Just signed up to the forum after reading all evening =) I've tried very hard not to do anything just yet and to drag myself away from looking up things about early pregnancy as I didn't want to get disappointed, needless to say ... I failed.

I stopped the pill after having been on it for 8 years on our wedding day, 28-05-2008. Me and my husband haven't so much been trying to conceive as just let nature take it's course. I had absolutely no problems with this until about 2 weeks ago. The previous months I've been fine with aunt flo coming around, and didn't think much about it. Things have changed.

First off, my last period started on the 22nd of July, quite a while ago. This one didn't go quite as planned as I started in it for 18 days straight. My cycle is still quite upset from having just stopped the pill, so I didn't think all that much of it when my period didn't appear when I thought it would (around the 18th of August). My ovulation seemed right on time though, at least, my temperature dropped around when I should be ovulating), so I sort of assumed my period would start on time as well even though I'd been bleeding for 18 days. About a week ago I looked in the mirror and felt I had gotten really bloated, I asked my hubby but he couldn't see the difference. Thought many I was just overreacting to me being fat again, and left it at that. I didn't really think much of anything until 4 days ago I managed to go to the bathroom very easily. I have IBS, and this is not a common occurance for me. If I go 3 times a week it's often, 2 times a day is not right. Thinking back I noticed a couple of things:

- I had 3 days last week in which I felt really dizzy when I woke up in the morning and had to be very careful not to fall over while getting out of bed and washing in the morning
- During the dizziness I felt quite sick as well, and the sickness often returned for a little while in the afternoon and evening. Not sick to the point of running to the bathroom, but not comfortable non the less
- I had been having a lot more discharge than usual, and slightly thicker/whiter.
- I had a day on which my discharge turned a browny colour in the morning, as this only happened once and wasn't that long after my period went on for ages I figured I simply was gonna have another period, though it only happened this once.
- I had gone to sleep at 22:00 because I was exhausted. I have an odd sleeping pattern and don't usually go to bed until around 4:00 (get up around 13:00).
- I felt bloated all day and honestly believed I looked bigger
- Now my bowels acted pretty normal, which is very odd for me.
- Frequent bathroom breaks. But they only started yesterday, making me think it's only because I'm paying attention to it now.

It only hit me then that these symptoms might actually have something to do with each other. Pretty much all of them can be explained by pregnancy, though I'm hesitant to test. I've tested before and come up with negative, but never felt too bad about it as I hadn't had my hopes up. Now with all these signs I suddenly don't dare test anymore ... I know, silly me =) I *was* gonna test last weekend as I was late with my period (though it's been irregular since I stopped the pill) but my husband figured it would be better if I didn't as I had been very irregular and we didn't want to get our hopes up/try every other day. It made sense, so I didn't test. But now having waited another week and still having the symptoms I've become quietly convinced that I am pregnant, and don't want to face disappointment anymore. Yet, there are obvious symptoms that I don't have which make me worried I'm not ... the main one being the breasts. They're not sore, not sensitive (though were for about 2 days last week), no larger, don't show any colour difference, no veins showing etc.

Still, going absolutely insane this evening with worry about a million things and fretting about whether I am or not, I think I will test tomorrow. So fingers crossed.

I know how you feel, it's so frustrating, I would do the test (says me who tests before af because i'm so impatient!) Ppl don't get every symptom, it's different for everyone. Only one way to know, good luck x

Hello Welcome! I would take a test too! Good luck!

Thank you =)
I honestly think I will try and get my courage together tomorrow morning and just do it. I told my husband before, I'll just do it and it will either be a positive, or it will be lying! I'm not accepting a negative. I'll simply keep trying every other week until it will turn positive one day, and that day is when I'll prove all the other negatives wrong. Hey, at least it's -a- way of coping with a possible negative. Still, hoping it will be positive.

