PLEASE HELP! Starting on birth control pill. Have some important questions

Hey guys! I’ll be started on the oral contraceptive pills and I wanted to ask if you could comment important things to note. I already know the basics like when to start it, taking the pill at the same time each day. Some other questions I had were:

1. If I choose to skip the placebo week, and I go straight to the next pack, does that skip the period? If there a risk for break through bleeding? Does that affect my natural cycle? Has anyone done this for multiple months at a time or alternated between skipping and not skipping (e.g skipping like every other month)

2. Has anyone here gotten pregnant while on birth control pills? And if so were you compliant and did everything right?

3. After how long from when I start taking it does it become effective?

**If I think of more questions I’ll post it under the comments. THANK YOU!!**