Very worried couple...

[mrengland]

Hi everyone,

Please can someone advise us on what to do as we are very worried...

We have been happily married for 2 years, my wife is an Indian citizen, but I was born in England and have lived here all my life. When she arrived in the UK we both went to our local FPC and the Dr prescribed her the pill. When she arrived she didn't know any English so I translated for her. She had been taking the pill for 1 and half years without any problems, but just recently unbeknown to me she stopped taking the pill. She has been missing her Indian family a lot, which is understandable, but this has resulted in her forgetting how she was taking the pill and and never informed me. She only just told me last night that she had not been taking the pill as it came up in a conversation as she had a bad back ache and without realising what she has done. After I informed her of her mistake, she advised that she hadn't been taking the pill for 2 months, which we had been having unprotected sex during this period. The problem is that as she had been missing her parents we have booked a holiday to visit her parents, which we will be flying out in a weeks time. Last month she was given a tetanus and hepatitis vaccination for the trip, which now is very worrying. Also she has been taking cod liver oil and general multi vit tablets everyday, which is now worrying also. Finally as we are going to India she needs to start her Malaria tablets soon and we don't know what to do. We don't know that she is pregnant and her period has so far been 2 days late. She has had bad lower back pains and her forehead has a few spots, which is a regular monthly thing for her, but not the being late part. I know there's a lot of info above, but as you can tell I'm very concerned in what to do!

Thank you very much in advance for any quick advise that anyone give give us.

 

[HayleyB]

Hi Mr England.
I would recommend getting straight to tesco's/asda and getting a clearblue test.. (not a digital one - just the normal one with the + or - result)
If you get a 2 pack, do one today, and one tomorrow morning with first mornine urine (highest level of HCG hormone if any is present)

That way you know for sure whether or not she's pregnant.

If she is then you're gonna need to get straight to the doctors and see what they advise re the injections she's had recently and the maleria tablets.

Until you've done a test (the clearblue ones can be used 4 days before her period is due - so would be accurate as she's 2 days late) there's not really much else to advise.

Good luck

xox

 

[loulou1980]

best thing would be to get her to take a test to put your mind at ease

 

[Minxy]

Pop out to the chemist and buy a pregnancy test. They're reliable and at least then you can know exactly what you're dealing with.

If it is positive, my advice would be to see a doctor/ring NHS direct for advice about the medication your wife has taken/will be taking.

Will it be happy news if she is pregnant?

 

[Urchin]

Your doctor would be able to help you with the vaccination questions....I'd buy a test today and also talk to your GP about your concerns


Good luck

 

[maybebaby]

Hi, I don't have anything to add to what's already been said but wanted to wish you good luck with whatever lies ahead.

 

[mrengland]

Wow!

Thank you ALL so much...I am SOO overwhealmed with your quick responses and advise you all have given me.

I will definitely do what everyone of you have suggested and also to let you all know as 'LittleMinx' wanted to know that it WILL be VERY happy news if she is pregnant , however we would've like to have planned it more effectlively e.g. our GP told her to take Folic acid vits, is this still usefull to take even though we are not sure and whether the test is positive or not...as I believe she still could get pregnant up to 1 month from now? Am I making any sense?

 

[HayleyB]

They do recommend taking folic acid for 3 months before getting pregnant - but not to worry if you haven't
If you get a positive result get the one a day folic acid tablets and start taking them now... Would do the test first though.

(the likelyness is that theres enough folic acid in her day to day diet, so don't worry about not taking it before)

Will she be starting taking the pill again now then if she's not pregnant?

xox

 

[mrengland]

They do recommend taking folic acid for 3 months before getting pregnant - but not to worry if you haven't
If you get a positive result get the one a day folic acid tablets and start taking them now... Would do the test first though.

(the likelyness is that theres enough folic acid in her day to day diet, so don't worry about not taking it before)

Will she be starting taking the pill again now then if she's not pregnant?

xox

Thanks for the reply Hayley....the reason why Im concerned about the folic acid and to take it now even though she may not be....but may be up to a months time.....which Im not clear on is because she is a vegetarian...I think the GP highlighted this...so may be taking the folic acid now even if she is not might be benefitial?

Also related to the pill, I dont think she should go back on that until we are 100% sure either way...would it be best for a months window? then go back on the pill?

Also Im still concerned that if the test is negative....does she still take the Malaria tablets?

 

[Urchin]

Yeah I would stop taking the multi-vitamins nad cod liver and take the pregnancy vitamins instead, they are useful both before and after conception.

Hope you get good news!

 

[maybebaby]

There's no harm in taking folic acid tablets when you're not pregnant so there's no reason for her not to if it makes you both feel better. I'd go to see a doctor with regards to going back on the pill and definitely advise you call NHS direct or see your GP before your wife takes the Malaria tablets.

