QuestionHi. I had an abortion Jan.6,2007;and i was wondering if that could possibly be the reason of my menstrual delay.When i got my period after the abortion i was two weeks late so now i'm wondering if this could be the case again, or if i'm just pregnant again?
AnswerHormones from your terminated pregnancy stay in your system for about 2-3 months after an abortion. These hormones may cause you to experience many pregnancy-like symptoms (morning sickness, food cravings/aversions, fatigue, headaches etc.) and almost certainly will throw off your menstrual cycle's regularity for up to six months.
So what you are experiencing is not at all uncommon. For four months following my abortion, my periods were either late, or very spotty, or came too soon, sometimes just two weeks apart. It was the fifth month before my normal regularity returned.
Of course, if you have had unprotected sex, then it is possible that you are pregnant again. Since your cycle is not predictable at this point, the rhythm method will not work at all. There is also the small chance of contraceptive failure - even if you used condoms or are on the pill, for example, there is a very slight possibility that you could get pregnant.
The pregnancy hormones in your blood may make OTC pregnancy tests unreliable - you may get a false positive (it says you are pregnant even though you aren't). The only way to know for sure is a blood test in a doctor's office.
If you are truly worried because you've had unprotected sex at a time when you may have been ovulating, and you absolutely must know for sure, go for the blood test. But if I were you, I wouldn't worry too much, because what you are experiencing is normal.
