after all your testing is done.  

You are more than welcome to stay here on this board, but as a second board to ask questions and lurk - there is a secondary IF board for those who had no problem TTC#1 but do with #2.  

Good luck on extending your family. 

new+tothis

I'm ttc #2 for me, #1 for Dh. I had no issues conceiving DS who is almost 3. I've had nothing but issues ttc again. It's tough because if you've done it once you assume you can do it again but that isn't always the case. I have low AMH but not as low as yours. It's still barely over 1 but I'm almost 10 years younger than you. I also have endo. I did 3 IUIs with great results to meds but no success. I'm gearing up to start IVF next week.

It's tough balancing a toddler and IF treatments. For IUIs I would go in for CD 3 ultrasound, 2-4 ultrasounds for monitoring, 2 IUIs, and all the bloodwork. For IVF I have my baseline, 8-12 monitoring appointments, ER, ET, bed rest, etc. All the ultrasounds are transvaginal. It adds a whole new dynamic to IF. I'm not saying that it's harder than initial IF because it isn't. It's just different. I would definitely think about your daughter and her understanding of things. It might be easier because she's younger. DS is almost 3 and well aware of what's going on. He constantly asks me for a sibling and even asked my RE when she was going to give him a sibling and help me make a baby. We also had to have the "where do babies come from" convo a lot earlier than I think we would have if we didn't have IF.

NBA0703

I also have a low AMH.  It was .56 a year ago soo I would hate to see what it is now.. and I am 29.. trying for my first... I have read alot on taking Bee Pollen, Royal Jelly, DHEA, and COQ10.  I take all but the DHEA.  These are supposed to help make the eggs stronger that you do have left.  You probably should ask you doctor before taking these. Some doctors are against DHEA because they believe with some women it could do more harm than good.  Good Luck!

IBackBevo

PIC/SIGGY WARNING 

AMH is still a relatively new test and there is still alot unknown about AMH.  For example, I recently read a study in a medical journal article that found AMH (which is supposed to be constant) was lower in the months after cessation of birth control pills and after being pregnant and that a rise was shown even in women of normal fertility for 4-6 months after both of these events.  Prior "theories" on AMH would have said AMH would not been lower after birth or the pill because it is constant.

As for your FSH, your fertility is considered to only be as good as your "worst" FSH...but, again, I don't know if I 100 percent buy that.

With that said, 0.25 is a bad number if that is a true representation of your fertility.  Mine was 0.54 before I conceived my son and my FSH was 13.3.  Even though I was 31 at the time, these numbers were in line with a woman in her late 40's.  I later learned that I was a Fragile X premutation carrier which causes DOR (dimminished ovarian reserve) and POF (premature ovarian failure) in abouta 1/4th of the women who have this "pre-mutation" on their X.  My RE gave me less than a 10 percent chance of conceiving even with ART.  He told me to not even waste my time on IUI and go straight to IVF.  We didn't listen and I got pregnant through Clomid/IUI.  During my "IF" journey (and even now since I plan to TTC #2 at some point in the future) I joined/read ALOT of different boards/forums on DOR, POF, POA, POI, infertility, etc. and I have heard of women conceiving with numbers that low or even lower.  Sometimes it happens naturally, sometimes with the help of herbs/chinese medicine, sometimes through an IUI and sometimes it takes IVF...and sometimes it takes trying all of the above and multiple rounds of IVF. 

I will tell you, though, that the fact that you JUST had a child a few years ago is probably a good sign.  Also, you are still relatively young.  I also think that your DH's numbers make you a good candidate for IUI.  Honestly, I think the reason my DH and I were able to conceive through an IUI is because DH had 880 million sperm pre-wash and they put back in about 200 million post-wash.  All it takes is one healthy egg!!!