Welcome to my blog! This is my very first blog post and it is the story of how I got pregnant naturally after the doctors told me it wasn’t possible for me to get pregnant with my own eggs. It is also the story of how I became happier and healthier than I had ever been in my entire life. Whether you decide to try to get pregnant naturally, or you decide to try assisted reproductive technologies such as IUI or IVF, maximizing your own fertility and the health of your eggs is critical for success.
*This post contains affiliate links which at no cost to you provide me with some small change to help keep this blog running! If you decide to buy something I recommend, please consider clicking through one of my links to help support this blog and my family! Thank you!
If you are feeling like you have no hope, or like your eggs are too old and tired to have successful pregnancy, I hope my story brings you hope. If you are ready to make huge life changes in order to maximize your chances of getting pregnant, I hope my story inspires you to commit to a lifestyle that promotes increased fertility. If you are just starting to try to conceive and are nervous, I hope you can use my story and the resources on my website to come up with ideas to increase your own fertility. Above all I hope my story and my blog encourage you to take control of your fertility journey away from the doctors and place it back where it belongs- in mommy’s hands! You are the author of your own life, and you are the captain of your baby journey. Don’t let anyone tell you anything is impossible. Hope without restraint. Believe in the journey. Expect Miracles.
Anna’s baby journey
After two years of trying to conceive, with only a couple chemical pregnancies and a blighted ovum miscarriage to show for it, I was depressed, anxious, and worried I would never get pregnant. With an FSH of 34, low AMH, endometriosis, and a tiny follicle count, Shady Grove fertility center wasn’t even going to let me try IVF. I also had an MTHFR mutation, and was diagnosed with “diminished ovarian reserve.” They said I would only get pregnant with donor eggs as mine were too old and tired and I was approaching menopause hormonally (at 32 years old).
I convinced the doctor to let me try IVF if I could bring down my FSH levels. He agreed to test my Day 3 FSH every cycle for a few months to see if it came down. If it did, we had to be ready to start immediately. And, he would only let us try once.
The doctor said, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. I won’t let this happen to you.”
I said, “So you’re saying we should spend around $20K for something that you don’t think will work?”
The doctor replied, “Are you ready to try donor eggs?”
The answer was no. We would try to lower my FSH by sheer will and hope we could try IVF just once.
This was THE moment for me. I was being told by a leading infertility specialist that I would likely never become pregnant with my own eggs, but that he would give me ONE chance to get my FSH down and try IVF.
I had to act, and act quickly. It was summer, and he said he would only let me test my FSH through Christmas. Now it was time to figure out how to implement a plan to lower my FSH enough so I could try IVF.
I had already researched every kind of study there was on improving egg health, lowering FSH, and preparing naturally for IVF. I’d read book after book and had a great library of resources at home. I just had to figure out what to do!
I remember feeling overwhelmed by all the information. There was so much, and some of it was conflicting. Should I eat lots of high fat dairy? Or no dairy at all? Did I need to “just relax?” Or could my eggs thrive while I was stressed? Could I really stick to such an extreme diet as the ones outlined by Rebecca Fett in It All Starts with the Egg and Julia Indichova in Inconceivable? One thing I knew- I only had a few months to get it all right.
Before this moment I hadn’t wanted to give up dairy or sugar, because I didn’t know how long I would have to give them up for. What if it took five years for me to get pregnant? But now, I had a deadline. I only had a few months to try. I could do ANYTHING for a few months.
My husband and I set out to do every single thing I had read about to increase my (and his!) fertility, the health of my eggs, and the energy going to my uterus. We were fully committed. We knew that we 100% wanted to have a baby with my eggs and his sperm, and we were darn tootin’ going to do everything we possibly could to make that a reality.
I immediately implemented the To Make a Mommy Fertility Plan, and only one cycle later my FSH had dropped to 12. The doctor was ready to start IVF, but we realized we had never done the mock embryo transfer procedure. We did that procedure and we were set to start the IVF protocol at the beginning of my next cycle. But, my period never came. I was pregnant naturally in under two months of cleansing our house and lives of toxins, adhering perfectly to the ideal fertility diet, implementing a daily mind-body routine, and practicing fertile habits.
Not only was I pregnant, but I had lost weight, I felt healthier than ever had in my whole life, and I was happier than I had been for the previous two years. Two months prior I was depressed, stressed, and worried I would never be a mother. The day before I knew I was pregnant, I was energetic, excited, and hopeful for the future.
I gave birth in late spring of 2015. Our miracle just turned two and we are forever blessed and forever grateful.
Most importantly, I am forever grateful to myself and my husband that we made the decision to really commit to our baby journey and that we took the time in those two months to really focus on making ourselves as fertile as possible.
What I did
Honestly, I implemented so many changes in my lifestyle that they can’t all be contained in this one blog post! I did write them all done, however- there were 79!- and if you click on over to this post you can download the list! The reason that I created this blog is to share all the details of all of those things I did! For now, here is a summary with highlights:
- Cleansed my home of fertility-harming toxins. We eliminated or reduced plastics, phthalates, sodium lauryl sufite, harsh cleaning products, and other endocrine disruptors that hurt fertility from our lives. We stopped using tupperware and any kind of plastic water bottle. We switched everything that touched food or beverages to glass or metal. This is a change that we have maintained because of its importance for the health of our baby as well. Pyrex and mason jars rule our kitchen. Any kind of plastic that we have to use never go in the microwave or dishwasher and are only washed on medium heat. We also only used all-natural non-harsh cleaning products I also stopped using any cosmetics or personal care items that might have phthalates- if it says “fragrance” in the ingredients then it has phthalates. See all my blog posts on this topic here!
