This is one of the most personal things I've ever shared publicly. But I know there's a woman reading this who needs to hear it.
The Diagnosis
I was diagnosed with PCOS — polycystic ovary syndrome — from a very young age. For those who don't know, PCOS affects your hormones, your cycles, your weight, your skin, and for many women, your ability to conceive.
There were times I went an entire year without my period. An entire year. I carried that quietly, the way women often carry health struggles — privately, between doctor's appointments and Google searches and silent prayers.
What PCOS Took
PCOS took my sense of control over my own body. It took the assumption that motherhood would be straightforward. It took the certainty that other women seemed to have about their timelines and their plans.
It also changed my relationship with my body in ways I'm still processing. The weight fluctuations, the unpredictability, the feeling of your body not doing what it's supposed to do — that messes with your confidence in ways that go deeper than physical appearance.
What PCOS Gave Me
But PCOS also taught me patience. It taught me to advocate for myself in medical settings — which, ironically, prepared me for a career in healthcare. It taught me that plans are suggestions, and that the most important things often arrive on their own timeline.
2023
In 2023, in the middle of CRNA school, I found out I was pregnant.
My son was a miracle. There is no other word for it.
The pregnancy wasn't easy — gestational diabetes, postpartum preeclampsia, a near-death experience that I've written about separately. But he arrived. He was healthy. And everything I'd been building suddenly had a face.
To the Woman With PCOS
If you're living with PCOS right now — whether you're trying to conceive, managing symptoms, or just trying to understand your own body — I see you.
I gained and lost weight all in one year. I went months without knowing what my body was doing. I sat in doctor's offices and heard things that felt like closed doors.
And then a door opened that I didn't even know was there.
I'm not here to give you medical advice. I'm here to tell you that your story isn't over. Your body is not broken. It's different. And different requires understanding, not shame. The things you're carrying quietly — they don't define your future. They're just part of the path to it.
My son smiles and my heart melts. It's always over the little things. I pray daily to raise a son who will be an asset to the world. I pray for him to find inner happiness as he grows.
He is proof that miracles don't follow timelines.
