When I was 20 years old, my girlfriend and I had a frightening moment in our relationship that I am sure many guys can relate to… we had the dreaded “pregnancy scare”. We were about eight months into the relationship when this happened. Before the scare, my girlfriend and I had a serious conversation about having sex and what would happen if she were to become pregnant by accident. We both agreed that we were too young to be having kids and we should take every step necessary to avoid getting into an unwanted situation. Eight months later, we got into that very situation. My girlfriend approached me one night and told me that she was about a week late on her normal menstrual cycle. I remember telling her to wait a couple more days and then maybe go to her doctor’s office to get a pregnancy test.

The Sex Ed Guru Says: "Pregnancy tests are most accurate when taken 14 days after last having sex or missing a period."

A couple more days went by, and she hadn’t gotten her period. I was at school the day she went into the doctor’s office and I couldn’t really focus on anything. My mind was just kind of drifting in and out. I was trying to reassure myself that she wasn’t pregnant. We used condoms every time we had sex but she wasn’t on the birth control pill because she said it made her sick.

The Sex Ed Guru Says: "Feeling sick from birth control is a common side effect that usually occurs within the first 1-3 months of starting a new method. As your body gets used to the medication, the side effects like feeling sick should go away."

I kept thinking about how I heard that condoms were 97% effective in preventing pregnancy. Had I fallen in that small 3%? Finally after what seemed like a year of stressing, the test results came back negative. She wasn’t pregnant. We were both so relieved! But she still hadn’t gotten her period, so she asked her doctor about it. My ex had always been in shape and worked out a lot, but she had recently started a new program where she was running every day for the past month or so. The doctor said that girls that are very active and work out hard sometimes will have very light periods or even skip them all together. It turned out that something seemingly not related like her new running program was probably what caused her to skip her period.

The Sex Ed Guru Says: "Very true! Participating actively in sports or exercise can also result in changes in your period. Periods can also be changed or delayed because of changes in diet, changes in sleep, taking other medication, changes in environment, or stress – such as the ones caused from a pregnancy scare!."

I decided I wanted to learn more so I hit the Internet. I found an article that was very helpful. The term for a disrupted menstrual cycle is called amenorrhea and can have serious side effects. The difference in hormone production in the body can lead to increased acne, moodiness, and a lack of energy. More serious side effects like osteoporosis and infertility can be attributed to the condition as well. After learning about the effects I was quick to inform my girlfriend. She decided to start taking a low dosage birth control pill to regulate her cycle and cut down her running to a less intense program.

The Sex Ed Guru Says: "Birth control with lower levels of hormones tend to give fewer to no side effects in most females."

Soon after the changes, my girlfriend started to get her regular periods and was back on her normal cycle. The pregnancy scare had us frightened for a few days because we both knew we weren’t ready for parenthood. Although we were in a situation neither of us wanted to be in, we didn’t get angry with each other or act in an immature way about the whole thing and I think we handled the situation well. Even though it was a pregnancy scare, we both learned something new and felt it made our relationship a little bit stronger.