pregnancy concerns

[koalax3.livejournal.com]

Hi everyone,  I feel nervous and kinda silly but I have a question that I need to ask and get opinions on.

First though, a bit of background info:

~I'm 23, 5"6 and overweight.  I have had issues with severe cramping and not having a regular period in the past so I went on Depo in a attempt to lessen the above issue.  I'd rather not go into details about it but I had a difficult childhood and my views on sex and whatnot might seem slightly odd (kind of like someone my age should know better).  I have also been having a period since age 10

 I also have generalized anxiety disorder, so if any of this seems kind of like duh! i should know this, please keep it in mind that I don't always think things through very rationaly. 

~I received the Depo shot last year (first shot was May 21st 2007, second shot was August 21st 2007).  I decided not to get the third shot due to the side effects i was having: mood swings from hell (fiance kindly refers to it as the "modern day dark ages"), i gained 30 pounds, and seemed to have a period that never fully stopped.  The third shot, had i gotten it, would have been october 21st.  If any of the dates seem off, I apologize, I recieved the shot from my local women's health clinic for free due to income issues.

~I had spotting/not quite a full period starting on november 20 and lasting until the day after thanksgiving.  I did not have another period until february 7th (which lasted until february 12th).  I should note that in early january I went to the dr with concerns about not having a period (since i had a one monthly the entire time during the 2 shots of depo), after a negative pregnancy test she put me on a months worth of desogen (the generic form). that seemed to bring on the above mentioned period (which seemed like a period to me ~ heavy bleeding with cloting, started out brownish and icky and went to bright red by the end and i also had moderate cramping).

~and to top it off, i have not lost much weight since not getting my third shot of depo (and my thyroid has been checked).  I have been making small changes in my eating habits that should've made a difference (heck, i gave up soda on new years day! and i was 2-3 cans a day too)

here's where I feel so nervous: technically i'm a virgin (no p.i.v. at all).  however, i've often "dry-humped" with my fiance (usually with me wearing a pair of women's boxers & panties and he just his boxers) but about 3-4 weeks ago we did it slightly differently (he wearing boxers and me a pair of skimpy panties).

I started my "period" last thursday.  I say "period" because it's not like anyone i've had before. only mild cramping and mild bleeding (again, started out dark brownish and is now bright/dark red with what looks like the clots i used to always have except these are smaller and lighter), and to top it off, I think my "period" is over now. 

The whole reason why this has me confused (other than the dry-humping incident listed above) is that this "period" is so NOT what I am used to having.  Before (and somewhat during the depo) I used to have 7+day long periods and almost heavy every day of them (this one started heavy and tapered plus was only about 5 days), I also used to have horrible cramping and clotting as well (to the point i almost became anemic).

to be honest, i'm thinking the probability of me being pregnant is like 1 in 100,000 but I just need to hear someone elses opinion (i just moved and do not have insurance or a way to get to clinic yet either).  also, is it possible that maybe my body has finally adjusted and I might not have the periods from hell anymore?

Comments

[mari-mac1109.livejournal.com]

It's very unlikely that you're pregnant, but if you're worried, take a test! You can get them for cheap at the dollar store and they work just as well as ones from the pharmacy.

I know when I went off Depo, it took my body some time to get back to normal. Plus, with the weight gain, stress factors, etc etc, your period could be irregular for many other reasons.

[arularia.livejournal.com]

If you've always had abnormal cycles, you might do some reading about PCOS and see if some or all of your symptoms match-up. The weight thing makes me suspicious because that was one of my issues before I was diagnosed--I couldn't lose weight to save my life. I was eating 1300 calories a day, tried Slimfast, tried Weight Watchers, stopped eating after 8pm--I tried every trick in the book and every time I tried something new, I gave it a solid month and never dropped an ounce. I'm now on metformin and dancing back and forth between the South Beach diet and the Insulin Resistance diet and the weight is finally coming off.

All-in-all, I doubt you're pregnant. My guess is that there's some hormonal issue that's causing you so much grief.

[archangelbeth]

Weight and abnormal periods are also possible symptoms of hypothyroidism -- getting TSH, T3, and T4 checked might be a good idea. (Other symptoms include fatigue, constipation, depression... http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000353.htm is a useful site.)

Anyway, for the OP: Basically, unless your boyfriend ejaculated in his boxers and you stayed pressed up against him till everything soaked through, the chances that you're pregnant are up there with me winning the sweepstakes that I might not even have gotten the entry sent in time for. (So if I win, and you're pregnant, I will split the winnings with you, 'kay? O:> ))

I'm betting that it's hormonal and/or a combination of going off the Depo. There's a chance that your body will decide not to have horrible periods anymore, or that they'll come back slowly. Crossing my fingers that it's the former!

[melodic-lyrics.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you're having what sounds like an average period. 4-5 days in length, not major cramping, and moderate bleeding.

Congratulations. ;)

[loonylupinlover.livejournal.com]

i'm thinking the probability of me being pregnant is like 1 in 100,000

Probably even less, considering his penis never touched your vagina :) His sperm would have be wunderkinds to make it out of his penis, through his boxers, through your panties, onto your vulva, into your vagina, all the way up to an egg if there was even one there in the first place and there's only a few fertile days per cycle. Pretty much impossible.

I agree that this sounds like a normal period, as opposed to your heavy and painful periods of the past. Implantation bleeding, or spotting during pregnancy, tends to look *VERY* faint -- as in, a day or two of light spotting and no other bleeding. This doesn't sound like that at all.

[archangelbeth]

Oh, I had a full five-ish days of decidual bleeding. It was light and spotty, but more like light-pad for me and not just pantiliner, IIRC. (Though it has been over 8 years, and I mostly have my little-red-notebook notes for timing and "spotting," and my memories. Bright red spots, but nothing like my usual heavy stuff.)

Mind, I still agree that the OP is unlikely to be pregnant, but decidual bleeding can mimic a light, spotty period that's more than just 1-2 days.

[sprtwrid.livejournal.com]

my implantation bleeding with my son was more like a medium flow period for me, and i bled a lot rather frequently in the beginning (enough that i was sent to L&D 5 months in a row because they thought i was having a miscarraige. With my daughters pregnancy i had very heavy bleeding in the beginning for the first two months with frequent light spotting after.


I doubt shes pregnant, but i wanted to throw my story out there :P

[queensugar.livejournal.com]

I'd bet a whole lot of my own money, and my beloved cats, on you not being pregnant. It would be unbelievably, incredibly rare to get pregnant from dry-humping with clothing on: despite what we're sometimes taught, sperm are neither that hardy nor that clever.

In order for a pregnancy to occur, either semen or, much less likely, pre-ejaculate (which is thought not to normally contain sperm, outside of uncommon occasions where it may be remaining in the urethra, and even then not in a significant quantity) must be deposited in or immediately near the vaginal entrance.

Sperm just can't get through two layers of clothing and find their way to the vagina. They require a wet and pH-specific conducive substance (like semen) to survive; otherwise, they die extremely quickly in the air, or in the acidic environment of the vagina. And I very much doubt that a large hunk of semen managed to wind its way into your vagina if you both were wearing underwear.

So no, I can almost guarantee you aren't pregnant from the activity you describe -- though it never hurts to take a test for peace of mind. But it DOES sound like a normal period.

[theburntcereal.livejournal.com]

_{"...sperm are neither that hardy nor that clever..."
Well put. ;]}