I agree with your doctor and the Plan B operator...and I hope you are able to relax and perhaps practice some stress reduction techniques.
What you engaged in on September 6th would be considered protected sex (from pregnancy; not STD/STI...sexually transmitted diseases or infections). The pill, when taken consistently and correctly, is 99% effective at preventing pregnancy. The only better "odds" you get is 100% if practicing abstinence.
If I may be so bold to say---it sounds like you may not be emotionally ready to have sex, if you are this worried about consequences that you are calling so many health care providers, and when they were not reassuring enough, you took not one but two home pregnancy tests, and then you are asking others online (I assume we are not the only one?). Don't get me wrong---I'm glad you came to us, but please know that I am concerned about your mental and emotional well-being, and not about a possible pregnancy.
Your doctor is right about birth control, and perhaps it would help you if you understood how hormonal contraception works in your body. It works in one of three ways:
1. Preventing ovulation (maturation and release of an egg)
2. Altering the lining of the uterus so it is inhabitable for a fertilized egg
3. Altering the cervical mucus so it is difficult for a sperm to "swim" through, to get into your uterus
The synthetic hormones in your pill "cause" these things to happen by basically telling your body to stop production of its natural hormones (the ones that instruct your body to begin maturing an egg, to then release it, and cause your uterine lining to thicken for a fertilized egg, and also change the cervical mucus to help sperm travel more easily into uterus). The pill essentially stops your body from all of these functions by way of introducing synthetic hormones into your body, so that your body does not produce its own natural hormones to the extent that the above functions occur. Does this make sense?
If you are truly worried about the pill not protecting you from pregnancy, and I'm sure you would agree that all of this worry, anticipation and talk about pregnancy has caused you more grief than needed...you have a few options. If you do feel that you are mentally and emotionally ready for sex, you can double up on birth control by either:
1. Using your pill perfectly, and also using a condom (either female condom or male condom)
2. Using your pill perfectly, and use the Withdrawal or "pull out" methods
(Go to Planned Parenthood's Birth Control site to review the "how to" of the above)
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I agree with your doctor and the Plan B operator...and I hope you are able to relax and perhaps practice some stress reduction techniques.
What you engaged in on September 6th would be considered protected sex (from pregnancy; not STD/STI...sexually transmitted diseases or infections). The pill, when taken consistently and correctly, is 99% effective at preventing pregnancy. The only better "odds" you get is 100% if practicing abstinence.
If I may be so bold to say---it sounds like you may not be emotionally ready to have sex, if you are this worried about consequences that you are calling so many health care providers, and when they were not reassuring enough, you took not one but two home pregnancy tests, and then you are asking others online (I assume we are not the only one?). Don't get me wrong---I'm glad you came to us, but please know that I am concerned about your mental and emotional well-being, and not about a possible pregnancy.
Your doctor is right about birth control, and perhaps it would help you if you understood how hormonal contraception works in your body. It works in one of three ways:
1. Preventing ovulation (maturation and release of an egg)
2. Altering the lining of the uterus so it is inhabitable for a fertilized egg
3. Altering the cervical mucus so it is difficult for a sperm to "swim" through, to get into your uterus
The synthetic hormones in your pill "cause" these things to happen by basically telling your body to stop production of its natural hormones (the ones that instruct your body to begin maturing an egg, to then release it, and cause your uterine lining to thicken for a fertilized egg, and also change the cervical mucus to help sperm travel more easily into uterus). The pill essentially stops your body from all of these functions by way of introducing synthetic hormones into your body, so that your body does not produce its own natural hormones to the extent that the above functions occur. Does this make sense?
If you are truly worried about the pill not protecting you from pregnancy, and I'm sure you would agree that all of this worry, anticipation and talk about pregnancy has caused you more grief than needed...you have a few options. If you do feel that you are mentally and emotionally ready for sex, you can double up on birth control by either:
1. Using your pill perfectly, and also using a condom (either female condom or male condom)
2. Using your pill perfectly, and use the Withdrawal or "pull out" methods
(Go to Planned Parenthood's Birth Control site to review the "how to" of the above)
Good luck
September 29, 2009 - 12:13pmThis Comment
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