How does getting pregnant while on bc pills work?

[kellij]

So I've always been somewhat confused by this concept. I get it when they aren't effective at all. I'm confused about the following situation:

I had a boss that had 4 babies in this fashion. Every baby she had was conceived because they were visiting her parents and they forgot her pills. I frankly don't understand how you do it four times. But nevertheless, what exactly does this mean? Like if you have sex and you've been taking the pills but then you forget to take them pills for several days can those little guys be hanging out in there and then you get pregnant? Or is it from having sex once you've stopped taking the pill?

Another scenario is what made me think about this again. We have a good friend who is in the process of divorcing his wife. (long story). Anywho, he thinks she was on her period the weekend of the 28th, but it may have been the 22nd of September. Then they definitely haven't had sex after the 3rd of October. Now she's saying she thinks she's pregnant. He thought she was on the pill. If they had sex prior to the 3rd and then she stopped taking the pill could any little guys still be up there and then could she get pregnant from quitting the pill mid-cycle post-sex?

Thanks!

[kijip]

Well, there is pregnancy due to failure rate even when used 100% correctly (enter Toby!:wink2: ) and pregnancy due to misuse or forgetting pills.

So she either could have forgotten her pills for a few days or just gotten pregnant while on the pill. While rare it happens, my family is the happy proof. Sperm can live for a few days at least, so it is not outside the realm that a pregnancy could occur if some time a day or more after intercourse occurred, the pill was not taken correctly.

As for dates, it depends on the mother, how the particular pill interacts with her, how many days of spacer pills she has on her brand and how her cycle has been affected. It is my understanding that ovulation can happen anytime after the first pill in missed (not that it will, just that it can), even if it is quite close to the last spacer induced period. If fact, some doctors use the pill to coax the body into ovulating before ramping up to other infertility treatments. It was suggested to me by my RE when we were dealing with SIF.

[SammyeGail]

My neice got an extra Christmas present from her boyfriend 4 years ago, she was on b/c, but also on anitboitics, which I've heard affect b/c. (Is this correct? My mother tells me I was a b/c baby, because she was on antibiotics).

It depends on when you actually ovulate too. We had infertility treatments and I found out I ovulate on day 10 (10 days after my period starts-really early!) when its usually in the middle, day 13-14. If you missed a few pills you may think your in the safe zone, but you never know.

I've read sperm can live up to 5 days. (lots of infertility research, lol). Those are some determined little fellows!!

Samantha

[mommylamb]

You're right that sperm can hang out in there for a number of days. I think it's up to 6 or 7 depending on how much mucus you have (sorry if TMI... they can swim around in the mucus for quite some time). So if they were still alive in there, and then she forgot to take her pill and ovulated it could result in a pregnancy. That's why there's that theory that if you have sex at the beginning part of your fertility treatment you're more likely to have a girl because the X sperms are stronger so they live longer, but slower than the Y sperms that can get up there fast but die soon afterwards. If you have sex when the egg is in just the right place you're more likely to have a boy because the Y sperms get there faster... not sure if it's true, but it kind of makes sense to me.

[boolady]

I had a boss that had 4 babies in this fashion. Every baby she had was conceived because they were visiting her parents and they forgot her pills. I frankly don't understand how you do it four times.

Yikes, maybe it's just me, but being at my parents' house would have been enough birth control all by itself!

[kellij]

Yikes, maybe it's just me, but being at my parents' house would have been enough birth control all by itself!

Seriously!! That's why it disturbed me that it happened four different times!! To be clear, the parents only live a couple of hours away. It wasn't like a week long vacation once a year!! :)

[Snow mom]

Okay, I'm starting to feel like maybe I approach these things too literally :), but really all it takes to get pregnant while on b/c is ovulation. If you miss a few pills, sometimes only one, or are inconsistent about when you take them you can ovulate. Then it just takes what it would normally take to get pregnant....

It seems like having this happen four times is a sure sign that you need a different form of birth control. Yes, hanging out at your folks house should be birth control enough, but it could be that the ovulation happens because of pills missed while there but the actual conception happens later. Who knows. It's a good reminder that they mean it when they say you need to take the pills at the same time every day, and if something happens to upset that you really need to not rely on the pills to keep you from getting pregnant.



~L~