My story.

The girl who thought it was her fault

For most of my life I was on a diet. I ate less, I exercised harder, and the weight didn't move. In my twenties I bled so heavily that once it went on for three months. I was exhausted all the time. I was embarrassed about how big I had gotten, so I hid away and stopped going out. I was sure it was all my fault.

When I was 19, a doctor told me I probably couldn't have children because of all the cysts I had. When I finally went to the doctor about my weight, I was handed some brochures and told to lose weight. I stopped going.

I was never diagnosed, but today I'm convinced it was PCOS. The cysts, the weight that wouldn't budge, the bleeding, losing my hair, the few hairs on my chin. It all fits. Later in life I chose to start wearing a wig. It is what it is. Back in the 90s nobody connected the dots, and I'm sharing this because maybe nobody has connected them for you either.

A promise

Once I'd calmed down, I started researching. In 2011 there wasn't much out there, but I already knew a lot about food and about how lower carb helps blood sugar. The clinic gave me a meter, and I measured morning and night, and before and after meals.

I made a promise to myself: I would do everything I possibly could so this wouldn't harm my child. I gave up coffee. I gave up soda, even the sugar-free kind. I wrote down everything I did.