- Nourished my body with a very strict diet for egg health. The information came from Julia Indichova’s books “Inconceivable” and “The Fertile Female” as well as from a new book “It Starts with the Egg” by Rebecca Fett, and chinese medicine advice such as in The Infertility Cure. The diet is detailed in this post and included: no dairy, no sugar/sweeteners, no refined wheat products (no white bread or pasta, etc.), no white rice, no alcohol, no caffeine, no soy, no preservatives, nothing unnatural or pre-prepared. I ate lots of organic vegetables, whole grains (brown rice, bulghar, quinoa, etc.), eggs, beans, nuts, seeds, and a limited amount of organic meat, whole wheat (whole grain, spelt, and other varieties), and fruit. Normal people would include fish, but I have allergies. Almost everything was cooked- no raw vegetables or salads. The idea is to nourish yourself completely, make digestion easy, and not let your sugar levels bounce up and down. So I only ate fruit that had low sugar levels (like half of a green apple, or berries) so it wouldn’t change my insulin count. Insulin counts are related to egg health! The most important thing I did was really tailor the diet to MY needs.
- Supplemented with nourishing herbs and vitamins. I made teas and infusions. I drank a daily nourishing fertility infusion of nettles, red raspberry leaf, and oatstraw. I also took a prenatal vitamin, a probiotic, and a DHA supplement (especially important since I don’t eat fish for allergy reasons). Every day I drank a fertility smoothie with greens, berries, non-soy veg protein, coconut milk, spirulina, and wheatgrass. I didn’t do anything else the month I got pregnant, although I had tried other things in the past. For example, I tried royal jelly but it upset my stomach. I didn’t do DHEA because I was worried about its hormonal effects, and I had endometriosis. If you fully nourish yourself, you don’t really need a ton of supplements! It is important to listen to your body when you try supplements or herbs and only take things that feel and taste good. Click here for my overview on fertility supplements!
- I switched to a traditional chinese medicine (TCM) acupuncturist. She was amazing, aggressive, gave lots of diet advice, and gave me different chinese herbs for the different parts of my cycle. I saw her at least every other week- sometimes every week. After I got pregnant I stopped seeing her- she said only to come back if I had unbearable morning sickness. Before that I had seen a six-element acupuncturist for a year who did not do herbs. Click here for my post on how to pick a great acupuncturist for fertility!
- Participated in a teleconference series with Julia Indichova, after buying and reading her books and reading everything on her website, Fertile Heart. I also bought her meditations and body work CDs and did them every single day: one visualization when I woke up (~2 min), another when I went to sleep (~2 min), and a body work during the day (~5 min). Part of the Fertile Heart method is also writing down your dreams every morning when you wake up, and spending a little time analyzing them. I did that every morning, and continued it throughout my pregnancy. Click here for my full review of the Fertile Heart Program!
- Purchased and downloaded Circle + Bloom‘s meditation series for Natural Cycle. These are wonderful, and I would fall asleep every night listening to them. They also have series for IUI/IVF, and for when you get pregnant.
- I saw a hypnotherapist who specializes in hypnobirthing but also does fertility work. If you have some emotional issues to work out (like you are secretly terrified of giving birth because you were at a traumatic birth in the past or something) then it might be helpful to see a hypnotherapist. With one of my miscarriages they misdiagnosed me with an ectopic pregnancy and bleeding fallopian tubes and I wound up undergoing unneeded emergency surgery. It was so scary that I was still carrying a lot of that fear about pregnancy around with me. The hypnotherapist helped me release some of that.
- I watched “The Miracle of Life” video on youtube kind of obsessively. It greatly helped my visualization of conception and pregnancy. I watched this about 20 minutes before I conceived my son!
- Did yoga every morning, journaled, volunteered, gardened, took a 30-45 minute walk every day, practiced gratitude, and generally enjoyed life and took care of myself. I also underscheduled myself, so I had lots of time to sit around and relax, read, sleep. I made sure I got at least seven hours of sleep a night, preferably eight. My husband and I had sex every single day I wasn’t on my period to make sure we didn’t miss ovulation. Click here to read my full overview of my daily mind-body fertility practice!
- About seventy other things. The ones I’ve listed here will give you a solid jump start, as it will take me a while to blog about each of these items. Go now to sign up for my newsletter and receive a PDF download with the list of all 79 things I did!
Now, I did all of this with a full time job, and volunteering part-time teaching English. The key was I didn’t schedule myself for anything else. Occasionally my husband and I would go out on a date if we spontaneously felt the urge, but we mostly spent time together. My husband loves to hike, and sometimes I would go with him on the weekend, and sometimes I would send him off with a friend so I could spend a day focusing on fertility work, or maybe just sitting on my deck watching the trees with a cup of red raspberry tea.
If you are just starting out on your baby journey and you have stumbled across this blog, don’t worry. You don’t have to do ALL OF THE THINGS. Just enjoy your partner, eat well, exercise in moderation, and have fun. The odds are in your favor, especially if you are young.
