[couldib]

Hi, I am 31 and am trying to get pregnant. I stopped Lo Lo Estrin in the middle of a pack on 2/9 and still haven't gotten my period. I took two home pregnancy tests; one on 2/21 and one this morning 2/26 and both were negative. I have been on the pillfor that past two yrs and "played " with it to not get my period at times. I had skipped December and januarys placebos and didn't get mt period those months. I have been playing with it for the past two years like I said but I've always had spotting or breakthrough bleeding on the months when I did want to get my period and then id always actually get my heavy period a few days after. Now it's been 16 days and nothing?? When I stopped the pill on the 2/9 we had sex every night through the 16/17 and that whole week when I wiped the toilet paper had this clear gel gooey like substance.. I would think at this point it would show on a HPT if I was pregnant but people have been telling me its too early because implantation doesn't happen till like 6-10dpo...
I really want to bepregnant, is there still a chance I am?
Whenever I got pregnant in the past a HPT would pick it up but then also if I'm not why haven't I bled yet./?

[CravenMorhead]

It can take people who are perfectly fertile with no obstructions over a year to conceive. It isn't a matter of bathing your nether bits in semen. There is timing, viability, ovulation, and implantation. Chances are quite good you didn't ovulate. So... no egg no baby.

Coming off birth control will make it a little harder, or unlikely, to conceive. You also stopped in the middle of a pack, which means that the hormones are just leaving your system and your uterus lining might not be ripe to be shed. Your body could also be trying to resync it's own cycle with where it was in your birthcontrol. In short your body is trying to deal with coming off birthcontrol and starting to regulate the cycle once again. It could mean irregular periods for a couple months.

Keep trying, just remember it could take a while. Enjoy the process.

[couldib]

I've heard the opposite. People have told me they skipped a pikll and then poof they were pregnant. Isn't this essentially the same thing? Plus I wasn't really taking the pill at the same time the couple of weeks before as well...

[CravenMorhead]

It is a little of both.

The drug convinces your body that your pregnant in a small way. As such they don't need to ovulate. This is done by keeping a known amount of a specific hormone in your blood stream at all times. If you miss a pill you take it right away, i.e. two in a day, to ensure coverage. If you miss more than that then there is a chance that you could ovulate. It isn't a BAM! You're pregnant. The hormone has secondary and tertiary actions as well, but there are some people that are just too fertile for their own good. I have a friend like that.

The problem with going cold turkey with birth control pill is that your cycle is now COMPLETELY un-regulated. Your body, who hasn't been regulating things much, now has to run the show. It could take a few cycles to get this running again. Irregular periods. There's no arbitration any more. So it could take a while before you ovulate and have a habitable uterus to grow the child.

So the skinny of it is that your period is going to take a while to become regular and it might take a few months beyond that to get pregnant.