PCOS and pregnancy.

 I've been diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome(PCOS) when I was in college. Though there are a lot of signs and symptoms of PCOS, mine are weight gain and irregular menstrual cycle. Back in college, menstruations were just drops that even just a panty liner can do and it will be months before my next one. Well, saves a lot of money because napkins(or should I say panty liners?) can be expensive but I'd rather spend extra if that would mean I'm healthy.

A year after college, I went to another OBGYN and she told me that I should try taking pills. I did. But I became irritable and moody and sluggish when I was taking the pills. I stopped taking after several days but the main reason is because I am not diligent when it comes to taking meds and I had a "I won't die because of this" mindset. 

A couple of years after, back in late 2014, I went to Switzerland for work. After living there for a couple of months, my menstrual cycle became regular and I started using pads because my menstruation were no longer drops. I am not sure if it is because of the change of lifestyle or the diet change. Probably both because my Switzerland diet meant less rice, little to no sweets and sugar, and more greens and good carbohydrates. Switzerland lifestyle is having to walk or run from one bus or train station to another and one shop to another. Here in the Philippines, I would not survive if I commute regularly. 

A few years went by and though I immediately gained back the weight I lost when I was in Switzerland, my menstruation was regular. Then, in 2018, I noticed that during exams or during extra stressful months, I skip my period but on regular months, everything is pretty normal. Because of that, I have not realized that I'm already pregnant. The first month when I missed my period was our final examination. the second month, I thought maybe my mood stabilizers messed up my mestruation. So, I said to myself that if on the third month, I'll miss my period again, maybe I should take a pregnancy test. But since I was so agitated and I was already in a pharmacy where pregnancy tests are at the counter, I decided to buy a pregnancy test. I got home at 11PM and decided to do the test anyway despite advice that pregnancy test is best done during the morning, with the first urine of the day because that is more concentrated. Lo and behold, I saw two lines. I thought maybe the mood stabilizers had something to do with that. I could not be pregnant. I should not be pregnant. I wanted to buy more pregnancy tests but it was already 11:30PM. There are no open pharmacies near my apartment. I had to wait til the morning. The agony. The anxiety. The nerves. I couldn't sleep. I did not know what to do. I told a couple of friends and they said it might be a false positive. 

January 23, 2020, after 3 more pregnancy tests which indicated that I was indeed pregnant, I decided to go to an OBGYN so that she can check if I truly had a baby in me. She asked when my last menstrual period was, she got a sample for pap smear and told me that while doing so, she already felt the baby. She also told me to change my diet and gave me a list of supplements I should take, including meds for hypertension as I have slightly high blood pressure despite being relaxed. I asked her if I can have an ultrasound because I still did not want to believe her when she said she felt my baby. She then endorsed me to an OBGYN-Sonologist for a transvaginal ultrasound. That's when I got my answer. That's when I was able to truly verify that I was indeed pregnant for 11 weeks.