Reproductive Endocrinologist - No 1

I was given every test under the sun my new Fertility Specialist's office. The first day I gave 12 vials of blood! 12!!! I was found to be in normal working order for all my levels, except one...my AMH level was 0.81. AMH or anti-mullerian hormone is an indicator for your remaining egg reserve. Every woman is born with a certain number of eggs and some are just born with less. Again, back to googling the shit out of AMH levels for a woman my age (32). My FSH levels were normal, my AFC was normal, it was just this 1 number.   See this chart outlines it all very nicely...

AGE SPECIFIC b-FSH and AMH LEVELS
Age	FSH	AMH
< 33 Years	< 7.0 mIU/mL	= 2.1 ng/mL
33-37 Years	< 7.9 mIU/mL	= 1.7 ng/mL
38-40 Years	< 8.4 mIU/mL	= 1.1 ng/mL
= 41 Years	< 8.5 mIU/mL	= 0.5 ng/mL

Awesome, at age 32, I was between where 38-41 years olds measure. Grrreat. But I've read that just because I could have a low reserve doesn't mean the quality is poor.

This 1st doctor didn't seem concerned at all and thus gave me a prescription for clomid and sent me on my way. My husband and I tried this method of throwing medicines at me to see what sticks for 3 months. 1 month of taking 150mg of clomid gave me horrible hot flashes, I developed a few good sized follicles maybe 3 that were around 18-20mm when they instructed me to take the trigger shot. They had us come in for 2 back-to-back Intrauterine Insemination's (IUI). All the IUIs were done by nurses and i never saw a doctor. One nurse in particular was horrible at getting the speculum on my cervix, and had to insert and reinsert it about 4 times, all completely dry without lube. They aren't allowed to use anything as it might cause the sperm to stop moving.  Then after she was done torturing me she told me I have a crooked cervix and tilted uterus? Oh great, never knew that. But makes a lot of sense why sex can be extremely painful at times. And she said she'd write that in my chart so the next nurse would have an easier time.  The next day the next nurse didn't know and proceeded to insert the catheter before insemination that she poked the top of my uterus. This caused me to gasp and cramp, next followed by bleeding. Man, it just kept getting better. No, BFP. Nothing.

The next month I got a cyst and had to sit out. The next month I went through the horrible clomid hot flashes and IUI's again, that same damn nurse, despite me telling her about my crooked cervix/tilted uterus shoved the catheter so far again she poked the top of my uterus! Seriously?! I've now had this procedure done 4 times, 2 of those times she stabbed me. The other 2 times the two different nurses I had, had no troubles inserting without stabbing me. When I complained to her she insisted that, that lets them know they are in the right spot? Ok, great so more bleeding for me.

I was monitored by numerous blood tests and ultrasounds and was told my progesterone levels were too low and to start injecting this Crione progesterone gel vaginally until I got a period or a BFP.  Well, I always tested out the hCG trigger shot so I knew that when I got a negative at home, it was another failed round. My period failed to show up. I called the nurse to ask if i should stop taking the progesterone as I had already gotten a BFN well over 2.5 weeks at home. She kept insisting it could still happen and to keep taking it until I got a period. I questioned her about whether the progesterone gel would prevent a period and she assured me that it wouldn't.  Well, 3 weeks later, no period, no BFP.  Finally, angrily, I called the Doctor directly who insisted I come in for a beta bloodtest to check for pregnancy. Fine, I forked over yet another $50 copay to take the test only to have her tell me I wasn't pregnant,which i already knew. I asked, again, if the Crinone gel was causing me not to have a period and the Doctor said that could be a cause for some women. Grr. So 3 days after stopping the Crinone I got my period.  And I was done with that doctor, their nursing staff and that office!