- First question he asks me,
do you think you may be pregnant?
I said, no, no way.
- I'm actually quite surprised that at this point
she didn't think maybe that that was a possibility.
Hey, y'all welcome back.
I'm Mama Dr. Jones, a board certified OBGYN and mom to four.
And it's time for everybody's favorite time of the month,
much better than that other time of the month, where we go
through an episode of TLC's famously entertaining
"I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant"
and ruin it with educational commentary.
I love this episode.
It's really, really good, so much learning
so much good information.
Additionally, I worked all night last night
and took only a short nap this morning and not
even a full face of makeup can hide the bags under my eyes.
So I would appreciate if you
didn't comment on it because I'm here for you.
And I came for you and I had to get this done today
and I wanted to get this done today.
And here we are.
Thank you.
- [Narrator] LaSonia is diagnosed
with polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS
and at only 23 her dreams of having children are dashed.
- I was having very heavy periods one month
but I don't see it for like nine months.
- [Narrator] The doctor delivers the news
that having this condition will make it difficult
for LaSonia to get pregnant.
- I remember crying.
I've always wanted to have a kid.
- Okay. First off, that is some terrible communication.
If her doctor conveyed the information that she has PCOS
and made her feel like she would never have babies because
of that, that is horrible communication.
Yes, it is true that some people who have PCOS
or polycystic ovarian syndrome,
which I have a whole video about that, I will link below.
If you want to watch it, do sometimes have trouble
getting pregnant because they ovulate less frequently
most of the time.
They aren't infertile completely.
Most of these patients can get pregnant
on their own or with minimal assistance from a doctor
like myself.
And some of them will go on to need help
from a reproductive endocrinologist or fertility specialist.
But most of them can have children.
I am so appalled at how this diagnosis was conveyed to her.
And also I'm disappointed with how they
represented it in the show.
"Her dreams of having children were dashed?"
Come on.
You don't know if she's going to be able to have kids
or not, this is crazy.
- [Narrator] Six years later, when LaSonia is 28,
she finally meets and marries the man of her dreams.
- So, trying to calm down from that intro
- It was just a very emotional moment.
Yes, yes.
- LaSonia and Jason, don't worry about birth control.
- I can't get pregnant.
So why take birth control?
- If you have PCOS and you're watching this
you can get pregnant and unless you are okay
with that happening, please be on birth control.
That doesn't mean it will be easy
for you to get pregnant when you try.
And it doesn't mean there's no people
on the planet who have PCOS and could never conceive
but a lot of people with PCOS can get pregnant.
So please, please, please hear that from this discussion.
I'm sure you did from my absolute meltdown at the beginning
- [Narrator] When she misses her period in June of 2008
she doesn't give it a second thought
and attributes it to her PCOS.
- I always have problems with my periods where
I see it one month and I don't see it again for a year.
- So super, super common to have very irregular periods.
This makes complete sense that if she thought she
was infertile, and then she missed a period
that she would think it was just her PCOS
because people who have PCOS do often go many, many months
without having periods.
That being said, if she's really going a year
between periods, she needs to be seeing a doctor
who will help her ovulate, or at least have a cycle
more frequently, because that can become dangerous.
The lining of the uterus can get overgrown
and that can lead to serious problems like severe bleeding
and even cancer in some cases.
Going that long, a year, between periods
if you're not on some kind of hormonal medication
is not okay.
Or if you were pregnant or menopausal
or whatever, obviously that's okay too, but you
need a good reason to go that long without periods
and PCOS is not one of them,
you should be having periods more often than that
or we should be treating it to make sure you do.
- [Narrator] True or false?
Breastfeeding while you are pregnant
could cause you to have contractions.
The answer when we return.
Breastfeeding while you are pregnant
could cause you to have contractions.
The answer, true.
Breastfeeding triggers the release
of the hormone oxytocin, which could cause contractions.
- That is technically true.
However, that doesn't mean
that it's unsafe to breastfeed during pregnancy.
People ask me this all the time
and that is a long held belief
that is not based in science at all.
You don't have to wean your younger baby
just because you are pregnant.
There's no evidence that breastfeeding
during pregnancy increases the risk of preterm labor.
- [Narrator] Then in July, LaSonia becomes violently ill
with what she believes is a case of food poisoning.
- I started feeling like I'm going to throw up.
It was just like my whole insides was coming out.
- HCG human chorionic gonadotropin is what typically
causes nausea and vomiting in the first trimester.
That's your culprit.
That's also what we use to diagnose people
as pregnant with the pregnancy test
- [Narrator] The vomiting passes.
But is soon followed by fatigue and food cravings.
And on Halloween, Jason notices other changes in his wife.
- I was putting on my costume.