If, however, you have been struggling to get pregnant for years, have suffered multiple early losses or failed IVF attempts, and have been diagnosed with something as unhelpful as “diminished ovarian reserve” or “unexplained infertility,” then this is the blog for you.
Make the decision to commit fully to your baby journey. Expect miracles. Believe in your power to create life.
Leave a comment letting me know if you’ve decided to make life changes to increase your fertility! Also, let me know which topics you’d like me to blog about sooner rather than later!
Want to get pregnant fast?
Love lists? Me too. Grab my 79 Things I did to transform my life and get pregnant in less than 3 months after 2 years of infertility and miscarriages! Totally free!
Anna Rapp is a fertility journalist and non-toxic living expert. When Anna Rapp was struggling with infertility and recurrent early miscarriage, she was diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve, High FSH, low AMH, low follicle count, endometriosis, and an MTHFR mutation. Despite being told donor eggs were her only solution, Anna used her graduate training in research methods and analysis to read everything she could find on fertility and egg health. Ultimately, she lowered her FSH and got pregnant naturally (twice). She blogs about how she did it and encourages her readers to take charge of their fertility journey and get happy, healthy, and pregnant!
HI Anna,
I shed a tear reading your first miscarriage story. Miscarriage is so heartbreaking and the hospital system is so cruel and vague.
I stumbled upon your blog through googling fertility smoothies. I too have reached my lowest point and am picking myself up to do everything in my power to conceive.
2 years ago I lost my son, Somerset at 21 weeks. He had a fatal form of skeletal dysplasia, just bad luck they said. After 21 weeks of my husband and I being the happiest we’ve ever been, our world came crashing down. I delivered darling Somerset and spent one tender night with him. Since then, I have had one early miscarriage and another miscarriage at 11 weeks. The pain and heartache is too much to bear, but we bear it and make it through.
I am now approaching 41 and have been doing IVF since September last year. With all my rounds I am doing the chromosomal testing (because of my age). I have one embryo from 3 rounds currently waiting for transfer. That precious little gem was from my very first round and I have been trying for more with the subsequent rounds, so I might have back-up in case it doesn’t take or god willing, siblings down the track.
I have been taking the ‘everything in moderation’ approach and well, it hasn’t paid off. The occasional glass of wine, 3/4 coffee every day, chocolate now and then, heck throw in a pizza on a Friday night. What was I thinking???
Reading your fertility smoothie guide was very reassuring and informative, as I am in my 5th day of doing (almost) everything that you’ve listed, including acupuncture. I just have to get the Spirulina and the raspberry leaf tea and I am going to make sure my smoothies are at the very least room temperature now and definitely cut out ALL sugar! Say goodbye to bananas, honey, coconut water (waaaaah).
Can I ask though, I didn’t read the bit before purchasing about the Maca powder, so now I have this tin of Maca. Would a teaspoon of Maca per day qualify as “large amounts”? Could I also get your opinion on green tea. I currently have one in the morning, it has such little caffeine in it and so many otehr good things I was hoping the good outweighs the bad.
Thank you so much for this supportive and informative blog, it has really made a difference to how I approach the next 8 weeks before my next stim cycle.
kind regards,
Andrea
Andrea,
I am so sorry for your losses. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been to lose Somerset, and each loss after that must have been heartbreaking. I am very happy for you that you are now making a commitment to your fertility! I will be thinking of you during your next stim cycle!! I think one tsp of Maca a day is just about right, and no where near large amounts. I’ve seen some recipes that do 1 Tbsp, but I wouldn’t do that unless you had a naturopath or some health expert say it was the EXACT RIGHT CURE for YOUR SPECIFIC conditions. Or, if you have a tsp a day and you LOVE it, and you feel happier, healthier, and more energetic than you ever have before. Then you could increase a bit to 2-3 tsp per day. Here’s a cool study done on post-menopausal women where they used 2 500 mg of Maca each day- https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3259/84c86b69ddaf1d8cffbd32cb0f4a29cbcafb.pdf.
It looks like 500-3000 mg is the general dosing for maca for medicinal purposes (but remember, I’m not a doctor!!). I am sometimes adding in maca now, and I do 1 tsp! Put some in your husband’s smoothie too!!!
The answer for the green tea isn’t good news. I would ditch it. Not only does it have some caffeine, but both black and green teas can leach folic acid from your system (Study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18551467). That’s a big no-no when trying to conceive, as I’m sure you are well aware. So, while green tea is DEFINITELY better than coffee or black tea, and if you have to drink something its the best, its better to go cold turkey. You can google a recipe for a warm energizing maca drink though! I use dandy blend (http://amzn.to/2lp1mGW) as a coffee substitute and love but some people hate it. You could also try a gentle herbal tea, like a peppermint!
Also- don’t forget to take care of the mind-body connection. We need a lot of emotional healing after miscarriages to be ready to trust our bodies again and make that heart-womb-love connection to help us have a healthy pregnancy.
Baby dust Andrea!! You can do this!
Anna
HI my name is Stephanie and Im 42 yeas old with high FSH of 18 Low AMH of 0.4. Ive had 1 MC in 2018 at 6 weeks. My issue is my diet I love black tea not sure what to replace it with and my diet is crap I eat too much processed food like waffles, sausage, bacon, bad carbs , not sure how to change my diet to a better one but really want to. I just came across your website.
