Pregnancy Question

I am sure I am just paranoid, but.....

My wife and I are not looking to have any kids any time soon. Due to a change of job, my wife lost her health insurance, and thus stopped taking the pill at the end of last year. Usually we are pretty careful, but....

Her period started last Wednesday, June 17th (lasted about 4 days, until Saturday, with a little spotting on Sunday, but not much). We had sex on Monday the 22nd, but did not use protection, rather we used the withdrawal method. We were both caught up in the moment and thinking that because it was so close to her period ending, that we would be fine. However, afterwards we began talking and I got worried. I went out and bought a pack of Plan B emergency contraceptives.

Question: Being that her period just ended (her cycle is usually 27 - 30 days), withdrawal was used and we used Plan B, are we pretty safe? Or are there any other steps we can take to protect ourselves?

[Elaine Brown, MD]

Hi!
I think you are OK.  In a normal cycle, her ovulation should occur around June 28-July 2 or so, and since sperm only surive for 3 days, even if you had not used any protection, you would probably be OK.  One thing to note:  Plan B works by delaying ovulation, so don't be surprised if your wife's period is a week late.  As long as it is normal and comes within 1-2 weeks of the normally expected time you are probably OK.  If her period is more than 2 weeks late, then it would be time to check a pregnancy test.  
You may want to give some consideration to a more reliable long-term solution,  Mother Nature has her own ideas about when to send the stork!

Good luck!
Dr B