Just wondering....how long was your period when you first got off BC? I had the Mirena IUD from May 07 to December 07, then took one and half packs of Yaz BCP before calling it quits. I didn't have periods at all on the Mirena and the first period I had on the BCP was 2 days long, Jan 8 & 9. I attributed the short time to starting my new pack of pills. I thought it would be longer once I stopped taking the pill (which was last Wednesday, 1/23) but AF came on Tuesday morning, bright and early....and today there is literally NOTHING. I haven't needed anything since late yesterday afternoon. I have worn a pantyliner all day and it's clean. Nothing when I go to the bathroom either. My periods on BCP before the IUD were about 4-5 days so this is kind of weird. Any similar experiences? Does anyone know what the shorter period might mean for TTC? My doctor told me I may not have a period for up to 6 months after the IUD; I can't help but wonder about this though and she isn't much help.

Light or short periods can mean a number of things, but no matter what - it's completely normal after discontinuing synthetic hormones! Here are a few of the causes:

1. Breakthrough bleeding. Not true menstruation, but you can bleed when your hormone levels rise as your body tries to ovulate.
2. Withdrawal bleeding. Also not true menstruation, it occurs if your body tries to ovulate and fails to do so...so your hormones come crashing down, it can cause bleeding.
3. Lingering effects of the hormones. The hormones in the Mirena and in YAZ are designed to keep the lining of your uterus thin so that if conception occurs, the baby can't implant successfully. After the hormones are discontinued, it can still take some time for your uterus to grow a nice thick lining again. Until it does, your bleeds might be lighter or shorter than you are used to.

The best thing you can do is just give your body time to sort itself out. It's going through a major hormonal transition right now!