Great blog! Thanks for sharing your story with those of us in the infertility world. After years of infertility and trying many natural approaches (and being blessed with a son), I have come to the same conclusion you have, that diet is the most important factor in producing healthy eggs. I love your approach of “I can do anything for a few months.” It encourages me to keep going in the quest for a second blessing!
Elisabeth,
Thank you for your kind comments! It sounds like your story might be similar to mine! I’m glad you found the blog! Let me know if there are any natural approaches that you used to have your son that I don’t mention on the blog!
Anna
Just found your website last night and looking forward to diving into it more. I’ve recently been told to highly consider IVF due to endometriosis, FSH of 9.5, and AMH of 1.08 at age 32.
1. Are there any certain brands of probitics you like or can recommend?
2. I need to read back through the post, but is there something wrong with taking Maca (as I currently take 500mg/day of Femmenessence Macaharmony).
Thank you!
Tara,
Welcome!!! Your numbers don’t look so bad to me, but I know how stressful it can be! I like MegaFood probiotics, I buy them from the refrigerated section of my local health food store. Any high-quality, refrigerated, multi-strain probiotic should work. The more strains the better. Make sure it has an expiration date (if it doesn’t have one, you shouldn’t buy it). Ideally you want a potency count of CFU (or colony forming units) of 50 billion or higher. Make sure it has at least Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus plantarum, Bifidobacterium lactis, Bifidobacterium longum, and Bifidobacterium bifidum which are important good bacteria in your small intestine, large intestine, and lower bowel.
Ahh! Maca! People love Maca. When I read about it, I just didn’t “feel” like it was right for ME. Does that make sense? Also, when I put it in my smoothies, I kind of felt weird. So, I would just use it occasionally if I needed an energy burst, but not all the time. If you have read about it, love it, feel like its right for you, and it tastes and smells good, then go for it! It is great for fertility, just wasn’t right for me!
Baby dust!
Anna
Hi Anna,
Can you share the name of your acupuncturist? As you went to Shady Grove, I assume you are/were living in Washington DC area.
Elisa, yes her name is Clair Ockhee Jung and here is her website: https://www.omdpeaceacupuncture.com/ She practices acupuncture in Woodbridge and Arlington.
Hi Anna,
I am 30 years old and have just been diagnosed with Diminished Ovarian Reserve. (FSH 24.9, AMH 0.043) We have been actively trying for the last year and I have had one miscarriage 1.5 years ago. The doctor has basically told me that the only path for pregnancy is IVF with donor eggs, which is not an option I will consider for personal reasons. I am currently reading “It Starts With The Egg” and scouring the internet for advice. Your blog was such a great find for me. It is extremely helpful and gave me some hope that perhaps it can still happen…
Do you recommend any other websites/blogs to read up on?
Taylor
PS: any advice for cooking eggs in a non-non-stick pan?? 🙂
Taylor,
Keep the faith! So many women with DOR get pregnant naturally– although not so many through IVF (without donor eggs). Download my 79 Things if you haven’t already to see ALL THE THINGS I did. If you haven’t already read Julia Indichova’s Inconceivable its a great book for inspiration and her FSH was super high.
We cook eggs every morning in our cast iron frying pan! A little coconut oil, and easy peasy! Just have to keep the pan well-seasoned!
Baby dust!
Anna
Hi Anna,
I stumbled upon your website today. Really appreciate the efforts you have put in to create this wonderful website and all the info in it. I am definitely gonna try your 79 things to make things work for me. I have to ask you one thing, like do you need to follow this diet like each and every day. why I am asking is that when you are on travel or somewhere put you sometimes won;t be able to follow the diet. So if we miss out, say, two days, will it affect the result. Pls don’t feel I’m not serious about this. I just want to know.
Ashie- good questions! This is so hard! For me, I committed to following it each and every day, no cheats. I do actually have a blog post up that talks about the consequences of cheating on the diet in different ways- what is kind of okay, and what isn’t! Read it here- https://www.tomakeamommy.com/cheating-on-the-fertility-diet-whats-okay-and-whats-not/
Baby dust!
Hi Ana,
Thank you for sharing your story. I am 39 with a 7 year old son. In 2014 I tried to conceive and was not able to. My doctor ran labs and my amh at the time was .19 and my fsh 8.96. I was told I would not be able to conceive. In July 2017 I got pregnant on my own ( not planned) and miscarried. I had stopped trying in 2014 because I went through a divorce. I went to doctor last week and he told me there is a chance I will never get pregnant again. I am devastaed!!! I would love to hear from you. I have an appointment this Saturday with a fertility acupuncturist. Fingers crossed
Hi Jackie! I am sorry to hear of your sadness! Just remember that statistics don’t define you, and you can still increase egg health at 39! I hope you love the fertility acupuncturist! Baby dust!!
Hi Anna, I am 46 and have been tried to get pregnant for 11 years. I and husband have been checked over the years and they didn’t find a problem but just then end of 2017 I took the AMH test for my ovarian reserve and to see if I could do the IVF , my number was so low and the doctor said I could only do IVF with donor eggs which I don’t want to do. I start to search it it was possible to get pregnant naturally with low AMH and ran into your blog which brings me hope. I am planning to start the practices you did. I want to know if you had heard of anyone getting pregnant naturally with low AMH in their forties.
