if you miss 2 birth control pills during week 2 and have sex on those days can you get pregnant?

It can, you are right. Sometimes after women stop the pill, it takes two to three months to get back to normal. That's especially frustrating for women who are hoping to conceive. But other women do conceive in the first month of going off the pill. And a very small number of women conceive while on the pill -- between 1% and 3%. We are all so different that there's just no predicting from one individual to the next.

Hang in there, and I hope everything is fine. Will you come back and update us when you know something?

Anon,

Birth control pills don't have a residual effect. They are only in your system while you take them. So even though you have been on birth control for many years, the fact that you have missed 9 pills in a row and had unprotected sex means that you absolutely can get pregnant.

All it takes to get pregnant is sperm meeting the egg, and all it takes for an egg is for you to ovulate. Birth control pills generally stop ovulation, but as soon as you go off them, ovulation starts up again.

In general, when you have missed only three pills, you are supposed to use another form of contraception (like a condom) because you are not protected.

Since your last period came Feb. 18th, if your cycles are 28 days long, you most likely are ovulating now -- somewhere between March 2-4. And sperm can live for up to 3 days; some people say even longer. Since you had unprotected sex on the 28th, that sperm might still be alive, plus the sperm from the unprotected sex on the 2nd. So it's very possible you could be pregnant.

You wouldn't be feeling any signs of it since at most all that's happened is a fertilized egg has occurred. If you are concerned about pregnancy, you can go to a pharmacy and request Plan B, the emergency contraception that prevents implantation of a fertilized egg. It needs to be taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex.

And in the future, do know that until you hit menopause, you could ovulate and become pregnant. So you need to always practice some form of birth control to prevent it if it's not something you are hoping for.

Does this help?

Anon,

Let me be sure I have this right.

day 1. took bc pill as normal, had unprotected sex
day 2. forgot birth control pill, took plan B
day 3. forgot birth control pill
day 4. forgot birth control pill
day 5 and beyond - tripled up on b/c pills to catch up

am I right? Is that the correct order? I'm not sure because it's not making sense to me that you'd have taken the plan B and then still forgotten pills the next two days. Please let me know if I have it wrong.

I'm a little surprised that you haven't had any side effects either, because all this is hormonal. But every woman is different, and side effects don't bother everyone. Your period may be affected by this. You didn't mention where you were in your cycle, but I am sure that if you took Plan B correctly, you are fine. You may still have some changes in your cycle or your period during the next few weeks.

Does that help a little? Or did I misinterpret?

Hi Kathryn,
I'm glad to hear that you took emergency contraception (EC), and it sounds like you read all of the information...that this "mega dose" of hormones can "mess up" your cycle, so it really does make it confusing to know when your period is supposed to start.

Since you have been spotting for 11 days, some of this could be a combination of "withdrawal bleeding" from not taking the pill, plus taking EC around the time of your expected "period". (As you said: women do not ovulate when they take the pill, and in order to have a menstrual cycle you must ovulate. So, the bleeding we experience and call our "period" during the time of sugar pills is technically "withdrawal bleeding"...our bodies are "withdrawing" from the lack of hormones for the week, even though we are still protected from pregnancy). It is all confusing!

You started your pills immediately after the EC...does that mean you took them Wednesday or Thursday, instead of waiting until your Friday start? It's fine if you took them "early", but just remember that you have a new start day-of-the-week from now on.

Spotting for 11 days seems a little long to be spotting, the reason it could have been a combination of a light "period" (withdrawal bleeding), but the only real way to know if the EC worked is to wait another cycle until your next week of sugar pills. If you do not have withdrawal bleeding during that week, you should take a home pregnancy test just to make sure.

It sounds like you did everything right, once you realized you missed your pills! It's also important to continue using a condom or other back-up form of birth control for 7 days after your missed pills.

Sorry to not be able to tell you that you definitely had a period, but every woman's body reacts different to the "mega dose" of EC. I hope to hear from you in a month to let us know that you began your sugar pills and are having withdrawal bleeding as expected!