Please if anyone can help me out with either of my questions I would be grateful. I just want to know if I'm doing this correctly and when I can have sex.

You are taking the pill correctly. You do not want to take it more than two hours late. After seven days, you are protected. If you start taking the first day of your period, you are protected immediately. It has been years since I was on the birth control pill- I switched to the Depo shot- but there was an information pamphlet with all kinds of information about how to take the pill, what to do if you miss a pill, how long you need to take the pill before it is effective, as well as a toll- free number to call if I had any questions... so hold onto the information packet for if you have any other questions or concerns. You can also ivsit their website at: loestrin24.com