Hi Anna, I have been trying to conceive for over 10 years. I am 37 and dx with diminished ovarian reserve. I just had my 6 failed IVF occur today. I have done everything you have mentioned for over a year and only difference this time is for the 1st time ever in November my IVF resulted in a positive but levels dropped rather quickly only 2 days later. I am truly at the end of my rope. I have been gluten, soy, dairy free, cut back on sugars only use honey and pure maple syrup sparingly, drink organic raspberry leaf tea daily, acupuncture, fertility massage, fertility support group, mindfulness classes, yoga, fertility visualization and positive affirmations, prenatal vitamin with folate, coq10, vitamin d3, 800 mcg folic acid. I am running out of time..
Rachel,
It sounds like you are working so hard! I can’t believe you’ve been doing all that for a year! I would never be able to do ALL OF THE THINGS for a year without cheating! I can only do about 3-4 months and then I need a break. I’ve only done ALL THE THINGS three times. Once- when I got pregnant with my son. Second time I tried when I was still nursing and it was an utter debacle and I got sick and had to start eating bananas and bread again. Third time was this past spring/summer when I got pregnant with my current miracle.
I also don’t think I could have done 6 IVFs! You are a powerhouse! What an amazing amount of energy and emotional work it must have taken to warrior through all of those!
I wish I had a crystal ball and could tell you what to do, but I don’t! There were a lot of great visualizations in the Fertile Heart program about accessing your deep-inner wisdom to figure out what your next steps should be.
Best wishes Rachel and baby dust! I hope you find your baby and that you find blessings of your journey!
Hi Anna!
Thank you so much for this amazing blog! Your journey is incredibly inspiring, and it’s given me a lot of hope. I just found out in January that I have elevated FSH (12.2) and very low AMH (0.32) and am 32 years old, and I’m trying to navigate the new reality of that information. I have two questions for you: my new Maya Abdominal Therapy massage practitioner is encouraging my husband and myself to stop trying to conceive for three cycles while I do “all the things,” while my acupuncturist is encouraging us to continue to try each cycle but continue with clean eating, mind-body work, and supplementation. My husband would prefer we keep trying, but I’ve also been reading about the 90-day cycle of folliculogenesis and am kind of interested in taking the full three cycles off so that we know that we did the best we could to optimize my system for that full time. Do you have any words of wisdom as to how we move forward? I’m also wondering what your AMH was before you started your regimen. Thanks in advance for any wisdom you have!
Best,
Allie
Allie,
Your numbers sound very similar to mine, and you are the same age I was! I had my AMH drawn twice and the first time it was undetectable and I believe the second time it was something like .08? But my doctors didn’t really care about it, because they were so upset about the FSH!
So, many fertility coaches totally encourage taking the three months off to let your eggs and sperm get in super top shape, so you don’t risk a miscarriage or chemical pregnancy while you are rebooting. I think that is a great idea. It’s a great idea that I could never do, because my husband and I have a philosophy of, “you never know when your miracle might happen, so have sex ALL THE TIME!” So, it is really about your approach and what you feel comfortable with!!!
Both times I did “all the things” I got pregnant in under 3 months . . . BUT I had been doing SOME of the things for months and months before that. So, it could be my eggs were already pretty good and I just needed the final push.
Baby dust!!
Anna
Hi Anna, Reading your blog post was like reading a chapter from my own life! I was diagnosed with diminished overian reserve at 35 and was immediatly referred to and IVF clinc where the doctors told me donor eggs were the only want to have a baby. I did tons of research and ended up doing many of the things you did. I did take DHEA supplements as I did not experience side effects and figured what do I have to lose! I also had elevated prolactin, which I understand makes your body think it’s already pregnant. I read that cruciferous veggies help lower that so I ate tons of broccoli! 3 months later I was pregnant and had a healhy baby boy! 6 months ago tried for my 2nd and brought out all the health foods, teas and supplements and was pregnant within 2 months, at age 38. Unfortunatly I recently lost the baby to acrania at 14 weeks but I am not giving up! I love hearing other success stories and getting tips!
Elaine
Elaine!!
I love your success story!!! I’m so sorry about your recent loss, but I am glad you are not giving up! It sounds like you are doing such a good job taking care of yourself!! Would you be willing to share your success story on this blog page: https://www.tomakeamommy.com/infertility-success-stories/
Be well!!
Anna
I was diagnosed of 2nd stage of Amenorrhea and diminishing eggs and now turning 38 makes me feel im losing hope to get pregnant … how did you get your period back? i was just given a progestesteron and estradiol to have my monthly period and i am not sure by taking this will make me pregnant. Its good and encouraging to know and have faith to read this kind of blog .
Hi Yanah! I didn’t have amenorrhea- always got my period. I hope you get yours back!! Maybe get an acupuncturist’s opinion? BABY DUST!
Hello and thank you for you website and all this great information. If I may ask, did you do all the same things the second time around to fall pregnant, given you are older (obviously), or did you just fall pregnant more easily without the full regime? I have a miracle baby (was told I would not conceive) and I am hoping conceiving a second is actually easier?
Congratulations and thank you for sharing hope with the rest of us.
Samantha! I am prepping a blog post on this right now!! The short answer is I did everything except less mind-body work. I also did some MORE new things. Will get that new blog post up this week hopefully!!