I weighed myself on a scale and I gained like 15 pounds.
- [Jason] Hey, your neck.
- What is wrong with my neck?
- It's a little darker
- [LaSonia] Maybe it's because my hair
is growing faster.
- You're still a beautiful pirate.
- Okay. Well, a lot to unpack there.
So, first off I say this in every episode,
if you are missing periods, please take a pregnancy test.
If you are in a sexual relationship with someone
who can get you pregnant.
Even if you have something
that makes you think you are unable to get pregnant
just take a pregnancy test to be sure.
Although I always say that, I completely understand why
she didn't because she was convinced she couldn't get
pregnant, and she was used to missing periods
because of the PCOS.
Now he has said, "your neck is a little darker."
This is concerning for something
called Acanthosis Nigricans.
And this is something that happens when people
have insulin resistance, which can come along with PCOS
and it signifies that maybe she has uncontrolled elevated
blood glucose levels like you would have with diabetes.
So this is really concerning because if she's pregnant
and she has undiagnosed gestational or type two diabetes,
we need to know about that,
and there's a lot of fetal
and maternal complications that can come from that
- [Narrator] The couple blames all of her symptoms on stress
which only increases over the holidays
when LaSonia loses her job.
- She would become moody.
- Why would you buy me something I can't open?
Even opening up presents wasn't even making me happy.
In fact, it was making me madder
because it was taken too long.
I'm done, I don't care about Christmas.
I don't care about nothing.
I started having a lot of heartburn.
I felt like bubbling in my stomach, like flutters.
- Okay. So she's got all the classic signs
and symptoms of pregnancy at this point,
she's had nausea and vomiting,
fatigue, mood lability.
Now she has fluttering in her stomach, food cravings,
all the things we typically think about,
and she mentioned GERD or heartburn.
The reason people get heartburn in pregnancy is
because certain hormone elevations that you have
during pregnancy causes relaxation of the lower
esophageal sphincter, which is basically the door that goes
from the bottom of your esophagus to your stomach.
And the job of that door is to open,
to let food go into the stomach
and close to keep acid out of the stomach.
But during pregnancy, because of hormonal changes,
it's just a little bit looser
like its hinges have gone a little bit loose
and it lets acid back up into the esophagus more easily.
So obviously you would have this happen more often
when you have eaten a big meal,
because your stomach is full and that puts pressure on it.
And when you lay down flat.
So people will comment on having symptoms after eating
and when laying down flat on their bed.
So that is a classic sign of heartburn or reflux.
And it's very common in pregnancy.
- [Narrator] By March, she adds frequent urination
to her list of symptoms.
- As soon as I get through using a bathroom,
it's like I'm not even up for five minutes
and I'm going back again.
- LaSonia finally makes the decision to call her doctor.
But on March 23rd, days before her appointment,
she wakes up to a terrifying new symptom.
- I woke up, I just heard something go, psshh
- What's wrong babe?
- I peed on myself.
First, I thought I was dreaming.
And then when I woke up the sheets
was like flooded with water.
- She jumped up and ran to the bathroom
and then I was like, what's wrong?
She scared me.
- I'm sure that would be really scary
if you have no idea what's going on,
you don't know that she's pregnant.
She doesn't know that she's pregnant.
And then all of a sudden she jumps up
in the middle of the night saying she peed herself
and now it looks like she's going to start having pain.
So yeah, I'm sure that that is terrifying.
I'm curious as to, if at any point in this process,
she realized, like maybe what was happening.
- I wasn't even five minutes.
I had this most sharpest pain I ever felt before
Jason, something is killing me.
And I mean, it was scary, it's really killing me.
- All right, come on, let's go to the hospital.
- Oh, it's killing, oh.
- I've stopped this episode 50 times.
So I know there's going to be a hundred comments
about how I talk too much.
And if that's the case, listen
you can go watch this episode in full
on the "Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" YouTube channel.
It's season two, episode four
and you can watch it there if you think I talked too much.
That being said, I say this every episode as well
but, oh my gosh, can you imagine?
You must think you're dying.
If you don't know what's going on
and you have pain as severe as labor, all of a sudden,
I mean the only thing that must go
through your head is that you're dying.
That's all that can be right.
I mean, that's what I would think.
- [Narrator] Her Father William escorts her to the ER
while Jason fills out the admitting paperwork
- She was in pain, aching, excruciating pain.
- And the first question they asked me,
do you think you may be pregnant?
I said, no, no way.
- Okay. I'm actually quite surprised that
at this point she didn't like think maybe that
that was a possibility, like with all
of the symptoms and the fact
that she wasn't having periods and her water just broke.
But I guess if you've convinced yourself
that you can't get pregnant
then that's a powerful thought process.
