So confused

Hi there, this is my first post as I am new to TTC and already beyond confused and exhausted. If anyone has any insight or information I would greatly appreciate it.

I stopped the pill in May. Had normal 28 day cycle following and period for 4 days. Come June my husband and I decided to give it a try and based on my period tracker app had a good idea of when I was ovulating. At this time I was not ready to actually start tracking my ovulation and just wanted to see what happened. Well I was 5 days late, tested negative on day four, and on day five woke up to really bad back cramps followed by a very heavy period. I bled for one more day and day three totally stopped. So a 32 day cycle with 2 days of bleeding. I had some ideas in my heart that maybe something just didn't take but knew I needed to just believe my body was just adjusting to benign off the pill.

Now it's July, again used my app to have a general idea of when ovulation was and did the baby dance A L O T! If I were to have a 28 day cycle my period would have come yesterday (Monday). I started cramping Thursday and Friday night has a little pink discharge. Nothing Saturday and heaving bleeding Sunday. Monday afternoon everything had stopped. I took a pregnancy test Saturday and today both negative. Still cramping and this evening went to the bathroom and had this brown stringy discharge.

I have no idea what's going on, and why my periods are so incredibly short. Even when I was on the pill my periods were at least four days. I made a doctors appointment for later this week but I am just going crazy trying to figure out what the hell is going on with my body. Help!!!!

So confused

How long were you on the pill? I was on it for about 10 years before I stopped to TTC. I was off the pill for a good 7-8 months before I conceived DS. At first when I was TTC I also just based my baby dance timing on when I "should" be ovulating. I finally took an OPK and discovered I ovulated much later than I "should". That first month I took the OPK and did the baby dance when I got a positive result was the month I conceived DS.

I think your body is still adjusting to being off the pill. Plus if you were on it for awhile, you don't really know what's "normal" for you anymore. Try not to stress (easier said than done, I know!). Your body will adjust. GL!

Re: So confused

My cycle was regular right after I got off BC back in December, I was tracking using iperiod but my body was also adjusting in other ways---I was getting very large ovarian cysts at first that caused horrible pain when I was ovulating. My cycle was 26 days but in addition to using an app though, I started temping and using OPKs and found out I didn't O until Day 18, but still had a 26 day cycle. My app used to tell me that my fertile window was different than what it actually was because the app was going by "norms." So I'd consider starting to temp (which to me was actually pretty hard since I wake up at completely different times each day) and use ovulation strips. So it's possible you aren't ovulating when your app says you are.

I know you said you BD'ed a lot but if you are worried, using ovulation strips would really help pinpoint the right time!

Good luck.

Re: So confused

start tracking your cycles more than just using an app or a feeling. it will take a few months when you come off the pill.

when I came off it with DS i was ovulating later in the cycle and had 28-32 day cycles. Now i have shorter cycles like 27-28 days and ovulate earlier.

invest in the clear blue fertility monitor.

So confused

Thanks for all the feedback. I was on the pill for 4 years and prior to that I was completely regular. It helps to hear that it took sometime for everyone's bodies to get back to normal after being on the pill. I think I'm just so aware of every little thing because we tried and that first month threw me off that I was just going to be regular again. As far as ovulation prediction goes, it seems like that is the only way to really try to get pregnant. I will need to invest in one of these next month. We have to take a break this month because I am the MOH in a wedding in May. I don't think she'd appreciate me delivering a child during my speech.

Thank you all so much for your feedback. you calmed me down so much in a time where the Internet can make you feel so much worse, and you don't really want to open up to too many people about this.

Re: So confused

I'm in a similar situation. I was on the pill for 15+ years. Went off in may and figured we'd just wing it for a few months. Nothing. Sort of had a very light period the first month off, then a horrible one the 2nd month off. If there was an egg in sight either of those months I'm SURE we would have caught it, but we didn't so I suspect that I didn't O and it was my body adjusting to going off of the pill. This month, for the first time, I'm using an OPK (I wasn't going to b/c I'm a cheapo, but gave in) and turns out that all of these online ovulation predictors said that I was probably ovulating, based on my cycle length, etc, CD12, and I really did on CD14. So, use an OPK. You THINK you know what your body is up to, but you might not.

I thought it would be super easy to get pregnant but it turns out its not!

Get the OPK. It will help. I promise. I bought the target strips (they sucked, but worked - got a DARK line today finally) and the Clear Blue kit (these could NOT be easier to understand, but they're pricey)

So confused

Thanks so much for your story and good luck!

It really does help me relax a little. I also went to the doctor yesterday as I was concerned with my one day period. She told me to take a pregnancy test in a week as I could have ovulated late and that could have been implantation bleeding. After she did an exam she seemed less optimistic but felt I should still take a test. She's sending me for an ultrasound to get a base line of my uterus and said if I don't have normal periods by October she wants to put me on progesterine to level me out. The doctor was really great and l feel so much better having a plan in place with the ovulation kit and the progesterone come the fall!

Re: So confused

My cycle was a MESS for months after going off the pill. Like, some cycles lasted for almost 90 days, then a "normal" month, then a 65 day cycle, etc. I can't remember how long it went on, but it was a while.

I agree with Seawolf, get an OPK. The app trackers are just taking a guess but have no actual info about your body. The OPK's never steered me wrong.