Hi Anna,
Thank you for sharing your journey here … I found your blog last night and read today. I was trying frompast 2years to get pregnant but I couldn’t. 2018 March I visited infertility center and gone for some tests which is suggested by specialist. Then I found that higg FSH – 10.4, low AMH – 0.424 & TSH3.25. My doctor suggested to go IUI immediately because of bad egg reserves. When visited my home country I showed same tests to them and they suggested same thing but they asked to go for IVF. But I didn’t consider anything yet. I am 33 years & weight 160 lbs. I am so depressed after knowing these results and felt so bad and cried a lot. But after read your blog I got some hope and can try what you did.
I would like to go into your path. Can your pls guide me what to do and how to do pls?
Regards,
Aruna
Hi Aruna! I’m sorry to hear your story, but I am feeling very hopeful for you!! I have a page to start you off- https://www.tomakeamommy.com/fertility-plan/
BABY DUST!
good blog anna.. thanks for sharing
Hey Anna,
I came across your blog today while at work (shh don’t tell!) and I wonder how you handled doctors pushy “suggestions”? My last round of blood work came back with an FSH of 15 and an AMH of .80. My doctor told me right off the bat that I would need to do IVF and that was my only option. I do not want to jump right into IVF and am trying to find alternative more natural ways to conceive. My husband and I try to lead a healthy lifestyle already and have banned some of the things you have already like plastic anything and non stick everything! I like your idea of doing anything for a few months, that sounds so easy! I am concerned about stopping caffeine…. it makes me a nice person! Did you drink caffeine daily? If so did you stop cold turkey or was it a slow down over a week or so?
HI Laura!! I totally replied to this comment but it looks like it never showed up! Argh! Sorry about that!! I treat the doctors as if they are offering me a menu of items I can choose from if I like the item and am willing to spend the money (okay, sometimes its a short menu). They are offering you a service, they don’t control you. They don’t run your life. And they aren’t the only ones willing to sell you options (think acupuncturists, naturopaths, reiki healers, hypnotherapists, etc.) You look up all the menus, and choose which ones YOU want. Caffeine– I drank 3 coffees daily for years! I first switched to black tea, then decaf coffee/tea, and then stopped altogether. Took about one month. Felt like absolute crap the whole month. Next month I felt energized and great!!! This was before I did the rest of “all the things!”
Hi Anna,
I stumbled on your blog whilst looking for novenas for infertility. I am blessed with two beautiful babies that I had before the age of 35. We wanted to try for a third but I foolishly put it off for nearly a year due to several factors. Finally I was pregnant in April 2017 only to find out it was ectopic Memorial Day weekend 2017. I never knew what ectopic was before. This began a two month long, painful ordeal. I was treated with methotrexate and ended up very ill with a severe infection and tubal ovarian abscess. All of this while alone with two small children and my husband deployed. Long story short a year later I am not pregnant again. As time goes by I feel like I’m doing worse and not better. My baby would have been 8 months old now. Loosing that baby, almost my own life and half of my fertility has been devastating for me. I am thankful for what I have but this has been a heavy burden for me. I’d love to have another baby but don’t know if that will ever happen now and at 38 just feels like the clock is ticking away.
Hi Laura! I am so, so sorry for your loss. It sounds to me like the combination of loss, the danger of the ectopic, the intensity of the methotrexate, and the fear you must have experienced being so ill and alone with children who depended on you could very well have created a pretty darn big emotional block around getting pregnant. I know that my suspected ectopic and emergency surgery was traumatic enough for me that I was still processing it a year later. It was the first time I had ever gotten pregnant and the doctors were telling me my tubes were bleeding and I might die if they didn’t do immediate surgery and I might lose a tube. That fear stuck with me– it stuck in my heart and it stuck in my tubes (which I did get to keep). The next year I worked hard on healing emotionally from it. My two greatest tools were my hypnotherapist (mine is in Alexandria, VA, if you are in the DC area), and the Fertile Heart Program. Your might be something else. My point it– do whatever you can to keep processing that loss, and moving towards being happy. I’m praying for peace in your heart and a baby in your womb!!!!
Thank you Anna! I’m happy I stumbled upon this blog! The list of 79 things seemed daunting until I discovered that we already do a lot of these things including all glass and stainless, no parabans and avoiding phalates even the shower curtain and no shoes! I’ve learned a lot too (like about coffee…yikes!) and I feel more hopeful and like I have gotten back some power to affect my fertility. Pray for me!
Praying my dear!!! You’ve got this!!
With his effective herbal Medicine i was cured from herpes virus and was able to get pregnant again, contact him_______________❤️❤️
He has solution to all health issues…..
[[ He has solution to all health issues…He can solve any kind of problem below….. ]]
[[ Do you have Cancer?……. ]]
[[ Do you want to get pregnant?….. ]]
[[ Do you have shingles/herpes 1&2?……. ]]
[[ Do you have erectile issue? ……..]]
[[ Do you have Prostate cancer? ……]]
[[ Do you your business to grow excessively? ……..]]
[[ Do you have diabetes? ……..]]
[[ Do you have Fibroid? ………]]
[[ Do you have problem in your marriage/relationship life?………]]
robinson_bucler [@] yahoo. com………..
