Expert: Bob Kambic - 7/17/2007

Question
Hi, I'm 25 years old. I recently was taking Desogen birth control pills for 1 year & 8 months and stopped this past April 16, 2007. In April I had my period twice on April 2, and April 18. Then in May and June my period cycle returned to normal. Now its July and I was expecting my period on July 5th, or around that but now its July 16 and still no period. Is this an indication of pregnancy or could it still be my body adjusting back to normal from the Desogen birth control pills? I used condoms since i've stopped using pills to prevent pregnancy.

I am experiencing breast tenderness, constipation & gas. Thanks for any help!

Answer
It sounds like you might be pregnant. Did you read the information about coming off the pill on the front page. Here is is.

Let me answer in two parts. First when 100 couples try to get pregnant, no pills, no birth control, at the end of a year 80 will be pregnant. Some get pregnant the first month, some the second month, etc. It is impossible to predict which couple will get pregnant when. The 20 couples not pregnant after a year are considered infertile and usually go for medical help. You can't tell where you are until you try.

Now second, coming off the pill is similar. Some women return to normal cycling with no problem, others take sometime to resume normal cycling. You can't predict what will happen because all women are different.

So putting the two issues together, coming off the pill, first you will have to resume a "normal" cycle, then you will have to try to get pregnant. I suggest monitoring fertility will increase your understanding of all this and your confidence that your body is working correctly. Check http://www.irh.org/nfp.htm

http://www.fertilityfriend.com/HelpCenter/FFBook/ff_fertility_signs.html

Be sure to try to get a teacher to work with you until you really understand your fertility.