Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Last week...

Remember last week when I told you that I had a couple of things I was holding back on that I kind of wanted to write? Well, here is one of them (which cuts by one the number of blog-secrets I am keeping from you all!)

I stopped taking birth control pills about a month ago. There are a couple of reasons for this, like, I have been on the pill, with a couple small exceptions, for basically 12 years, and would like to see how my body reacts to not being on it any more...that is a lot of hormones over a long time. More to the point, though, I might just be thinking that getting pregnant sometime soon is maybe not the worst idea in the world;-)

Actually, the timing could be very good...Boss Foxy spent a lot of energy convincing me of what a good time it could actually be. Having a baby at the end of my first year of grad school would actually work out pretty well...I would have the summer to be home full time, and then wouldn't be as busy during my second year and it could all work out well.

Not that I have actually decided to have one...just that I think I may want to, and since it usually takes some time when you come off of the pill to get pregnant, I sort of wanted to be ready in case we did decide to go ahead with it (probably sometime this fall). Very much up in the air right now.

So...let's skip to last week (warning, boys, this gets a little...um..."technical"). Monday should have been the day that I got my period, assuming things worked smoothly coming off of the pill. Obviously, there is a lot of adjusting that goes on, so I was not terribly concerned that I didn't get it. After all, it is virtually impossible to get pregnant immediately when you come off of the pill...right?

Tuesday and Wednesday, still no period, but some stomach pains unlike normal cramping, and some kinda light spotting. WebMD says..."Hmm...could be an egg implanting." It also said it could be a life-threatening condition where a fertilized egg gets stuck in your Fallopian tubes, but I felt like the stomach pains would have been a little more severe than that;-)

I don't wanna lead you on...I am not pregnant...but there were a couple of day there where I was not entirely sure that I wasn't. As any long-time readers know, I have some experience with pregnancy scares. And I definitely would not call this one a "scare"...first of all, I wasn't scared, and second of all, I think I was actually a little bit excited about it. Not totally, but the idea has its appeal...

Anyway, everything was back to normal by the end of the week;-). It was just a case of my body not reacting completely seamlessly to coming off of the pill...which is totally to be expected. But, it has certainly helped me get my head around a really big thought...that maybe, just maybe, I do want to have a baby sometime soon...

Yikes.

18 comments:

Kari said...

Yeah! We all know that you will be an amazing mom to a new baby because you are already such an amazing mom to Munchkin! I think it is a great idea to go off the pill...it will lead to great things!

Kari

Anonymous said...

:)

:) :)

anne said...

Well, well, well this is MIGHTY exciting. Of course there is no "good" time but it sounds like this is as good a plan as any.

(I'll be honest I've had a bit of the baby bug recently. But shhh don't tell a soul!)

Jenn said...

I've been using BC for 9 years. I went off of it for a short period and my body was NOT happy. I'm so used to getting that normal dose of hormones on a regular basis. Not being on it sent me into a rollercoaster of emotions. Radio commercials made me cry, my grandma made me pissed...it was so bad.

I fear for my future husband. Seriously. I'm not going to be a beautiful happy pregnant woman. I just know it.

Sara said...

I'm so excited for you! I've spent the past few years doing everything to NOT get pregnant, so I can't imagine what it's like to switch your mindset so completely. Congratulations!

SG said...

I've been on the pill for literally a decade now without any breaks. I am concerned about how my body will react when I do get off of it. I was discussing the babymaking timeline with the fiance and I think I might get off b.c. next fall after our wedding. I suspect it will take a while for my body to adjust and actually be able to get pregnant.

I did hear from a friend that you are more likely to get pregnant soon after getting off the pill, but not sure how reliable that information is.

Either way I'm sure when it does happen you will make a great mom and Munchkin will make a great auntie.

laurwilk said...

As I said before...I'm mostly excited for the baby blog name! Haha.

Also, I want you and SHR (or Big Sis) to be prego at the same time. So then the kiddies can be BFFs too. Think they're down with that?

Windy City Kelley's said...

thanks for sharing! I just went through this a couple of months ago. My body is finally normal after a few rough months :)

Rachel H. said...

Awh! Yay! So exciting...we could share pregnancy woes! :)

Lisa Chelle said...

Yea!!
Isn't it great when you realize that is what you want.

Anonymous said...

Wow, that’s some news.
It’s funny, in the last 1,5 years a lot of my friends or colleagues decided to get a baby, even two friends who always said they will most likely not have a baby at all or at least not within the next 5 years. ;-)

I am on BC since 11 years and I am quite sure I will not chance that within the next 2 years. I just don’t feel ready for a Baby jet.
But I am sure you will be a fantastic mom!

boohoo said...

Wow everyone's talking babies at the moment! I'm extremely jealous one hand cos we can't try for another year-ish yet BUT I'm also excited for you! This is one of the most exciting parts - when your mind starts to turn and you start to think that having a baby wouldn't be so bad after all. It took a pregnancy "scare" for me to decide I wanted one actually.

Rachel H. said...

I'll share with you all my pains! :)

Dani K said...

I went off BC (back in 2006) after being on it for 15-16 years. YIKES, what a shock to my system that was.

I'll be very honest and say that it probably took a good year (maybe just under?) for my body to adjust. The worst part was the teenage acne (OMG, this was so severe!) and getting cramps again (which was one of the main reasons I was on BC to begin with).

Good luck....and from all I've heard, it's actually quite probable to get pg right after stopping BC! :)

vera said...

So you've went on the pill about the same age Munchkin is now?

Teresa said...

It might take a while for your body to adjust, but I just want to through a statistic we quote liberally at my job (clinical research in Ob/Gyn) - 95% of women are ovulating by the third month they are off birth control pills. Our bodies adjust more quickly than many people might expect. The only contraception that takes siginificantly longer before ovulation restarts is the DepoProvera shots. And now you know what timeline you're most likely working with. :)

Anonymous said...

Congrats! And...I know how you feel.

Also, the best thing I ever did after getting my IUD removed was read the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility. I thought I knew and understood a lot about my body and my chick-physiology and realized that your body tells you so much if you just take a minute or two in the day to listen. The advice in the book can be used to prevent pregnancy, to try to get knocked up, or just to understand what is going on when.

For example, I know now that it took me 86 days to ovulate post IUD. Can't get knocked up without ovulating, so I knew I didn't have to worry whether I was or wasn't. For the record, we're not trying - just not avoiding either.

I know that sounds like some weird hippie crap (I had the book for a long time and dismissed it because I thought it was), but it really makes a lot of sense. Anyway, just putting that out there.

kissashark said...

I stopped BC after about 17 years 5 months ago and I was pretty much back to normal after 3 months. Still havng a bit of an issue with a little extra acne but otherwise fine and I was ovulating by the 3rd month after stopping the pills. I 'm not trying to get pregnant just was sick of BC and was starting to see "new" side effects as I reach the mid 30's....good luck with it!