Hi Anna, I like you was told that I would never be able to conceive a baby using my own eggs at 40. I changed my diet, took a number of supplements including a herbal tincture and had regular acupuncture, 19 months later I conceived my son naturally at the age of 41. My stats were AMH 0.1 and FSH of 22. I believe ubiquinol really helped. I’m now trying to conceive miracle number 2 at 44. I’m still breast feeding my son twice a day, is pregnancy possible when nursing and did you take ubiquinol when nursing? Thanks
Wooho, congratulations on your miracle!!!! Yes, of course pregnancy is possible when nursing, BUT its also possible that nursing can prevent you from getting pregnant. It all depends on YOU. Check out my second pregnancy story- I had to wean to get pregnant successfully again. I waited til he was 2 because I couldn’t handle the thought of weaning and then not having another child and that being the end of nursing. I did take CoQ10 when nursing, but not the full dosage. My acupuncturist wouldn’t treat me or give me chinese herbs until I weaned also. Best wishes and baby dust to you!!!
Thank you for sharing your stories. I felt so alone when I was diagnosed with high fsh and low AMH levels. I had a daughter naturally 2 years ago and never thought I had an issue. I am 34 years old and always thought I had plenty of time to have more children. I plan to start the IVF process in the coming weeks, but I am extremely nervous it won’t work out. This journey has been very depressing and I find myself crying several times a day when I think of my chances of conceiving another child. I am so grateful for my beautiful daughter. I look at her everyday and thank god for bringing her into my life. Thank you for being so honest about your journey. Stories of hope keep me going.
Rachel- I’m sorry I missed this comment! I hope you have found your second miracle! I’m so glad you found the blog 🙂 xo
Hi Anna!
Thank you so much for this.
I am 30, AMH .55 and FSH 10.6 🙁 I have been freaking out since finding out. My partner and I have never tried naturally, as he is on Testosterone Therapy which kills your sperm count- but we froze his sperm before he started, knowing we would want kids later. That is why I started at an IVF clinic to begin with- did not think I had any infertility until my amh and fsh came back DOR.
My AMH was .98 and then .55 within 2 months, no idea why it is declining so rapidly. I already do most of what you suggest, except I still drink all my water from Smartwater bottles because they are BPA-free. do you think that they are still dangerous plastics, despite being BPA free??
Thank you,
Mira
Miriam,
Your numbers don’t define you!!! Focus on how fertile you are. And STOP WITH THE PLASTIC WATER BOTTLES!!!! 🙂 Get yourself a water filter for your sink and a reuseable stainless water bottle!! 🙂 And I can’t wait to hear your miracle story!
Baby dust,
Anna
Hey Anna,
I just found out that I have a super Low AMH at 29 and have a consultation coming up with a fertility specialist in which Im sure other tests will be run and I have no idea the outcome. In the meantime, I’m trying to do all the things naturally with help from my acupuncturist and now from you. I cannot begin to express how encouraging your blog is. So thank you so much for writing this and giving me and many others more tips from someone who has been through this.
Jessie,
I’m so glad you found the blog and it is giving you hope! There are so many things you can do to boost your fertility. Sending baby dust!!
Anna
Anna the story was admirable and I was impressed about your fertility.
I stumbled across this blog by accident. I am the mom of a 14- and 16-year-old. Long story but for the first time in a while I was thinking back about my failed IVF and my high FSH level and how the fertility doctors told me I’d never conceive. Well the month after a failed IVF I got pregnant. They said it was a fluke and that with such a high fsh level it’d never happen again … but it did. This is a super brief synopsis, there were multiple clinics and medicines before the IVF. But the drumbeat of high FSH haunted me. Just came because I remember at the time thinking, I need to share my story so other women in my position have hope. I was 34 and 36 at time of pregnancies. I even got pregnant again at age 40 but chose to terminate due to state of my marriage. Not everything is black and white even though docs act like they know everything…
Anna,
I just came across your blog while searching for more information on the chances of getting pregnant with high FSH and low AMH. Here is a bit about me.
I am 39, have had 3 pregnancies, 2 natural and one from IVF. First pregnancy was an ectopic ovarian pregnancy (kept both ovaries nearly no damage and does not effect my fertility), second was our second round of IVF, ended in miscarriage at 12 1/2 weeks (there were signs from the beginning it wasn’t going well dr was measuring me to be behind where I should have, oblong sac) this was 2 1/2 years ago. Then we miraculously got pregnant naturally April 2019, carries our beautiful miracle to 39.2 weeks, she was stillborn had passed away 24 hours before delivery. I turned 39 two days later. I have factor V Leiden heterozygous, MTHFR heterozygous, slight protein S deficiency. We did IVF in June which failed it was our third round and we used our remaining embryos we had cryo preserved When I turned 30 and started our first IVF cycle. We just started baseline testing again with an IVF clinic and while we don’t have all our results back yet my FSH came back at 19.2 and AMH at .33. From everything I’ve read online it feels like getting pregnant and having a baby will be nearly impossible. I fully expect the dr to tell us we need to consider donor eggs. I’m so devastated and not sure what to do. I currently have been taking Coq10 200mg x3 daily, prenatal by Ritual, Baby aspirin 1x daily for my factor V, 40 mg Lovenox for Factor v, plexus slim drink, plexus probiotic, plexus bio cleanse, plexus Collegean (which I’ve been mixing into the green tea Vitacup k cup along with Starbucks dairy creamer,). When I did get pregnant with our daughter I wasn’t trying, I basically had given up and my husband and I hadn’t been together in months and we were on day 5 of my cycle then he left for three weeks on a work trip at the time I wasn’t taking any vitamins, took excedrine daily for headaches, But had been doing weight watchers for 4 months. When I read what your levels were it gave me slight hope that it may be possible again. It’s so hard to try again and do all these things after all the devastation we’ve been through. Some days it’s all I can do to get up.
