Expert: Bob Kambic - 5/2/2007

Question
QUESTION: Okay, last Wednesday evening, I went to take my BC pill and realized I never took Tuesday's. I am not the type that can take two pills at once (I am currently on Ortho Low) so I took Tuesday's Wednesday night, Wednesday's first thing Thursday morning and Thursday's, Thursday night. My husband and I had an "accident" on Saturday and I have been in panic mode every since.  What are my chances that I am pregnant?
ANSWER: Well the chances of pregnancy go up slightly when you miss a pill. But I think you did pretty well catching up although you are supposed to take the two at the same time. I don't know what you mean by "accident." The pill protects from pregnancy. When you are on the pill you expect to have normal sexual relations without pregnancy so I am not sure what you mean by accident. The chances of pregnancy are still pretty low.

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QUESTION: What I mean by accident is, I am petrified of getting pregnant so even though I am on the pill, I still ask my husband to pull out.
ANSWER: Well Laurel, if you are petrified of getting pregnant, and asking your husband to pull out, I think you need to talk to your husband, the person who prescribes the pill for you, and maybe a counselor about this.

My wife and I, through 30 years of counseling couples about fertility, found many who had not clarified the number of children they wanted and when they wanted them. It is easier when you begin to talk about these things with your husband and tell him why you are frightened of pregnancy. I suggest you begin with your husband and then perhaps your doctor. This is as important to you and your husband as finance, jobs, and vacation.

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QUESTION: We both know we want to have a second child in about one year. So, we are just being EXTRA cautious. We know that two is the maximum number of children that we want. We love our son, who is 18 months old! We know we want to have another brother/sister for him. We just want them to be about 3 year apart, that's all. Thanks for your advice. I guess I will know in a few days if I am pregnant or not because that is when I am due to start my period.

Answer
It is not always so easy to space pregnancies exactly as you would like. Let me tell you about it 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 these web sites to learn about how your body is working.

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.