TTC Journey: PCOS and its Effects

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is an endocrine disorder. It is very common among women at their childbearing age (18 to 44). The hormones in women with PCOS are greatly affected, where there are higher than normal male hormones produced. PCOS is also considered as a set of symptoms which are caused by these male hormones present. These include irregular or no menstrual periods, excess body and facial hair, pelvic pain, acne and the dreaded infertility. This syndrome affects 8% to 20% of women at reproductive age, and I am one of those unfortunate women.
 

How I was diagnosed with PCOS?

My PCOS was detected way back in 2015. I was still single then and I had to visit my OB/GYN because my period is 3 months late already. So, the doctor instructed me to have a transvaginal ultrasound. The result showed that both my ovaries have multiple small follicles which suggested bilateral polycystic ovaries. My doctor discussed that in order for her to diagnose me with PCOS, other symptoms must be present. Sadly, I do have other symptoms such as irregular periods and excessive body and facial hair. And so, my fight with PCOS started.

Dealing with PCOS

It wasn’t really a big deal for me then. My sister also had PCOS but she had 2 children, so I taught it shouldn’t really be a major concern.
Also in 2015, I married Frank. We decided then not to try for a baby yet and enjoy the company of each other for a year. Still, I didn’t do anything to deal with my PCOS. We just travelled around and out of the country.

A year passed and we started trying, we thought the baby will come easily. But months come and go together with the excitement for the baby. The excitement was little by little turned into doubt.
 

Treatment

We decided to visit my OB/GYN again, this time to consult how to get pregnant despite of my condition. She prescribed me with Clomiphene Citrate (Clomid), which stimulates an increase in the amount of hormone that’s responsible of the growth and release of a mature egg. While under this medication, my follicles were monitored by regular transvaginal ultrasound. Unluckily, after few cycles of taking Clomid, doctor said I was clomiphene-resistant, meaning, my body is not responding with the medication. Despite the increase in dosage, I am not ovulating with it. I was shattered.
Doctor’s next step was to change the medication to Letrozole. This medication is commonly used to treat early breast cancer, but is also known to increase the output of Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) to induce ovulation. Upon taking this, and with the help of ovulation kits, we found out that I am ovulating with this one. I was overjoyed because I thought this is it, the next positive test would be on a pregnancy test. However, another 2 cycles have passed, still no baby. It was really heart-breaking.
Doctor suggested to undergo Hysterosalpingosonogram (HSSG), or a procedure done to see if both of your fallopian tubes are clear of blockage and eggs can pass through them easily going to the uterus.
 

How I got pregnant despite the PCOS?

Before we tried HSSG, Frank and I decided for me to quit work. Stress is one major factors that affect a woman’s fertility, and we will try to eliminate one that’s causing it. He said that I can go back to work anytime if still nothing happens and I want to make sure I can say I tried everything I can to conceive, so I left my job. While staying at home, I made sure I am eating healthy, but I am not strict with my diet. I just excluded junk foods and caffeine. Also, I made sure that I exercised daily, which made me lose about 9 lbs.

Just to you know, I quit my job in January 2018, and I got pregnant on March 2018. If you want to know how I knew I was pregnant, I have a separate blog about it.
I don’t know which really helped me have this baby, it could be the elimination of stress, it could be my diet or it could be the weight loss. All I know is this is God’s right timing for Frank and I to have this child, and I deeply thank Him for it. All throughout this journey, we made sure we always pray to Him that we may accept our fate. Yes, we prayed to Him to give us a child, but we also know that not everyone is made to be a parent. So, if it’s His will that it will be just the two of us, we also hoped and prayed that we’d accept it. For those who are still in their TTC journey, please don’t lose faith in Him. Just do whatever we can and He will do the rest.
I hope this article helped you, future moms, and gave you an idea on how to deal with PCOS if you’re trying to conceive.
Until next time, guys…