Future pregnancy and a lot of questions.

  Hi!
  I recently discontinued my BC pills after five consistent years.  My husband and I are hoping to concieve (conceive) in late August of this year.  If six months long enough to hope for conception after years of BC taking?  I have a five year old son already, therefore I have been pregnant before.  I have been taking my basal body temperature since I discontinued my orthonovum 777 (28 day) pack about a week ago.  Right now I am doing this to prevent pregnancy until later.  Another issue is should I be worried that my chances of getting pregnant are larger now that my body doesn't have the pills to protect it.  Also, can a woman fly when she is pregnant, at any trimester?  What I basically want to know too is what do I need to be doing physically (other than taking prenatal vitamins and staying away from smoke, alcohol and caffiene) to prepare my body for conception?  I would appreciate any information you can give.  Thanx!  
Dear Suzanne,
Birth control pills work mainly by preventing ovulation.  The majority of women will start spontaneous ovulation within several months of stopping the pill. There is no medical reason to delay attempting conception for some arbritrary time period after stopping the pill, although in order most accurately date the pregancy it is beneficial to have a spontaneous menstrual period (not a pill withdrawal) before the conception cycle. In my experience, the best predictor of how soon a patient will begin ovulating after stopping the pill is how regular the cycles were before being on the pill.  Women who had regular, approximately monthly cycles generally will ovulate fairly quickly after stopping the pill.
I generally advise my patients that flying is safe during the first 24 weeks of pregancy. After that, we discuss  flying on an individual basis. You have already mentioned some very important considerations for any women trying to conceive. Other than these, it is important to make sure that any medical conditions (especially diabetes mellitus) are being properly cared for prior to conception. I cannot overstate the importance of excellent control of blood sugars during the early weeks of pregnancy in patients with diabetes. Finally, all women of childbearing age should make sure to consume at least 0.4 mg folic acid daily.