I have had PCOS and irregular periods for as long as I can remember. I didn’t realize that wasn’t the norm until late in college. I tried hormonal birth control to help ‘manage’ my PCOS, acne and cramps. What I didn’t know was I would have terrible side effects that came with trying ‘the pill’. These included constant hunger, only craving carbohydrates, mood swings, waking up in the middle of the night, having low energy and my eyes changing shape so my contacts were unwearable. After only about 1 month, I stopped taking the pill and decided that I would rather deal with my PCOS symptoms then be on the pill and feel terrible.

Fast forward to getting engaged and taking the Natural Family planning course that taught the Sympto-thermal method. I really struggled getting my charts to look normal or identify my ovulation. Given that my fiancé (now husband) and I weren’t convinced it would work for me, we decided to just use barrier methods instead. Years later God kept putting on my heart that I needed to find out ‘WHY?’ the Catholic Church doesn’t allow or approve the use of any contraceptives. After reading and listening to people much smarter than me; I knew I had to stop using contraceptives.

This led me to research methods that could work for me and I came across the Marquette Method. I got a coach and started doing it post-partum after my second pregnancy and guess what? IT WORKED! If you can live a healthy lifestyle and put some effort in up front to learn a method that works for you; you can become healthier, learn about YOUR fertility and use that knowledge to help plan your family. I want to use my knowledge of nutrition, experience with PCOS and NFP journey to help anyone going through one or all of these situations.