- The doctor felt my stomach
and he was like, "something's not right."
- [Narrator] The doctor performs a sonogram
to identify the cause of her pain.
- You're pregnant
- Pregnant?
- Yeah. Do you hear that?
LaSonia, you're in labor right now.
You are nine centimeters dilated.
- What? I can't be!
- So right now I need you to get her up and on a gurney.
- And I was like, oh my God, is he alive?
Yeah. That's when I just lost it.
- That is so terrifying to go from,
I think I'm dying to, oh my gosh,
I'm pregnant, to the baby has a heartbeat.
And I'm in labor
like actual nine centimeter, full blown labor
and about to have to go through delivery process
without having any preparation whatsoever.
And then also to be worried about, is the baby okay?
I sympathize so much.
And I know there's a lot of criticism that comes
with these episodes of people thinking like
this is just impossible, how do these people not know
but I think we have to move past that, past
that not being able to quite understand where they're coming
from and right into the space of, it must be terrifying.
It doesn't really matter how they got to that point.
Although it's really interesting to watch
and comment on, you know
they deserve to be heard when they say that it's terrifying
because can you imagine how terrifying that that would be?
- Get my husband.
- The actors in this video never cease to amaze me.
"Get my husband!"
- [Narrator] Jason is given the surprising news.
- What?
I was like shocked.
- Breath through your nose, breath through your nose.
- So much excruciating pain,
blood pressure was rising.
Heart rate was going real fast.
- I was scared too.
- Cause it was just the most scariest moment.
- Here comes the head.
One more push.
- [Narrator] Just hours after finding
out she's pregnant, with no pain medication,
LaSonia vaginally delivers a baby boy.
- I was like, oh my God, is he alive?
I had no prenatal care.
What if my baby is deformed?
I was so guilty.
If something happened to my child it's my fault.
- Well, I say this every episode too, and I'm sorry
if it's becoming repetitive, but I have to say it again.
We do the best we can with the information that we have.
And most of the time pregnancy goes fine.
Of course, that doesn't negate the necessity
of prenatal care.
And I think that hopefully they're going to
address the topic of Acanthosis Nigricans and
whether she had gestational diabetes or not.
But it doesn't matter.
I mean, it matters because we would like to know
and hindsight is 20/20 though.
You do the best you can with the information you have.
And I think this is a really important lesson for all things
in life.
You cannot live feeling guilty because you made
a decision that you would have made differently
if you had more information
- [Narrator] He's rushed away to be examined
more thoroughly.
- I couldn't look at him at all.
I just couldn't.
- They learn that the eight pound two ounce boy
they name Clarence is believed to be 39 weeks
and is amazingly healthy.
- [Jason] He's beautiful
- That just gave me a sigh of relief, right there.
- Just holding my son was amazing.
We got our family babe.
I never even thought I would have my own son.
- [Narrator] But how is it that LaSonia never realized
that she was pregnant?
- Every single time I make these, somebody
in the comments was like, oh my gosh,
do you cry at deliveries?
And I'm like, no, it is so much different watching a
cinematic, emotional experience than it is being
in charge of keeping everybody safe.
Like I have never cried at a delivery except maybe
like a stillbirth and just cried with the parents afterwards
or something like that.
But I don't cry in deliveries, even though sometimes
watching these makes me teary-eyed, but like you
could tell how happy he was.
He just was so happy to suddenly have a baby.
And I don't know how I would feel if I didn't know I
was pregnant and suddenly a baby came out of me.
But also can we talk about like the amazingness that she is?
She just pushed out an eight pound, two ounce baby
with no notice and no pain medicine.
That is incredible.
I am proud of her.
That's amazing
- I always knew you guys were going to be parents,
I knew it.
- As I try over and over again, 1,000,001 times
to conceive a child and it just didn't work,
so I said, pregnancy is not even in a picture
- It was just not possible.
So, I was in denial also.
- Oh my baby girl, yes.
- [Narrator] Just three months later
Jason, LaSonia and their son are doing just fine
and feel blessed to have the family they've always wanted
- Yay.
It was a scary, but it was a beautiful experience
at the same time.
And it was something that I will never, ever, ever forget.
- Oh, it's so cute.
I love it.
I'm shocked that they didn't talk
about the Acanthosis Nigricans.
Like why the heck did they even comment on that
if they weren't going talk about it, but that's what it is.
It can represent insulin resistance
or be a signal of diabetes in some cases.
So there you go.
Now, you know, thanks for being here today.
I hope that you learn something.
If you want to watch another,
"I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant."
I will link over here or over there.
I never get it right.
One of these places, a playlist
of other "Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" reactions
so you can keep learning
and being entertained and I will see you next Monday.