Never say never . . .

[Bananamilkshake]

There are positive stories . . .

I wanted to share my story of having PCOS. I was diagnosed about 15 years ago and told the same thing as I guess many other sufferers have - that I may find it hard to conceive. Some of my symptoms were never too bad, I wasn't overweight and had fairly clear skin. However I have always been hairy and my periods were all over the place. From about the age of 22 to 30 my periods stopped altogether. I went on the pill for about 2 of these years so I had 'forced' periods but never naturally. Not being able to have children became more and more likely and as I grew older and friends started having children the reality of this became harder and harder to deal with. When I turned 30 I decided to quit my job as a secondary school teacher and take a year off to travel. I ended up in NZ where I met my partner. We had been together about 3 months when out of the blue I had a period. I was so excited, I ran into the living room shouting 'I've got my period, this is big news' My partner, who I hadn't really discussed my PCOS with looked at me with a blank face and said 'okaaaay!?' (I later described the magnitude of this event!) I called my mum and she burst into tears. There was hope . . . a small amount but there was hope that I could have a baby.

Fast Forward two years later, my partner and I got engaged and 3 months later discovered we were pregnant (without even trying!) We are expecting our first baby in 2 months time.

I just wanted to offer some hope to those of you who also suffer from PCOS. I remember hearing lots of negative stories around it when I was first diagnosed but I also remember those positive happy stories and how it gave me some hope.

Keep positive and never give up!

[Idiosyncratic]

Congratulations and wishing you the best of luck Bananamilkshake!