Chance of pg on POPs?
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| Tue, 04-18-2006 - 6:37pm |
I have an 11 month old DS and am on POPs. I am no longer BF. My cycle seems to have gotten pretty regular. I've read that that may mean I am ovulating. I missed a pill on day 10 of my cycle, and didn't notice it until the morning of day 11 (so, I went 48 hours with no pill). We were away for the weekend, and we'd already not used a back-up. I figured it was too late, so I didn't tell DH at that point and we continued to not use a back-up (maybe that was a dumb choice, but I figured it was too late to undo what had already been done, so it probably didn't matter if it happened again). I am now going absolutely crazy wondering if I am pg. I expect AF sometime between tomorrow and Saturday - except I am now starting to assume I am pg, and wanting to be! That's crazy. I've started taking tests, and they're all negative, but I don't see that as "no", I see it as "it's too early to test." So, any advice on how not to go crazy? A baby would not be the absolute best thing right now (which is why I'm on BCP), but I'm starting to really want it. I know you can't tell me if I'm pg, but maybe some advice or stories or something would keep me from going crazy! Thank you!
Deb

Hi newaug02, welcome!
I don't have any POP stories to share but I can give you some advice. First POPs are most effective if the mom is exclusively breast feeding and usually for not more than the first 6 months. If you are no longer exclusively breast feeding then I think it is time (assuming you aren't pg) to talk with your doctor about switching to a more effective method of contraception.
POPs by themselves (when not used in combination with lactational amenorrhea) only suppress ovulation about 50% of the time and they work primarily by thickening the cervical mucus so sperm can't get to your egg. A POP has a very narrow time window (+/-20 minutes of your regular pill time) to be considered as being taken on time and if you miss a pill you should use back-up for at least the next 48 hours while your cervical mucus thickens again.
And, there is the option of emergency contraception which is most effective if taken within the first 72 hours after the event of concern. For more about EC see the EC site at: http://ec.princeton.edu/
A good test kit, like First Response Early Results, is accurate about 14 days after the day of concern, so I think you may have been testing too early to get an accurate result.
Deb hon, just try to keep your mind occupied with other things while the time passes. I know that's easy for me to say, but the time will pass. When it's time to test I hope you get the result you want.
Thanks for stopping by. If you have another question please ask. Keep in touch and let us know how you're doing, ok?
Good luck and (((HUG)))
Jill