I am regularly asked what all the numbers mean that women get when they are cycling at a fertility clinic. Below is the basics of what we are looking for:
FSH - Follicle Stimulating Hormone, we want this to be under 10 IU/L on day 3 of your cycle.
AMH - Anti-Mullerian Hormone, ideally we would like it to be over 16 pmol/L, but preferably closer to 30.
Estrogen - on day 3 of your cycle, we want it to be below 200 pmol/L, but then by ovulation we would like about 1000/mature follicle.
Progesterone - most notably tested 7 days post ovulation, we would like it over 30 nmol/L.
Follicle Size - at ovulation we would like to see your mature follicle to be about 2.0cm.
Antral Follicle Count - observed on day 3 of your cycle by ultrasound, ideally we would like to see somewhere around 10 tiny follicles on each ovary.
LH - Luteinizing Hormone, will be low at the start of your cycle and then spike mid-cycle to trigger ovulation.
Prolactin - a hormone produced by the brain which can inhibit ovulation, we want to see this below 20 ng/mL.
TSH - Thyroid Stimulating Hormone, we would like to see this below 2.0 uIU/mL in women trying to conceive.
Lining - at ovulation we want the uterine lining to be at a minimum of 7mm thick, but preferably thicker than that.
