Seattle Nesties
Dear Community,
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.
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.
Re: Can we discuss BCP/FAM/Rhythm?
Planning Bio
Married Bio
Not sure what you're asking...
We used BCP for a long time, but I hated the side effects. We stopped b/c we planned to start trying after wedding, but then we put it off, so we used condoms for a long time, then charted to avoid. But, I wouldn't do that if I wasn't OK w/ getting pregnant. Now we're not not trying, so we're doing nothing.
#1-BFP 08-22-09 ~ M/C 08-31-09 at 5 weeks 6 days
#2-BFP 08-6-11 ~ Due 04/18 ~ born via c-section April 22, 2012
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This. This is the one thing about my life where I have no problems pumping my body full of hormones and chemicals.
I got the mirena IUD a few months ago, and I absolutely love it. No side effects like I had from the pills/ring, and the side-benefit of no period.
We plan to start TTC in ~5 years, so the timing works well as well.
I had been on BCP for years, but when my insurance provider stopped covering the ones I'd liked and swapped me to a generic of Ortho Tri-Cyclen, it made me crazy moody and that sucked a lot, so I swapped to the Ring for a few years... which was okay, but killed my libido. So, after the wedding, we swapped to FAM (trying to avoid) for ~2yrs.
BFP 1/22/12 | Ectopic pregnancy found 2/14/12 | Methotrexate to complete m/c 2/15/12
FWIW, and I realize I might be in the minority, I *LOVE* the ring. I used to forget to take my pill at the same time every day and it would make me sick as a dog (and also it is basically worthless if you miss more than one day a month). H and I definitely do NOT want kids right now, so we're trying to actively avoid them and the "set it and forget it (for three weeks)" method works perfectly for me. I don't think we want kids for about 2-3 years, so for now this is golden for us...
I'm also on the ring. I have been for 4-5 years and I love it. I also like the option of skipping periods using it. I know it's not for everyone.
for those that use/d FAM as TTA, i don't understand how it works. from my understanding, after you look at the chart, you can historically telly when you ovulated...but you don't know the day of/before. what if you have irregular cycles?
i used bcp for regulating my cycles (i have whack cycles), and when we were "cleaning out the system" before we were fully-ready-ready to start TTC, we "guessed". after about CD 10, we'd stop having sexxay time until i got my period (sometimes this meant over a month). we'd do other things, or if we were desperate, we'd pull out. not safe, i know, but we weren't not-ready, just not ready-ready.
i wanted to use the ring, or iud, but really, i think i was just too lazy to do something different.
♥ bfp1 06/14/2011 ♥ edd 02/22/2012 ♥
♥ baby jennlin born on 02/15/2012 ♥
who says you can only wear your wedding dress once?
honeymoon bio ♥ married bio ♥ planning bio
jumped ship to the new and improved nest. back to TB for baby boards.
If you have regular cycles it's easier, but mine weren't perfect. If I was super irregular, I might be scared to rely on charting. But, there are several other signs you're about to O, like CM, temps, sometimes cramps or headaches, etc. that can tell you that you're in the ballpark.
I can give you the full run-down if you really want it, but in a nutshell...there are rules to follow. The more irregular your cycles are, the more restrictive the rules need to be (unless you're actually okay with getting pg). Basically, you either avoid or use protection after a certain day of your cycle until you confirm that you've O'd (and to do that, you need to wait until you have at least 3 days of a confirmed thermal shift, preferably cross-checked with drying up of CM). Once you've confirmed O, you're free to do what you want until AF shows.
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"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain."
I haven't read the other replies (working in the evening is kicking my butt), but here's my 2 cents:
BPC -- Hate it. It's annoying to take medication daily, but more importantly, it obliterates my interest in sex. Nuvaring was better at first (more convenient and no affect on libido), until about 6 months in.
FAM and NFP -- Can't remember which is which, but the only thing i dislike is basal thermometers. Two thumbs up; this is my preferred method (charting of temp and other signals with condoms during fertile period when trying to prevent pregnancy).
Rhythm -- gives FAM a bad name. So many people say their kid was conceived while using the above methods, but in most cases it's actually the rhythm method they were practicing... so i guess it would be fine if they used the right name, and if it were only used in cases where pregnancy is an option for the couple.
Best sound ever: baby's heartbeat! (Heard @ 10w1d)
Yup, definitely this.
And if you're keeping track of things in the long term, you can start figuring out what your usual range for O is with some simple statistics, which can help confirm your CM readings.
Best sound ever: baby's heartbeat! (Heard @ 10w1d)
Thank you so much for all the info and experiences! I've given it a lot of thought and had a great talk with H, and we're going to go for FAM - TTA.
I know it will take several months for my body to reset itself, but I'm okay with using condoms ALL.THE.TIME. until we get a good handle on it. I'm pretty nervous about it, but I'll be really happy to be off bcp and be interested in sex again!
TMI - I'm hoping I won't have the same types of periods I had before going on bcp though. I started really young - I was in 4th grade. I was regular right off the bat, but had serious mood swings, horrible cramps and 9-day periods.
But I think I'd rather have all that than not be interested.
More TMI - I've been with H for a little over 7 years. The first 2 years, I wasn't on bcp, and we didn't have sex, but I was ALWAYS interested (maybe because I was still a teenager, lol). But after going on bcp, within 6 months, my drive plummeted and we haven't had a terribly active sex life for the past 4.5 years.
I forgot to quote, but...
I'd be willing to bet money that going off the pill will improve the situation.
Best sound ever: baby's heartbeat! (Heard @ 10w1d)
Obviously I'm not a doctor and you should always talk to yours, but I had something similar in my early teen years and became anemic. So, if you find yourself having really heavy / long periods, make sure you talk to your doctor about it to see if you need iron supplements (I did). Just something to keep in mind though I'm sure you already knew that.
Agreed. HBC killed my libido for sure. XD