Just updated my original post to add the bladder breaks. I honestly don't know what to think of that. Before I started reading on the internet I didn't think I went to the bathroom more often. Yesterday I started to pay attention to it and I noticed I went every 2 hours, which is more often than I usually do. Today it's every 30 minutes till an hour, making me think it's just me! I always had the habit of not going when I had to until it became painful (it's bad, I know), whereas now I go when I feel it. Quite confused, I'd love to think I'm making more frequent bathroom trips, ... well, I am! But I think the truth about it is that it's just a mental status.

Tested this morning, and it came up as a negative. Or rather, no line appeared.
So AF is now 10 days late. Will invest in some more tests and try again in the weekend, hoping that either the test simply didn't show yet or that AF will show up soon. Rather the first of course, but I just don't like being so uncertain about it.

Now, a question. I noticed some pictures on here where the test actually shows up 'negative' or 'positive'. Are these any better than the ones in which a line is supposed to appear? Any advice/hints/tips that can be given about tests are welcome =)

Oh honey, let's see if I can help...

Firstly, you have only just come off the pill and so your cycle may vary in length from your cycles whilst on the pill. This is chiefly due to your body having to kick start itself into producing the correct hormone levels itself etc, instead of using the 'fake' ones in the pill. So you might be 10 days late, or.... you may not, as you may simply be experiencing a long cycle (which is very common).

Secondly, which type of PG test did you use? The Clearblue Digital ones you mention are very good, but also expensive. Most girls use them as their final bfp check after getting lines on cheaper versions. You can get some high sensitivity test strips on the internet (which we refer to as internet cheapies or IC's). These are relatively inexpensive (work out about 50P+ each) and can be pretty accurate. I would suggest you buy a batch of these first and should you get + results buy a more expensive one to confirm.

Hope this helps xx

Thank you =)

I know 3 months off the pill my cycle won't be fully settled yet, as can be seen in the fact that my last period lasted 18 days. This does still put me in mind that AF this month probably is a bit messed up with the dates as well, the only reason that I started thinking I might be pregnant is the constant sickness tbh. I shall wait, only time will tell =) I might also buy some ovulation tests just to make sure I am ovulating, as a lot of posts saying women with a high BMI often don't ovulate has made me worried. My temperature did drop last month from 36.3 to 36.1 for 3 days on the 15th, 16th and 17th day of cycle.

I simply used a cheap tescos own test this time around. Dip in urine for 10 seconds and wait 3/4 minutes for a line to appear. It didn't happen. Any clue if they're any good? Are the pregnancy tests sold by Wobbles to support this forum any good? If so I'll probably get some of them =)

Thanks for all the advice!

I haven't used a Tesco's one before so can't help there. I use high sensitivity IC's from babymad.com which test at 10miu (very sensitive). I can definitely recommend buying some OPK test strips too and registering with Fertility Friend online to keep a track of your temps and test results (and other symptoms).

I think Wobbles's tests are the same type, so definitely worth a try

I have only been off the pill myself for a few months and have yet to return to my 'normal' 28 day cycle. I usually hover between 30 and 34 days...

Just had a look at babymad, and it's a lot cheaper than what I'm paying now! =) The tesco ones are around £2 for the 2 of them I believe, so I'll definatly get some online! Unfortunately I'm going away for 2 weeks on Wednesday, so hoping that if I order today it will still arrive in time. If not I might pop into town on Tuesday and see if I can find some ovulation tests and cheap pregnancy tests there. Any idea which shops might sell them if I really need to buy them there?

I'll definatly start a fertility friend account as well. I've kept track of my BBT for a couple of weeks now, so that will be a start =) Not entirely accurate as this week due to increased tiredness I got up late on several occasions, throwing off my temperature. Will try to be more accurate from now on =)

Thanks again for all the information =D

Some girls get their's in Wilko's and/or Savers... postage with Babymad usually really quick as they tend to despatch same day as ordered.

If/When you register with FF put all your old temps in and the times you took them (if you have them). Going forward, try to stay to the same time. If not make sure you indicate to FF what time they were taken... FF is great and has been a real help to me to understand what's going on.

Z xx