What are the chances?

[neffiline.livejournal.com]

Hi!

I've been on Alesse for 6 years now. I've never had problems with it.

Last Friday I was meant to start a new pack of pills (I had my periods from Feb 20th to 23rd, very light but normal). I forgot to take my 1st pill on Friday night so I took it right away on Saturday morning around 8h30 when I realized. Then I took my 2nd pill on Saturday night at 9pm as my normal schedule. I haven't missed a pill this week, always at 9pm.

Last night (Thursday March 1st) I had unprotected sex. It was with my boyfriend, we usually always use condoms as added protection. In the heat of the moment yesterday, we didn't.

Only this morning, did it hit me that I'd taken my very 1st pill of my new pack 12 hours late.

What are the chances I could get pregnant from this?

It's happened before that I forgot pills but it was well over 7 days in my pack. It's happened before that I had unprotected sex and I've never been pregnant or had any kind of scare.

Guess I'm just looking for re-assurance? Thanks!

Comments

[nickelshoe.livejournal.com]

You're right that starting your pack late is one of the riskiest mistakes in taking hormonal birth control. However, it's by no means a guarantee that you will ovulate. Some people who stop taking birth control in order to become pregnant find that it takes a few months before they ovulate again. Studies suggest that it probably takes at least 10 days (so three days late on a 21/7 pill like Alesse) before ovulation is likely.

This paper has a chart comparing different pill-free intervals: http://apps.who.int/rhl/fertility/contraception/Contraception%20series%20Curtis_SPR1_06.pdf

Most guidelines suggest you don't need to use backup in your case, since you made the pill up. No method of birth control is 100% effective, and you're not at perfect use, but you still have pretty good protection.

[neffiline.livejournal.com]

Is there a way for me to know when I'm ovulating if at all?

[nickelshoe.livejournal.com]

Not really. Hormonal birth control interferes with the normal signs of fertility (cervical mucus, basal body temperature, cervical position). And that makes sense, since it is interfering with your fertility. From what I've seen in the studies I looked at, researchers used ultrasounds to look at people's ovaries and see if they were about to ovulate.

Something else I didn't mention. Progestin-only pills work primarily by thickening the cervical mucus--not by preventing ovulation. I see that Alesse has 100 micrograms of the progestin levonorgestrel. The POP Norgeston contains a mere 30 micrograms of the same hormone. Norgeston takes effect in just 48 hours, and you'd been taking your pill correctly for that long. So it's also fairly likely that some of the same changes Norgeston relies on also help protect you from pregnancy even if you happened to ovulate.

I'm not a doctor or pharmacist, so this is just based on my understanding from reading articles and so on.

[neffiline.livejournal.com]

Ok, so I should be OK in the end since I've been taking it for 6 days at least and I took the one that I missed right away when I realized.

Thanks so much for all the knowledge :)

[dkwgdk.livejournal.com]

I don't know if this works if you are on the pill, but for me ovulation is accompanied by increased thickness of my cervical mucous. If I (wash my hands and then!) feel around the opening of my cervix I can collect a bit of mucous. If it's thick, like egg whites, I'm probably ovulating.

Again, I'm not sure this works if you are on the pill, and hopefully someone more knowledgeable will chime in.

[archangelbeth]

It doesn't work on the pill -- one of the mechanisms by which HBC prevents pregnancy is to thicken the cervical mucous such that sperm have a harder time getting in. This thickened mucous looks a lot like fertile mucous for many people.

I'd say, if it's been close to 7 days since the pill that was missed-and-made-up, the chances of ovulation are low, low, low. Perhaps not as low as absolutely perfect use, but pretty darn low.

[dkwgdk.livejournal.com]

I knew you'd know. ;) Thanks, I'll also file this away for future use. I haven't considered my mucous since starting on the Mirena, but perhaps I should investigate again...I wonder what it's doing. There are hormones in the Mirena so it might be thickening stuff up. Hmmmmm.

[nickelshoe.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's the main way (we think) the Mirena works. It stops ovulation I think half the time?