vaginapagina | Period Confusion (Reply)

Backstory:
Last year, from July-October I went on the pill (OTC-lo.) I had had fairly regular cycles before that... they were long, but they were still pretty regular (like every 30-35ish days or so). My ex-boyfriend dumped me in October so naturally I freaked and after finishing my pack for the month decided to go off of them. (Getting dumped wasn't the only factor - I didn't have a job and could barely scrape up the $30 every month to get them from Planned Parenthood. I went to PP because I didn't want my mom to know I was sexually active. I was 17 at the time.) But anyway, I had my last Pill-induced Period that October.

I didn't have another period until January. And when I did, I thought I was dying. It was the absolute worst period I've ever had in my entire life. It hurt so much that I really thought my internal organs were trying to escape through my cooter.

I skipped February completely somehow and didn't have one again until March. Had a 31 day cycle, had one in April.

Didn't have another one until August. I wasn't sexually active, so I wasn't really concerned about being pregnant (plus my ex and I ALWAYS used condoms, even when I was on the pill.) I also could not convince my mother that it isn't normal to just NOT have a period. She wrote it off, saying I was still young and that it could be irregular for awhile. And see, that really sucks, because if I can get into the doc and there IS something wrong, then we might possibly be able to get insurance to cover it. If I had wanted it just to have it, they wouldn't cover it. So yeah, annoying.

Had a 37 day cycle, had a period in September. I haven't had one since.

Here's the kicker:
I have a new boyfriend, with whom I slept with for the first time last weekend. We had sex twice, used condoms, all that hunky-dory stuff. Today, I got "the twinge" - the little pain I usually feel when I'm ovulating. (Of course my first thought was, "Oh JEEZ! GREAT! I'm going to have my period during finals week!") But uh, then I started spotting EVER so slightly. Which is out of character for me. Also, "the twinge" has been somewhat reoccuring - I got it probably 2 or 3 more times today, which is also somewhat out of character. I usually get it once and then my period shows up about a week later.

I heard you can bleed just slightly if you're pregnant (implantation or whatever) BUT I'm not really concerned about that... like I said, we used protection both times and he actually never got off (we both just kind of wore ourselves out.) So I mean it's technically possible but I figure HIGHLY unlikely.

I *know* I should have gotten this period stuff worked out before I slept with him. But I've been super busy with classes and work and I always sort of figured I was skipping periods because I was stressed out like crazy.

Mainly my concerns are these:
I could use some possible insight into why my period is so funky. Just the usual "It sounds like [this]" kind of stuff, you know?
A friend of mine told me about this local clinic she goes to where they do birth control prescriptions and paps and stuff using an income scale, so I'm going to try to get in over there soon.

Are there any possible reasons for why I'd spot like that? We got a little rough, so that's a factor, and I also think I may have developed a UTI (I got one after I lost my virginity too, so I figure having sex for the first time in over a year is probably a pretty similar experience.)

I'm just confused now, I guess. Can anybody help me connect the dots here? Heh.