Panicking because I tried to use FAM after coming off the pill and now I'm late 🙃

[mackjackson]

Sigh.
So basically I slept with my boyfriend on the 27th day of my cycle this month. I stopped the pill in March after 2.5 years of use and had my first period after that at 31 days. Before going on the pill my periods were pretty irregular but very rarely more than 30 days (usually ranged from 24-28 days). Plus, I took my temperature most days of my last cycle as instructed by FAM and had a few temperature increases. So, I'm thinking, great, I must have already ovulated, my cycle is going to go back to being 28 days, so I'll be 99% clear to have unprotected sex day 27 right?
Wrong.
It's day 32 now and I have not gotten my period, no signs of PMS or anything. I did more research and apparently it's pretty common for women coming off the pill to have longer cycles, delayed ovulation, erratic temperatures, etc. I didn't realize it would be harder to track everything and my body would still be adjusting after coming off the pill. I used an ovulation test strip the day after I went to my boyfriend's and it was negative but a line was there. It wasn't as dark as the control line but definitely pretty visible. Again, being an idiot, I'm like "oh, the ovulation strip isn't positive, that means I'm not ovulating so it's a waste of money to take plan B."
Wrong again lol. Did not realize until today that the test strip would've been positive BEFORE I ovulated due to the LH surge, so the fact that it wasn't a full positive means nothing. I've tested every day after that and the test line has not appeared at all so naturally my paranoid ass is thinking I had my LH surge the day before I had sex and the line that appeared that first day I tested is the comedown of LH pre-ovulation (i.e. I would've ovulated on or around the day I had sex which is just great). I'm genuinely paralyzed with anxiety and can't focus on class or work or enjoy life because this is all I'm thinking about and am in torture because I know that all I can do at this point is wait. So, ladies, what do we think, what are the odds I'm pregnant?
PS Please be kind with me because I come from a very conservative household so I'm not very educated on birth control methods and don't have the insurance to pay for an IUD or other expensive method. Yes I know I was dumb and believe me I will not be making the same mistakes again

 

[rjl]

@mackjackson You can become pregnant if you ovulated late enough. Take a test 14-21 days after sex and use condoms until your body regulates and you can accurately confirm ovulation.

 

[gilliannno]

@mackjackson Did he ejaculate inside or pullout on CD27?

In order to trust FAM as a birth control, you need to be doing it correctly for at least 3-6 cycles. Doing it correctly means you need to be taking your temperature as soon as you wake up, and before you get out of bed, and ideally at the same time every day. You also need to be checking cervical mucus and using OPKs until your temps confirm ovulation.

Have you read Taking Charge of Your Fertility? Or what did you use to learn about FAM?

 

[mackjackson]

@gilliannno He ejaculated inside. Unfortunately I learned from the Clue (period tracker and calendar) app article about BBT on helloclue.com. It mentioned nothing about having to wait a few cycles and I had been using the app for a while so didn't realize one cycle wasn't enough

 

[gilliannno]

@mackjackson I’d recommend the Fertility Friend app for temps. The app also offers charting courses. But the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility will go much more in depth. There is also r/FAMnNFP. The wiki will have a lot of information.

At most there is a 30% chance of pregnancy.

 

[tallulah]

@mackjackson OP can we get an update what happened?

 

[mackjackson]

@tallulah Got my period shortly after this post! I ended up tracking my next two cycles with LH strips and didn't ovulate for a few months down the line so I don't think I even ovulated that month and was freaking out for no reason