contraception failure

[lovermont]

I'm wondering how common this is.
I keep hearing of people who are surprised to be pregnant but then when you ask about contraception there was a hiccup in contraception use (missed a few pills, etc).
Just curious. If you had a surprise: were you using bc? What kind? Did it fail or was it human error?

[birthmommom]

we had a failure I was using copper IUD and for whatever reason i failed. I had to have it removed and it hadn't moved or anything.

[myk]

my second pregnancy was a failure of the pill (i had been sick, throwing up) and condom with spermacidal lube. don't ask me how that one happened, i was pretty damn shocked about it.

[MaerynPearl]

withdrawal fail = first pregnancy (unfortunate loss)
condom fail = second pregnancy... with perfect use, put it on before even touching down there, didn't touch down there after the fact. No rip or slip or obvious leak.
birth control fail = third pregnancy... took the pill at 9am every morning without missing one. Had a hormonal shift I was unaware of, got pregnant due to that.
abstinence fail = fourth pregnancy... also considered charting win

[MamaJenese]

I have charted for the last 7 years with no oops. I stopped charting for two months and boom unexpected pregnancy (ended in miscarriage), we were using condoms. No obvious rips or holes. We were using them correctly I have no idea what happened. Must have had a wee little pin prick in it somewhere!

[mama2toomany]

After I had an IUD in for 3 years it failed, got pregnant and had it removed, it didn't shift or fall out.. was exactly where it should have been.

I got regular check ups and everything. My IUD fail resulted in my beautiful daughter.

[mama2toomany]

Originally Posted by birthmommom

we had a failure I was using copper IUD and for whatever reason i failed. I had to have it removed and it hadn't moved or anything.

Aww you didn't fail the IUD did

[Carlyle]

The cycle that I got pregnant with my miscarriage baby we had been using either a diaphragm or cervical cap (both with spermicide) every time we had sex. I hadn't had the diaphragm refitted after giving birth to dd (though it felt the same to me), so maybe that's what happened...that or the fact that dh is the one who put the spermicide on it, and he was inexperienced 'cause I usually do that . Either way, it was sad to miscarry because we felt like the baby was so determined to BE to have gotten through birth control like that (especially since it took us 8 months to get pg with dd, and 1.25 years of trying to get pregnant again after the miscarriage)!

We also had two condoms break on us when we were MUCH younger (not at the same time...a couple of years apart), but followed up with a "morning after pill" within 24 hours each time and didn't get pg either time.

[outlier]

I charted to avoid successfully for one year and then took a calculated risk this last cycle (we just got home from a long trip and I was not thinking very clearly). As it turns out I ovulated a few days earlier than normal and at least one sperm survived longer than the 3-5 days most sources say is their maximum. Definitely a user failure, not a method failure, but the odds were still very much stacked against this happening.

At least I know now that any future pre-o sex will have to involve protection, no buts about it.

[mi.birthdoula]

Trust me it DOES happen! All 3 of mine were surprises!

dd#1...on the pill for over 6 years, didn't have a period in over 3 (due to high physical activity) go in for my yearly pap in 2004, and BAM! I find out I'm pregnant.

After having dd#1 I started on Depo-provera...ALWAYS got my shot on time because I didn't want another surprise....well in spring of 2006, BAM! pregnant with DD#2!

After her, I decided BC just didn't work for me so I went to temping...worked great! BUT then fall of 2008 we were going to Disney and I wanted to get the pill again just to hold off my cycle while we were gone, so I took it for 3 months, and BAM! Find out in December I'm pregnant with DS!

I don't smoke, don't drink, never missed a pill, did everything EXACTLY as your supposed to, but I guess these little ones REALLY wanted to be here!

DH has an ongoing joke with my OB that he should have donated his little swimmers for research before his "V"...(Hoping the "V" doesn't fail too!)

[fierrbugg]

Well I haven't had any fails because w/ a body like mine who needs bc? BUT, my three nephews were all conceived while using bc of some kind. With dn1 my sister was on the patch, but it kept falling off, so she went on the bcp but they urm, hit that 2 week window where you're suppose to double up. Dn2 was a condom failure. She was bf'ing dn1 and was several months pg before she realized it. And dn3 was another condom failure. So either they don't know how to use them or they just were meant to have these three really amazing boys whom I adore.

[annethcz]

The last time I conceived we were using condoms. We used them correctly, with no obvious tears or holes, and were VERY surprised when I became pregnant.