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Anyone else using Fertility Awareness Methods for Birth Control?
I am totally new to The Nest, because we just got married June 7th (last Thursday!).
Anywho, for health and other reasons, I can't use any sort of hormonal birth control and condoms feel like tap-dancing in rubber boots. I have a cervical cap as well, but I don't want to have to use it every time.
We plan on using FAM, but I have not been able to see a noticeable pattern from my temperatures. We wake up at the same time everyday, but my temps jump all over the place, and don't seem to get higher after ovulation. My cycles are very regular. I can literally set a meeting timer on my phone down to the hour for my period, at 34 days every cycle. I did get a positive OPK, in addition to other fertility signs, about a week prior to my wedding, so I figured we were good to go on our wedding night. This makes me nervous, not being able to temp, because the OPK package says "not to be used as birth control".
So, I guess my question is.. do you think observing mucous and cervical position/ softness, keeping track of the calendar and stuff, is enough? We are at the point where we don't want to try for a few more months, but a baby would be fine if an "oops" happened.
Re: Anyone else using Fertility Awareness Methods for Birth Control?
I think you should observe all the signs you mentioned, in addition to continuing to take your temp. Having just gotten married, your hormones (from stress, excitement, etc.) may still be going a little crazy, and giving you unpredictable temps. You will probably start getting more reliable patterns after a while.
I am using FAM right now, but I am still breastfeeding my baby enough to keep AF at bay. He's nine months old now though, so I'm trying to keep tabs on my cycle to see when it comes back.
You can always ask questions at the TCOYF website. Those gals have more experience and knowledge than I can offer.
Is your cycle regular even when you're stressed? Because that can certainly make you ovulate sooner or later than normal.
But really, since you wouldn't be too put out if you did happen to get pregnant, I think you'll be fine just monitoring your other signs for a few months. If you were actively TTA and definitely didn't want a baby, it would be a different matter.
I just count days (avoid sex around 13-16 days of cycle), follow mucus and hope and pray. Needless to say, There's probably a higher fail rate for my method, but we would be ok if I got pg. So we aren't trying, but not really not trying either.
I haven't, mostly because everyone I know who has tried it eventually got a surprise baby. Although I've seen on here many women claim it works if you do it correctly.
If you can't do hormonal, what about the non-hormonal IUD? If you really couldn't handle a surprise, I'd want something more concrete for prevention.
I cannot use hormones either. We follow the cycle bead schedule, so basically day 1-8 and 20-start date- sex is fair game, but we use condoms all the other days. We switched to this method from using condoms every time about a year ago after the hassle crushed both of our sex drives. So far no babies.
Two thoughts...make sure that you are aware that sperm can live for three days inside you, so you want to take that into consideration. Also, I recommend Trojan bareskin condoms for when you can't resist during ovulation. We have found that those are the least "rubber boot tap dancing". HTH
A few suggestions.
1. Fertilityfriend.com is your friend! It helps track things like this.
2. Read Taking Charge of your Fertility.
I am using the FAM method too. I chart every morning. I too am fairly regular but things like stress, alcohol, sickness, sleep effect a lot of things. I use OPKs as I know that I am getting closer and avoid during that time.
The failure rates when done properly aren't higher than the pill or other methods. It's just that you have to do it properly and you can't just take a month or a few weeks off. Read Taking Charge of Your Fertility, take a course if you are close to one, use Fertility Friend. It's not just women on the boards who "claim" it works.
FAM is actually the only method that has worked for me. The pill and the patch have both failed me. (the patch more than once) I did use them both properly. The pill and other methods still have failure fates when used correctly. (and higher when not used correctly)
EDIT
I use the FAM method and it has worked great for us so far. I don't like the idea of the pill or the IUD. Anyway, stress can definitely change you temperature and time of ovulation. You may not even ovulate at all. I am assuming you have purchased and read the book Taking Charge of your fertility. If not, go out and buy it. You'll need it. There are several different sections in the back regarding unusual cycles, ovulation times, temperature patterns, etc. I'd start out reading those and see if any of the descriptions fit you. Anyway, I know you were just married, so, in case you haven't been tracking you cycle for very long, that may be the only thing confusing you. It take about three separate cycles to really start getting a hold of your body's pattern. Also, be really careful when you take your temperature. Make sure that you don't talk, walk around, drink water or anything like that. As soon as you wake up, reach for the thermometer and stick it in your mouth. Also, there is an App that goes along with the book called Fem Cal. I'd get that. It helps. There is one for free and one you can purchase. I use it all the time. It helps me to make sense of everything.
If all else fails, I think that checking your cervical fluid and checking you cervix on a daily basis will help you. I've been using this method for a while now, so I have become pretty familiar with body's pattern. Once you have ovulated, it becomes pretty obvious by looking at your cervical fluid and checking your cervix, so I think that you should be alright.
I have used FAM for 2 1/2 years now. I use the site www.tcoyf.com. Its easy to use and the forums are beyond helpful.
My husband and I are doing Natural Family Planning. It's tough, but it's what we believe is the best way to prevent a pregnancy (at least for now!). We just got married June 9th, so of course we're only a few weeks in, but I've been tracking my mucus and temperature since right around Christmas.
If you're interested, check out the Couple to Couple League: http://www.ccli.org/ You can get an at-home study course, and there's even a computer program that you can get (which I use) to track temperature, mucus, when you have sex, when you menstruate, and it helps you determine when you're fertile and when you're not. NFP is really accurate WHEN YOU USE IT CORRECTLY. We know multiple people who have been married 10+ years who have used NFP, have a "normal" amount of kids (2-3) who are all pretty well spaced apart. We also have friends practicing NFP who have had accident babies, who can tell you exactly when they slipped up, that they KNEW she was fertile, and that they did it anyway
There's also the lady-comp: http://www.lady-comp.com/en/ which I'm currently looking in to, which a friend let me borrow. It's a bit pricey, but when you consider the long-term price of condoms, pills, etc., you're coming out about even.
Hope you find something safe and healthy for your body that works!