I came across your post now Brenda and just wanted to say that I hope things got better for you since you shared your story. What a tough time you had – it’s amazing how resilient you were. I am praying for your happiness and peace and a sense of fulfilment, for you and your husband.
Hey Anna,
I have already started the checklist of things to change and I have really been inspired by your articles. I was wondering if you knew much about prolactin? My levels were high and I have pituitary issues and was put on cabergoline and have thyroid issues. I have been trying for almost three years now.
I randomly fell upon your blog and honestly it so such a godsend I’ve had 5 early pregnancy miscarriages with no living children. My doctors have not been the most helpful and I have struggled to know how to best advocate for myself and what tests to ask for.
Your blog makes me feel so much more empowered to know how to advocate for myself both with my doctors and with myself (all the things I can do on my end). The research is all so overwhelming but you have done such an amazing job of curating all the important information.
Thank you for this!
Hi Anna! I am using acupuncture and Chinese herbs to lower my FSH level. My FSH level is 12 but I have had 2 symptoms of perimenopause so I am trying to be careful before trying to conceive. So someone recommended a diet of no meat, dairy, or eggs. I am not allergic to these foods. Can women lower FSH levels with eating healthy meat in moderation? I think I will avoid milk but cheese and butter will be hard to eliminate completely.
Hi Anna, I am writing for my son 40 yrs and daughter in law 42 yrs who do not have children. My son is eager to have children but my DIL appears to be nOt that interested. They say they are trying. Where should I turn to to help them to have a baby. this is the last resort I have been praying but does not appear to have an effect.
Please advice-to help so that they would have children. Time is running out.
Thank you
This post gives me so much hope. Went to gyno after not having a period for 9 months and we found out I have a really high FSH of 101 and so now I’m being sent to a fertility doctor. This gives me hope that I can hopefully make lifestyle changes and have babies on my own ❤️
Ladies, help. Today my doctor told me I have no chance of getting pregnant. I never had or tried for a baby. Always thought I still have the time 🙁 I’m 36 and my fsh measured anything from 19 to 36. I will start to incorporate all your suggestions but is it even worth it with such high level and low egg quality. Shall I try to conceive naturally or do I have no chance? My doctor said even IVF clinics will send me away :-((((
Anna, I love your blog and thank you for sharing your personal journey and wisdom with us! My husband and I were blessed with one miracle baby (a healthy son) after years of trying naturally (that was several years ago now) but have been unable to conceive again. I am suspecting that it’s an issue with my husband’s sperm. Do you have any advice/research info or fertility plans for men specifically? If so, I haven’t been able to find it on your site yet. If you could please point me in the right direction I’d be so appreciative. Thank you!
I stumbled across your website when I was looking for more prayers to Gianna Beretta Molla. I had just finished a Novena and was looking for prayers.
We have been trying for over a year and I have hope although some days are tough. I have thrown out all the toxic cleaners and products and have changed my diet. Although my diet was already quite fertility friendly.
Hoping to receive your list of 79 things to compare notes and see what little extras I can add to my life to help this pregnancy along. Thank you for sharing.
Blessings to you my dear!
Hi Anna, I was told by my obgyn that I had PCOS over 15 years ago. I got pregnant naturally at 46 after 7 failed ivf attempts. I told my doctor I wanted to stop and got pregnant on vacation. We had a miscarriage at about 7 weeks. I had low progesterone. I had five fibroids. I did minimally invasive fibroid surgery to remove them. We now have one embryo. My RE has gotten popular, there is no sense of urgency in him to get things restarted despite my attempts to reach out. I want to use this time to prepare my body for the transfer. I eat 99% organic fruit and veg. (1% is for dinner out) my period is regular. Pre ivf it was a regular flow after ivf very light. Pre fibroid surgery I NEVER had heavy periods. Not once. (I am not the typical person with fibroids) if I wasn’t doing ivf or had and obgyn I would never have known I had them, they were that benign. I say that so people know that everyone doesn’t have the same symptoms and everything won’t affect everyone the same.
After fibroid surgery I’m back to healthy rich flow. I’m excited when I see the healthy red flow. My obgyn had said my prolactin levels were high but that was after he’d done a breast exam and I rushed to make my appointment which I read can affect levels. I do like bananas, and I eat long ferment sourdough bread which I usually make. I ferment it for over 72 hours. I also do have an occasional glass of wine limited grass fed and finished cows milk, limited cheese, goat cheese(limited means once per month and the cheese once every two to three months) All my food comes from the farmers market and in winter Whole Foods. I take a supplement to slow the release of any sugars into my body when I have my sourdough. I have been fluctuating between A1C levels of 5.5-5.7. I am thin I am active. I think my challenges stem from PCOS and its effect on my insulin levels. Do you have any thoughts which you think could prove useful for me?
Thank you for your time generosity and honesty Anna
Hello Janine! I am not an expert enough to advise you on any of this! I’m sure you’ve seen from my blog that I gave up all gluten, dairy, and alcohol. The fact that you got pregnant naturally is a wonderful miracle. Would you doctor be willing to support you with progesterone immediately if you got pregnant again naturally? Best wishes, and baby dust, Anna