How I Got Pregnant Naturally With PCOS
If you’ve been around my blog for quite some time now then you know that I have PCOS and that we went through about a two year infertility journey until we finally got pregnant with our son! But if you’re new here I’ll try my best to summarize our journey- I have had irregular periods since the age of 17 and was officially diagnosed with PCOS in April of 2017. Right at the time that I was diagnosed was when my husband and I had started to try for a baby and boy what a journey it would become!
I first got pregnant in December of 2017 and unfortunately learned that we had miscarried in January. I had a D&C on January 27th and it was one of the most heartbreaking experiences of my life. In just a matter of a month we went from feeling the highest highs to the lowest lows. Our pure joy turned to grief and so began the dark days of infertility.
Throughout our TTC journey we decided to try Clomid in October 2018 and on the 3rd round, I learned that I was once again pregnant only to wake up bleeding within in a few days. It was a chemical pregnancy and although the pregnancy only lasted a few days, the bitter sting of another loss hurt like hell. Broken doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt and the constant ache of an empty womb felt like it was going to consume me.
After this second loss, we decided it was time to see a specialist and we spent the months of November + December getting poked and prodded and lets just say it was not fun for either of us. Early morning blood draws and transvaginal ultrasounds before you go to work isn’t exactly my cup of tea but we knew that we needed to do this in order to get some answers. After all the tests were completed, we had a plan to start IUI w/ Letrazole (similar to Clomid but our doctor explained it was more effective for women w/PCOS) in January. Cue the part where God was smiling, knowing that HE had other plans and I will forever be thankful for that.
On Christmas Eve of 2018, I knew that I was ovulating and we thought hey might as well give it one more shot before we start IUI- I mean honestly we had nothing to lose at that point. Well friends, it was a Christmas miracle because on January 5th 2019, we saw those two pink lines and our world would never be the same again.
We finally were pregnant! With our DOUBLE rainbow baby. And ironically, this would mark exactly two years from our first loss as we had also conceived in December of 2017 and would have had our baby in September.
Over the years, I’ve received many messages from women walking their own infertility journey asking me if we did anything special that month we got pregnant and before I share what we did- I want to start off by saying that I am not a medical expert and that you should always check with your doctor before taking any supplements or trying anything of the things I’m about to mention. I also want to add that I totally get that when you’re going through a journey like this, you want to know and learn EVERYTHING that you can to finally see those two pink lines. I too read countless blogs and watched multiple Youtube videos desperate to see what these women did to get pregnant. But I truly believe with all of my being, that getting pregnant with our son was without a doubt the work of our Lord. There’s no amount of supplements, medical care, or lifestyle changes that could have created a miracle like this. But with that said, I know that there are practical and simple things you can do today to help you reach your end goal!
1. Pregnitude: I was taking this supplement for quite a while before we got pregnant and it was recommended to me by my OB when I was first diagnosed with PCOS. It is supposed to improve egg quality + production. It’s a powder that you mix with water and drink morning and night. I would get mine at Walgreens or Target and I believe it was $40.
2. Metformin: Ya’ll this is the devil’s drug in my opinion but I firmly believe that it also actually helped me. This medication makes me incredibly sick like nausea so bad it was worse than first trimester nausea for me. I was on the extended-release 500 mg tabs for a very long time even though I was supposed to increase them to 1,000 mg but every time I tried to do it- I would feel so sick. When we got pregnant the first time (1st miscarriage) it was right after I started taking Metformin. Then when I finally stuck out the horrible side effects and increased to 1,000 mg we got pregnant with our son. I highly suggest talking to your doctor about this and doing your own research on this medication. For me, it definitely helped to regulate my cycles and helped me to ovulate. Do I ever want to take it again? Hell to the NO!
