Having just gotten married in late 2017, we were thrilled to have had no difficulty conceiving our first child a few months later in early 2018, especially as I was approaching 40 and my husband was twelve years older than me. When our little boy was 6-12 months old, we decided to start trying again. We were then surprised and anxious when we seemed to be having difficulty this time round. Because of my age, 40 at that stage, we started getting tests done with the GP within 6 months.
I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, which affects fertility, and put on medication which neededadjusting over the subsequent twelve months or so. We were referred on to a fertility clinic and got all the various tests done there in August – November 2020. Initial tests and internal exams were very normal, all looked good. However, the test results in early Nov 2020 showed my AMH levels to be 0.38. As this was all new to me, I had to ask what normal levels were to put it in context. I was told that in a younger woman, normal healthy level would be about 25, in a woman my age, average level would be about 12. Finding mine to be only 0.38 was then extremely upsetting, especially when I had conceived naturally less than three years previously. I was told that mychances of conceiving naturally again were practically nil, that the clinic could try one, possibly two, rounds of IVF but even at that, it could prove difficult to harvest an egg. It was also suggested we could consider a donor egg if that didn’t work.
Obviously, this was a lot of information to take on, process and see what we were happy with. We decided not to make any further decisions until after Christmas. Just after getting the disappointing results in early Nov 2020, I got a recommendation to try Siobhán. After looking at her website, myself and my husband decided to try Siobhán and her more natural route before trying IVF if necessary. We managed to get a cancellation for mid November and so began our journey with Siobhán twelve months ago.
Siobhán’s method were less clinical and more alternative than I had imagined they would be, but I decided to be open to all her recommendations. Being honest, I was a little sceptical, as I would be a very pragmatic, pro-active person, and a calmer, slower approach, getting the right mindset wasn’t sitting well on my timeline and sense of urgency. However, we opened up to her advice, her recommendations for meditations, books, and many different health supplements. Throughout this time, I was doing frequent pregnancy tests, all negative, as my cycles were completely irregular/missing.
After about three months on supplements, she recommended Chinese herbs. A few weeks later, on the morning of my 42nd birthday, in April of this year, I did another pregnancy test, basically to ensure I wasn’t pregnant before starting an online yoga routine I had found to encourage menstruation if cycles are missing or irregular. To say I was shocked to see a positive test result was an understatement - what a most amazing birthday present, one I will never forget!
The past nine months have flownby, with a happy, healthy, uneventful pregnancy and I am due to give birth in the coming days. I learnt from Siobhán and I agree that expectation and responsibility places huge pressures on the body and mind. I know I had to consciously work on that to relax myself. Whether it was the shift in mental mind set, the health supplements, starting Chinese herbs, or a mixture of everything, we will never know. However, I am confident that Siobhán’s various methods played a huge part in achieving this pregnancy and saved a lot of stress by avoiding the IVF route.
We are so grateful to Siobhán and now we can’t wait to meet our new arrival. I have been very open when talking to friends about our journey and recommending Siobhán, as I feel that if someone else hadn’t shared their story and told me about her, we might not be in this fortunate position now.
Paula and Gerry, Galway
November 2021
UPDATE DECEMBER 2021
Our healthy baby girl Bonnie was born. We are so delighted and grateful.
