Please Advise: Trying to Get Pregnant After the Pill

The longer you're on the pill, the longer it takes to get pregnant, usually. It can take up to a year. I wouldn't worry. Just have fun in the meantime! ;-)

The average time it takes couples to conceive is 6-12 months depending on your age. I'd say don't sweat it until you go past the year mark, then go see your doc.
The ovulation predictors do help :) as does charting your cycle. I used www.fertilityfriend.com

Don't stress about it. Most doctors will say that you need to be "trying" fro over a year before they will even consider any fertility problems. Everyone is different just give yourself more time! Paying attention to your cycle should help too!

Good luck!

Hi L.,

I had a friend who was in your situation. She got pregnant right away with the first child, but it took her a few months to get pregnant for her second one. All I can say is just give it time and try not to worry too much, this is not uncommon. I'd wait a little while & if you're still not able to conceive, check with your Dr. Good luck!

It took us 1o months to conceive after 10 1/2 years of being on Depo. My period didn't return until I'd been off it for 6 full months. I used charting, temp taking and ovulation test strips. (BTW, the best strips I found were the Answer brand test strips at Walgreens. There were 20 in the box and only cost around $20 which was a bargain compared to the other brands out there. I preferred them to the others because my cycle was so very long and irregular that I needed as many test strips as I could get in one month becuase my window for when I might possibly ovulate was so large.) As a last resort I used an OTC body cleanse that I found at GNC. I can't remember the name but I think it helped! Finally, I relaxed. My husband was getting stressed out too and thought we should just let nature take its course so I promised my husband that I wasn't going to buy another box of test strips after the one I was on. A week or two later I finally ovulated! We took an HPT on Christmas day last year (2006)and it was positive! 9 months later my water broke on my first daughter's birthday and she was delivered exactly at midnight that night. I now have two beautiful daughters both born in August - one on the 28th and one on the 29th!

Good luck!!!

Before calling the doc, I would go to the store and get an ovulation predictor tests. There are many out there and they are all pretty reliable. It might just take you a little long to regulate this time, since you were on the pill longer. 2yrs. vs. 3 mths. Good luck and don't get discouraged.
Liz
New Braunfels

Maybe you're just not getting down to business when you really need to. It's a very precise game that most people have no clue about. There are signals your body puts out when you are fertile. It's recognizing those signals and doing what's needed at the right time to be successful. You know there are roughly only 4 days a month to conceive! Not great odds when you think about it! You might try buying some of those ovulation predictor kits (you can buy some on the net that are cheaper than the stors) and start using them two weeks after your last cycle (or thereabouts). Don't use the first morning's sample, testing between 2-4pm is a good time, and test several times a day. Your LH surge can be quick and you don't want to miss it!! There are a few great web sites to use that will answer any questions you have about trying to conceive. PM me and I will give them to you.

We've been trying to conceive #2 since October of last year. I was using the OPKs and never saw a surge. After 3 months and some testing, the dr determined I wasn't ovulating on my own and needed some help. The dr. put me on Clomid to make me ovulate. I'm done with my first month and I'm just waiting for Aunt Flow or to test positive on a PG test. Just because we easily got pregnant the first time, doesn't mean it will be this easy the second time around! Good luck and feel free to email me for further info! I'm getting pretty good at this trying-to-conceive business! LOL

Edit: One more thing, depending on your age, I don't think your OB will make you go 6 months without testing you to make sure you don't have anything else going on like Endo or PCOS. I'm 32 and my OB did tests during my first three months of trying. I think because you have a child already, the dr.s think something could be 'wrong' because they know you, at one time, were able to conceive naturally. I'm not quite sure how the birth control factors in. I've known several people who got PG within two months from being off their BC. One even was on the Depo shot for like 3 years and is now 6 weeks along after only two months of trying! Good luck.

It is not unusual to take 4-6mo for your cycle to regulate after stopping the pill, this is not to say "be pregnant." As you may even have some anovulatory cycles (cycles without an LH surge causing ovulation to occur). Technically to have an infertility consult you should have 12mo of unprotected sex without conception. I know this seems like forever but there's not much way around it. If you are truely concerned (an not just anxious to get pregnant) here's a couple of things to prepare yourself for a consult with your PCP or OB/GYN to evaluate whether or not it's time for concern. Keep very careful records of your cycle, meaning document the first day of your cycle-any true bleeding at any time that day is your first day. If your cycles should be 28-42 days. If they are longer then this might be a cause to seek advice from a health care provider earlier than 12mo. Next once you can figure out your cycle length (and still not pregnant) buy a home ovulation monitor (clear blue easy has one available OTC at CVS/Walgreens etc). Read the instructions carefully and figure out if you do ovulate (i.e. have an LH surge). If you test through a whole cycle with out ever seeing the "little egg" on the monitor this is also a time where you should seek the advice of your OB/GYN sooner than 12mo. (And if you do see the egg, try to conceive that day and the following 2. You might want to abstain from frequent sex when you see the estrogen surge so that your husband has a good 2-3d supply built up-but not much more than that. Finally stay lying down for one hour after sex, some even say with your hips/legs slightly elevated). Trust me you do not want to rush to the conclusion (and stress) of infertility until it is truely warranted. Although there are some aggressive physicians out there who will treat early, these are not the folks you want taking care of you and your family. Since you do not have a history of difficulty with conception you likely are just fine and need a little time! One finaly note, you mentioned some light spotting. Document when this occurs also, is it 7-10d after your attempt to concieve? When the embryo implants into the uterine lining it can cause some spotting (and cramping) which often women mistake for a early period. This is not a danger to either of you but if you have spotting within 7-10d after your ovulation then no "regular" period following you might want to take a pregnancy test 4-5d later to see if you are pregnant! Hope this helps!

I think that the ovul tests are great. Also, you can go to web.md.com and search ovulation calculator. You will need to be able to put in your last three period dates. It calculates the best time for ovulation. I, too, am trying to concieve. It took 6 months for our first baby. We are just now getting to the 5 month mark now. Kristen is a-1 spot on about giving yourself time. I wouldnt worry about it til at least a year. Funny, I got pregnant last go around when I was irritated with my husband. Maybe there is something to be said about "not trying"!!! hahaha
Margaret :)

Dont stress!!!!! It's normal for you not to get pregnant right away. You got to give it some time remember you were on the pill for 2 years. Your body is still getting back to normal. Give it about 6 months thru a year and if your not pregnant then go to the doctor. Just dont stress.

Good luck and I hope you get your new little one soon.

I too was concerned once I got off the pill because my cyle is so irregular. A few months went by and we still weren't pregnant. A few friends recommended this book to me and joked that it's the "magic" book because everyone who gets the book becomes pregnant within a month. I admit - the myth, the legend continues.... we got pregnant within a month of reading it too. It's actually a fascinating book with information every woman should know about how her body works. I picked up a copy at Half Price Books.

Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Wechsler

And well, keep practicing - that's the fun part! Good luck!
Jen

I took the pill for about 5 years on a off and my husband and I got pregnant in 3 months. But my GYNO told me that it is normal to not get pregnant from being off the pill for up to a year. If it is past a year then you start to talk to you doctor. Good luck!