 

[mrengland]

Good Morning Everyone…
Thank you very much to everyone that has helped us in this traumatic couple of days so far…
However the saga continues…the situation is as follows:

* A pregnancy test was taken last night and this morning as advised by HayleyB and they were both negative.
* Still no period.
* Still the same symptoms that my wife has been used to every month.
* My wife has been late up to 3/4 days in the past.
* Last unprotected sex was last Sunday morning.

Related to the above I have two questions that I would like some advise on:

1) Does the test being negative mean my wife is definitely not pregnant or can she still become pregnant?
2) If my wife does have her period today or in a few days, does that also mean she can not become pregnant?

Once again thank you very much for all your support and quick responses in advance.

 

[Sarah&Braydon]

u can get a false negative but extremely unlikely to be a false possitive

im sure u can et preg on ur period better to ask other girls just to make sure im rite hehe

 

[mrengland]

Good Morning Everyone…
Thank you very much to everyone that has helped us in this traumatic couple of days so far…
However the saga continues…the situation is as follows:

* A pregnancy test was taken last night and this morning as advised by HayleyB and they were both negative.
* Still no period.
* Still the same symptoms that my wife has been used to every month.
* My wife has been late up to 3/4 days in the past.
* Last unprotected sex was last Sunday morning.

Related to the above I have two questions that I would like some advise on:

1) Does the test being negative mean my wife is definitely not pregnant or can she still become pregnant?
2) If my wife does have her period today or in a few days, does that also mean she can not become pregnant?

Once again thank you very much for all your support and quick responses in advance.

Does anyone have any advice on my two questions above?

 

[Emmylou]

Hi mrengland,

Your wife may still be pregnant, as sarah said it is possible to get a false positive (i.e. be pregnant but test says np) you will not get a false positive. So I wouldn't rule pregnancy out just yet. Leave it for a couple of days (i know this will be hard) and try another test (same brand is best). Obviously with reagrds to the injections and tablets you will need to discuss this with your GP or call NHS direct for some advice on 0845 46 47.

Also, if your wife has a small bleed this can be implantation bleeding, which means she will be pregnant, it really depends on the level of bleeding i think.

Please keep us posted & good luck I hope you get the result you are after

 

[Tam]

Hi mrengland

Just wanted to say, I hope you both get the results you are after, sorry I have nothing further to add to what these lovely ladies have already said!

Good Luck xx

 

[HayleyB]

If you are still in doubt regarding the pregnancy and starting taking the malaria tablets i would speak to your doctors they may do blood tests to check (more reliable than home test) as they wouldn't want her taking tablets if there is the possibility of pregnancy.

If she does have her period and you don't start using protection (pill needs at least 2 weeks to get into the system to be effective so you would need to use alternate protection in the meantime) there would be the chance of getting pregnant. And as Sarah said it is possible to get pregnant even whilst she is on her period.

Every woman ovulates at different times, and then her period is normally 14 days after ovulation - but this isn't always true - as mine is normally 9 days after ovulation. The only way of knowing when she is ovulating (best time to avoid unprotected sex/have it - if you want to get pregnant) is if she is doing ovulation tests & possibly chartig her temperatures using a BBT thermometer.

So it may be that as she stopped taking the pill about 2 months ago that her body is getting "back to normal" it may be worth asking her roughly how long her cycles were before she was on the pill, as the pill brings it down to 28 days, and some women can have longer cycles.

Hope this helps a bit, sorry i didn't reply sooner

xox

 

[HayleyB]

Oh and i agree with emmylou - regarding getting a false negative - this can happen as the level of HCG may not be at a detectable level at the time of testing, so they normally say to leave it 3 days and re-test.
(giving the hormone time to increase to a detectable level if she is pregnant)

If you're still not convinced then speak to your GP and ask if they will do bloods so that you know for the malaria tablets

xox

 

[Emmylou]

Hi mrengland,

Any news?

 

[mrengland]

Good Morning Everyone…its day three of our worries…but most of our worries were put at ease last night by a lovely Doctor at our local Family Planning Clinic, she advised the following:

* No need to worry about the holiday vaccinations at the date my wife took them she would not been pregnant.
* She advised my wife to take an emergency contraception pill last night (which she did) which would protect her 5 days in the past. The Dr also advised that this may cause erratic bleeding and some stomach problems.
* Then today start to go back on the pill as even if she is pregnant then the type of pill she's advised will not affect the baby.
* Start the malaria tablets as that should not also affect my wife and if there is a baby the baby too.
* Finally two weeks from the last date of unprotected sex my wife needs to take a pregnancy test (purchased already!) with us on holiday, which will give us a final outcome and we are happy either way!

It's like a whole weight has been lifted from our shoulders…related to the possibility of harming the baby. All we need to know is whether my wife is pregnant or not, which is very nerve racking, but very excited at the same time!

Anyways…thanks for everyone's help and advice…it’s a great community driven forum and keep up the good work…I will definitely post back when we get back from our holiday to let everyone know the outcome either way…we were going to plan to have kids when we got back from holiday anyways…but I think the plan had an idea of its own and decided to implement on itself! LOL