The Hormone Puzzle Podcast - Learn How to Solve Your Infertility Puzzle to Get and Stay Pregnant · Dr. Kela Smith - Fertility and Hormone Doctor

Best FertilityTests to Run Before Trying to Conceive (And How to Interpret Them) - Inside the Fertility Puzzle with Dr. Kela

·44 min·3 clips

AMH reflects follicle quantity, not egg quality, and low AMH does not mean you cannot get pregnant naturally.

1. The Hormone Puzzle Podcast episode focuses on fertility testing before trying to conceive and how to interpret the results. 2. Dr. Kayla Smith hosts the episode as a holistic doctor focused on fertility and hormone optimization, and she says she founded the Hormone Puzzle Society and its Educational Institute. 3. The episode exists to answer which tests to run before TTC and how to use them as a roadmap rather than random labs. 4. Dr. Kayla Smith says blood work is a “snapshot in time,” but it can still give a first look at ovarian reserve, ovulation, thyroid function, and blood sugar. 5. She starts with cycle day three labs: FSH, LH, and estradiol, and says elevated estradiol can hide an FSH problem. 6. She gives FSH a preferred range of 3 to 8, LH a range of 2 to 7, and estradiol a target of 25 to 60 for functional fertility. 7. She says an LH-to-FSH pattern that is much higher can suggest a PCOS pattern, while extremely low LH can point to hypothalamic suppression or stress-related signaling issues. 8. She explains AMH as a marker of follicle quantity, not egg quality, and says it helps with planning but does not predict natural conception. 9. She says progesterone should be measured seven days past ovulation, not by calendar day alone, and that levels above 10 are usually the minimum she wants to see. 10. She says low progesterone can mean weak ovulation, a short luteal phase, or a higher miscarriage risk because progesterone supports the uterine lining. 11. She recommends a full thyroid panel with TSH, free T3, free T4, and thyroid antibodies rather than TSH alone. 12. She says fertility-oriented thyroid targets include TSH between 1 and 2, free T4 around 1.1 to 1.5, and free T3 around 3.2 to 4.2. 13. She says elevated thyroid antibodies can matter even when TSH is normal because they can signal autoimmune thyroiditis, implantation issues, and miscarriage risk. 14. She moves to metabolic health and says fasting glucose, fasting insulin, and A1C together show whether blood sugar is quietly disrupting fertility. 15. She says fasting insulin between 2 and 6 is ideal, that 7 to 10 suggests early insulin resistance, and that 10 or more often indicates insulin resistance even if glucose looks normal. 16. She says ferritin is a better fertility marker than hemoglobin alone, with 40 to 80 as an optimal fertility window and below 30 as depleted. 17. The tone is instructional and practical, with Dr. Kayla Smith speaking directly to listeners and repeatedly translating lab numbers into fertility implications. 18. The format is a solo teaching episode with sponsor breaks, recap-style summaries, and several calls to action for deeper testing and telehealth support. 19. Women planning pregnancy who want specific fertility lab targets. 20. Listeners wanting a light, entertainment-first episode.

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