I don't know if any of you have had a similar experience...
I came off the OCP 2 months ago. Prior to that, I knew I wanted kids in the near-ish future, thought about it from time to time, but my life has been so filled with lots of big stuff (an exciting new career ahead, travel, moving to a new city) that it really didn't take up a lot of my time or energy.
SINCE then I am absolutely consumed. Broodiness that has lead to non-stop thoughts of babies. Hence the falling upon this forum. I feel like my hormones were at a lovely steady equilibrium which quelled any rumination on serious baby making thoughts. Now that the hormones have been released, it's chaos!
Given that I need to WTT, at least until spring of next year, should I go back on the pill? The only reason I stopped was because I had been on it for 8+ years and wanted to see if I actually had normal cycles.
Are these hormones the real me, or a nasty ticking biological clock messing with my rational mental capacities?!

Oh gosh! I just came off the pill last week and now I'm worried! I'm pretty sure it's just your hormones trying to get sorted, but that doesn't stop it from being unpleasant. I hope things sort themselves out soon!

Determining whether your cycles are regular before you get close to TTC time is probably a good idea. How has it been so far? Sorry, but I don't know enough about all this to say one way or the other if it's better to stay off or go back on. I hope someone else can be more helpful!

Tough one. I'm staying on mine as I know I would cope emotionally being off it and unable to start TTC. I feel like my last pill next month will give me the green light. Being on the pill now is frustrating but at least I know we can't TTC while I'm taking it. It's likely to be your hormones but also frustration that you know you could but you can't! It's great to work our your cycles but maybe you'd feel less frustrated it you were back on the pill and TTC would not be an option. Purely a thought.

I think it's hard to say. I don't think the hormones necessarily have anything to do with it, as there are plenty of us, myself included, who are still on the pill until we are start trying to conceive and we still feel broody. But of course, everyone is different! Maybe it's just the thought of coming off of it and that it could happen that's made you start to want it more since there is obviously always a risk, even if you are using condoms. I'm personally not stopping my pill until the month we are ready, but that's largely because neither my husband nor I want to go back to using condoms again after so long. I don't think you have to give yourself time off, unless you want to get a better understanding of your cycles (and feel you need a year to do that) and you feel better being off them than on them.

Thanks for your ideas guys. I do certainly think there is some relation, as during my period and the week after, these unruly feelings diminish, and roar back into full force later in my cycle. But that is based only on 2 cycles, so it remains to be seen.
MindUtopia: We don't mind using condoms, mostly because its quite a novelty after being on the pill for over 8 years! But there were many other advantages of being on the pill:
-less acne (it's not bad, but compared to none, it sucks)
-no periods at all (I took it continuously)
-no premenstrual bloating
-didn't need lube during sex
Kismet, I don't want to scare you off from trying it though! I think I'm going to stick with being off the pill, at least for now. I do want to gain a better understanding of my cycles since prior to pill, I have no recollection of whether they were regular or not. It's actually really helpful following the advice that you and brenn gave: I'm honing my patience and taking the time to appreciate OH. I'm also looking at it as the prime opportunity to really cultivate my other relationships so that when I eventually do have an LO, I will have the support so that I can stay healthy, OH can stay healthy, and we can provide a great environment for our child (and have fun too).

My ob/gyn said it takes an average of 3 months for cycles to regulate themselves after the pill (granted you didn't have problems before the pill).

For me personally, I'm staying on the pill (well nuvaring now) right up until TTC so I can take advantage of the hormone surge some women experience (hopefully, I'm one of them).

But regardless, I don't think it will hurt anything if you do choose to go back on the pill since you have around a year to wait if you're trying in the spring of 2013.

I've stopped the pill 3 months before TTC on my doctor's recommendations. Since I'm AMA (advanced maternal age -- sigh!) he wants to make sure I have regular cycles and also wants me to have hormonal blood tests done which aren't accurate when on the pill. However, if I didn't have these things to worry about, I probably would've stayed on the pill a little longer. But we all have to do what feels right for us.

I went off the pill once before and I really noticed my emotions would get upended around AF time. It was like my pre-pill PMS, but more intense. That's why I thought there could be a hormone connection in your case. But since the problem gets better around AF, maybe not?

I didn't personally notice an uptick in broodiness while off birth control but I'm back on it now and I'm definitely just as broody! Of course, this is probably different for every woman! LOL!

I'm back on them to "jumpstart" my ovaries, per my ob/gyn's instructions. She also told me to go off at least 3 months before ttc but that was to see if I'm actually ovulating like she hopes I will be. If not, then I go on Clomid our first month of ttc!

Anywho, I personally would have stayed off the pill and used condoms until we were ready, but my doc said this was a better option for us with my history. I definitely noticed more pms/mood swings type stuff, wayyyy more than usual for me! It evened out after the first couple of months for me, although it didn't go away completely!

I felt like I was being pro-active while off b/c by monitoring my cycle. This is also how we knew I wasn't ovulating, so it was a great thing to find out so early. It was a completely unrelated medical issue that pushed me to stop the pills, though. I would have stayed on until November, when we start ttc if my thyroid hadn't gone wonky! So there are pros and cons to staying on v. coming off early!

Grr, well I'm a little frustrated today because I was so hopeful for regular cycles, but no, AF was supposed to be yesterday and no signs of her at the moment (def NOT preggo). I know this is an extremely common problem, irregular cycles, especially when coming off the pill, but I was really hoping otherwise! I'm just going to cross my fingers and hope for them to sort themselves out, but I really didn't want to start the whole process of charting and figuring out when I O and all that. I'm staying optimistic for a relaxed approach to fertility!

I'm sorry your cycles have gone all crazy on you- I hope this is your last whacky cycle! I think you have a great approach to ttc, time will even your cycle out! If you have until next spring to start ttc, time is your friend! All I used to track my cycle was CM and I entered my symptoms in FF. That was more laid back than temping but I still had a pretty good idea that I wasn't ovulating!

Hope this helps! I hope your cycles get straightened out!