If you don’t follow my social media accounts, then you may not know, but I have just announced that I AM PREGNANT! I am dying with excitement and have wanted to tell you all for so long now, but ultimately decided to wait it out, take the time with my husband and close family to process it all! At just over 16 weeks, we are bursting at the seams, and now I am thrilled to share my experience with getting pregnant after PCOS with you all!

Many thanks to Kaylee from kayleecreightonphotography.com for the photos! We LOVE them!

If you’re a long-time follower, or even if you just found me yesterday, you probably know that my most popular posts that people keep coming back for are my PCOS posts, which have quite the traction on Pinterest. So HELLO! If you’re coming from Pinterest! I love you! I’ve talked about everything on this blog from being diagnosed with PCOS, to all the symptoms, to ultimately having issues with fertility and deciding to have Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (a weight loss surgery) to see if I could get my body working in order to do what I knew it could: make babies.

Backing up a little, I’ll give you an overview of the whole process. You can click on the hyperlinks above to read more in depth, but ultimately, I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) in my early 20’s. I had dieted, successfully and unsuccessfully, for 10+ years. I found that even strictly sticking to a low sugar, low calorie diet, I had a VERY hard time losing weight. And when I did, it was hard to keep it off. When I reached a high of 330 lbs, I knew I had to do something drastic in order to get drastic results. I wasn’t having periods, but when I lost 20 lbs or more, my body would have a period. I fully believed that losing weight was the key for me to have a healthy enough body to make a baby!

With a little nudge from a friend (who went through the process about 6 months before I did,) I decided to look into weight loss surgery. It’s something I had never considered before. I had looked at it as an “easy way out” and I found out PRETTY QUICKLY that it was not. It was a lot of work mentally to prepare, mentally and physically during, and still, almost 15 months later, it’s a mind game! I had the surgery in February of 2017 and have lost 100 lbs.

The first month after my weight loss surgery, I began to have regular menstrual cycles and haven’t stopped since. We figured it would still take a while to get pregnant, so we officially began “trying” in January. Between both of us being sick and everything else going on, we only “tried” twice in the month, so I didn’t think anything of it.

Fast-forward a month to being a few days late on my period, I still thought nothing of it. And because of my surgery, the sick feeling I was having after eating was pretty normal. It wasn’t until I was telling my best friends that they said, “GIRL, GET A PREGNANCY TEST!” I went on my lunch, scared as HELL to get the test, then took it in the bathroom of the local bank I work at. I was SHAKING so badly, because I pretty much KNEW it would be positive. It was, and I was FREAKING OUT.

I called one of my best friends to tell her she was right, then decided that I wanted a fun way to tell my husband…especially since the next day was Valentine’s Day! (Spoiler alert: I couldn’t wait a whole day to tell him!) I decided to swing by the mall and get the cutest little pair of Adidas Superstars you could imagine, write him a sweet card, and let him know when I got home. OF COURSE, he was thrilled. He was OVER THE MOON! We were both still in shock, but it definitely made for the best Valentine’s Day ever.

I say ALL this to say that you may be stuck. You may be thinking PCOS is going to consume or control you and your family for the rest of your life. You CAN make things happen for yourself. You may just have to go a route you never dreamed of. Ultimately, weight loss surgery changed my life in so many ways, but getting my body to be healthy and functioning was just the tip of the iceberg. I’m now growing a new life and so excited for this next chapter! I cannot WAIT to be a MOM to a precious little girl. My dreams are coming true, from having the best guy, to getting healthy, and now starting our family. I’m so very blessed.

As always, if you have questions about PCOS, need a shoulder to cry on or someone to vent to that has been in the thick of it and understands, you can always message me on Instagram or email me at theprettyplusonline@gmail.com.