3. Acupuncture: Although I will never really know if this helped me, I truly believe that it played a part. I went to acupuncture regularly for 8 months before we got pregnant with Hudson. And I went to an acupuncturist who specialized in infertility which I highly recommend. He was so knowledgeable and explained things in a way that made sense. He also did electro-stimulation which was supposed to help my body to ovulate. Also, I think it’s worth mentioning that I found acupuncture to be so relaxing. I actually fell asleep pretty much every time I was there. But I also used that time to pray + meditate on seeing this dream of ours become a reality. I’ll never forget staring up at that ceiling and just praying over and over again that someday I would carry a child of my own. (I also went to acupuncture throughout my pregnancy + I swear it helped my body prepare for labor around 39 weeks)
4. PreSeed: Well this whole blog is probably TMI to some but this definitely tests those borders ha! PreSeed is a lubricant that mimics fertile cervical mucus aka it helps the little swimmers get to where they need to go. I swear by this and we used this all three times that we got pregnant. I’m a firm believer in this guy and it really does look just like fertile cervical mucus…. which brings me to my next point and even more TMI goodness!
5. Cervical mucus: Yup we’re going there- because why not, right?! So if you’re TTC and you haven’t googled cervical mucus yet… what are you waiting for?? Although it isn’t the most pleasant thing to look up- it honestly was a game changer for me. Because my cycles are SO irregular (sometimes 70+ days), I basically had no clue when I was ovulating. BUT when I learned how your cervical mucus changes throughout your cycle and what it should look like when you are fertile/ovulating (think egg whites), it made things so much easier! Just google it + thank me later!
6. Basal Body Temperature: This was also a game-changer for me! With insane irregular cycles figuring out when I was ovulating was like trying to solve a puzzle with your eyes closed and your hands tied behind your back AKA impossible! When I started tracking my BBT with the Femometer, I was finally able to see when I was ovulating. It took a while to get used to taking my temp first thing in the morning but being able to see the charts of my temperatures was so helpful and I found it to be very accurate. I much prefer this method over the ovulation strips!
7. Ovulation Strips: Although, this isn’t my favorite method because it can be really confusing to read the lines- I did use these in conjunction with the thermometer to test for ovulation. I went back and forth between the cheap ones from Amazon and the ClearBlue digital ones!
8. Lifestyle Changes: Throughout my TTC journey, I was very up and down with my diet and level of physical activity. There were times where I would eat completely gluten + dairy-free and then other times where I was downing pizza slices and living my best couch potato life. Eating healthy and working out has always been a huge struggle for me but I will say that I did notice that my cycles were less irregular when I was consistently working out and eating a more balanced diet.
9. Knowledge is POWER: It’s easy to feel hopeless in your TTC journey especially after you find yourself at the bottom of a google search rabbit hole. I’ve been there way too many times to count. So from one girl to another- just don’t do it! Instead, I would encourage you to read, watch, listen, etc. to as much as you can from people who are educated on this topic and can provide practical + helpful information. I highly recommend the books Period Repair Manual by Dr. Laura Biden and Woman Code by Alisa Vitti. The more you know the better. Especially since a lot of OB doctors aren’t always the most helpful when it comes to teaching us how to track our fertile windows by things like cervical mucus and BBT.
10. Support System: Having a support system during your infertility journey is crucial. It is one of the loneliest paths that you can walk and it makes such a difference when you surround yourself with people who love you and who care about what you’re going through. Throughout our journey, my husband was my rock. My friends were always there to listen and so many of our loved ones were literally continuously praying this child into existence. It also helped me so much to connect with other women who were going through the same thing because not everyone can understand all the emotions that come along with this journey. If you’re reading this and going through your own TTC/infertility journey and you need someone to talk to- please don’t hesitate to reach out!
[[ I wanted to also mention that something I personally feel helped us STAY pregnant was being on progesterone. With my first pregnancy that ended in miscarriage, my progesterone levels were low and I was on progesterone pills twice a day. With the pregnancy with my son, we were already seeing a fertility specialist at the time and she continued to check my levels and I once again continued to have low progesterone levels. She eventually had me on progesterone suppositories twice a day and two progesterone pills. AKA I was maxed the heck out on progesterone and it sucked but I do feel that it helped me to stay pregnant and carry our healthy babe. ]]
I truly hope that this was helpful in one way or another. Whether you learned something new or just found solidarity in knowing that you’re not alone. Infertility is one of the hardest and loneliest paths that I’ve had to walk and I know how deep the hurt can go. But trust me when I say this- there is always hope to be found along the way even when you don’t think you have the strength to look for it. On those days just take a breath and hand it over to God, for he will be there to carry you when your heart + soul are too tired to take another step.
-xoxo, M.