Sex & Romance
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Natural Family Planning Questions?
I am considering Natural Family Planning because I can't seem to take a birth control without any side effects. Has anyone else tried this metod? Is it effective and is it hard to do? Is there anything that you would reccommend?
Please give me some info!
Re: Natural Family Planning Questions?
I had to take NFP courses because I was getting married in the Catholic church. It is the same thing as temping and charting...
Rather than going through the course, I would recommened taking the FertilityFriend.com tutorials and charting. (Just to save $$) Just abstain during your fertile period.
BFP#2: 7/21/11 DS born 3/23/12
this. and read this: http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Charge-Your-Fertility-Achievement/dp/0060950536
FAM (Fertility Awareness) is the only BC I trust, and I never want kids. DH and I have been using it for 3 years without any problems at all. You get to control how strict you want to be with the rules and whether or not you want to use some sort of barrier method in combination with it. For us, because we're VERY adamant about avoiding pregnancy, we NEVER go unprotected before the fertile time, abstain completely during the fertile time and only go unprotected 4 days after ovulation has been confirmed. Now, that is VERY strict, but like I said - it's up to you. I know lots of people who use FAM who don't abstain and just use a backup during the fertile time, and haven't had any problems either. I'm just paranoid!
Pick up Taking Charge of Your Fertility and also check out ovusoft.com. There are message boards on there which are very helpful. FAM sounds complicated at first (temperature taking, observing cervical fluid, etc.) but after a while it becomes second nature. It's not hard at all, and it's really empowering to know what's going on with your body. Just give yourself plenty of time to learn it, and know that your cycles might not be normal right away when coming off of hormonal BC.
Good luck!
I would really take a NFP class from a teaching couple thru www.ccli.org especially with TTA. That way they can answer all of your questions. It is as effective as any bcp, but it comes down to how strict you are. It isn't hard, just needs to be consistant.
I used NFP (temps) for 4 years to both tta and ttc. I then switched to Creighton (cm only) about 2 years ago.
*PCOS bio* *Cold Hands, Warm Heart*
Well maltwin03, here goes I?m offering you this for your consideration ? Get yourself a copy of this book ?The Marriage Art? by: John E. Eichenlaup, M.D. ? A Dell Book ? Published by DELL PUBLISHING Co., Inc. 750 Third Avenue ? New York, NY.
You will find a chapter entitled ? ?How to Free Each Other of Sexual Fears and Emotional Restraints? just read that chapter. It will cover what you are asking for in full detail. If you and DH will follow this you can enjoy sexual intercourse without fear of a pregnancy until you are ready or want one. You do not take any drugs or miss out on having what you want. You must get your cycles in sync so you know how many days are in each one. This usually takes three to five months by your keeping good records so you know the number (on average) in your cycles. I strongly advise you to read this book entirely and keep it handy. Both you and DH should read and practice it.
My DH (Bill) and I got our copy when we married from my sister-in-law it was one of the best gifts she ever gave us. We still refer to it from time to time even over the past some more than 48 years of marriage.
Here my cycles turned out to be 29 days in duration so we abstained from intercourse from the 10th till the 20th days during my cycle. If we wanted to have intercourse during those days then we just used a condom. Simple. Right!
Also this one ?Taking Charge of Your Fertility? is another good one to get your own copy of.
I never took BCP because of what were problem(s) with side effects. My DH and I wanted children so we started TTC very soon after our marriage. It took us almost 3-? years to have our first child; but, then we wanted them about 18 months apart so we planned it that way on the first 4 which it worked out quite well for us. Then with the fifth child we TTC for four months when I got pregnant ? this child was planned some thirteen years after our forth child was borne. So I can safely say that the rhythm method also known as (Natural Family Planning) worked for us. It is not hard ? you just have to be diligent in your sexual intercourse planning ? use safe guards when you?re most fertile. Use a condom when this is wanted during those days.
I hoping this will give you some starting points and be of great help in you quest for information.
~~Emily~~
To the original poster: Although counting days of past cycles and "knowing the number" may work for some (and Emily I am very glad it worked well for you!) please know that it DOES NOT work like that for everyone. A woman who has exactly the same cycle for 48 years is not only incredibly lucky but outrageously unusual.
Personally, I have never been on hormonal birth control, so I don't need to worry about my cycles being weird because of that, but I would NEVER go on any past cycle information to calculate current ovulation. I treat every month as individual and new. True fertility awareness in NOT the "rhythm method" (those are downright dirty words in my book!). It is a scientifically proven method of pinpointing ovulation based on basal body temperature, changes cervical fluid and cervical position throughout the month. Counting days should NEVER have anything to do with it. Contrary to an antiquated belief, women do NOT ovulate at the same time every month. Although it is possible, it is more likely to vary from month to month. I have had ovulation occur a whole week later or earlier than the previous month depending on travel, stress, diet, exercise, or just random occurrence. If I depended on counting days and past cycles I can think of at least 4 cycles in the past 3 years where I could have ended up pregnant.
Please, do your own research and read Taking Charge of Your Fertility. The Sympto-Thermal Method (combining temps, cervical fluid and position changes) is the most reliable and will give you unmistakable information about your body. It is NOT the flawed and antiquated rhythm method.
Best of luck!
DITTO!! Also, the rhythm method is NOT what Natural Family Planning is. It's the sympto-thermal method.
Mom to Lily Gayle 4.25.06 Charlotte Kathleen 3.27.09 Samuel Thomas ~8.4.12~
Another huge
for fertility awareness. I'm following the sympto-thermal method outlined in Taking Charge of Your Fertility (check for it at your library) and using the website by the same name for charting (I didn't care for Fertility Friend's chart myself). We love it - we know exactly where we stand at any given moment and we're in total control to decide if/when we are ready to have children.
BFP 11.8.12 * EDD 7.17.13 * MC 12.20.12
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over!
We use NFP (Symto-Thermal as taught by CCLI) and love it! It's effective, completely green, and you don't have to put anything unnatural in your body or between you and your spouse. Teaching groups/ methods taught include: CCLI (sympto-thermal), Creighton, Billings, Marquette.
Again, this isn't your grandmother's rhythm method. NFP accounts for the fact that most women don't have cycles like clockwork and doesn't rely on previous cycle history to determine the future. Plus, it's super helpful as a means of being aware of your gynecological health in general! It's shocking to me that more women don't have this knowledge of their own bodies.