Can I Get Pregnant With Irregular Periods?
Getting Pregnant
Obie Editorial Team
When I stopped having periods I was absolutely thrilled I was finally pregnant. We’d been trying for a while with no luck, but when pregnancy tests all read negative I immediately visited my gynecologist who suggested I see a fertility specialist. During the next two years, I had only two periods and I got pregnant each time. You can get pregnant with irregular periods, but you have to be ready when the time is right and never stop trying.
In my case, the right time was all the time. There is a connection between menstrual cycles and ovulation, but not every woman menstruates every time she ovulates, so you can get pregnant without having a period at all. In my case, we continued trying the entire time we faced irregular periods and we conceived immediately after I had a menstrual cycle each time. Not all women are as lucky, but sometimes trying is the best solution to winning the infertility battle.
If you are trying to conceive, visit your gynecologist as soon as you notice irregular periods. Sometimes all it takes is a low-dose birth control pill to bring your menstrual cycle back on track and other times there is a simple solution to your irregular periods that your doctor can help you work through to increase your chances of conceiving. Keep track of your menstrual cycles for a few months before running off to the doctor unless there are other problems or symptoms that lead you to believe something serious is causing the problem.
Some women find simply changing their diet and adding a bit of exercise solves the problem of irregular periods. Other lifestyle choices like smoking and alcohol consumption can also hinder fertility and may affect the menstrual cycle. On the opposite end of the spectrum is eating too little and exercising too much. Eating disorders and over-exercising are both associated with irregular menstrual cycles and complete cessation of periods altogether.
Yes, you can conceive with irregular periods and you may be surprised to find out that some women have only a few periods a year and never have trouble conceiving.