Natural Family Planning

Hi A. -

I am doing NFP and breastfeeding my 10 month old. My husband and I took a course on NFP before getting married and our instructor came out to teach on how to watch for fertility signs during breastfeeding. We have been having sex this whole time following the rules. You can contact the Catholic Diocese (I am not Catholic so it doesn't matter) http://www.diocese-sdiego.org/set.asp?link=MFL_files/mfl..... We have been married almost 4 years, have never used birth control, and got pregnant on our first try. I am a big NFP supporter. Feel free to contact me if you have questions. You can also google the Billings Ovulation method, but I recommend talking with an instructor. Just know that it is possible!

A.,

Just wanted to let you know to be careful, everyone is different. The women in my family ovulate early and my sister and I and my mom got pregnant within a couple days of the end of our period. Hereditary, but it happens. Also I got pregnant with twins when my daughter was a year old. I was still breastfeeding and I hadn't gotten my period back. Just wanted you to have as much info. as possible.

Good luck,

Evelyn

My husband and I followed NFP between my 2nd and 3rd children. I loved it! I can't take birth control because the hormones make me sick, and with NFP you can be a lot more intimate. There are a few different methods you can use, or combine them all. I knew I wouldn't be very good with the whole temperature taking since you have to do it as soon as you wake up and aren't moving around and my kids were always in my bed so finding a base body temp was hard. I used the observation method, it also helped me learn a lot more about my body and cycle. I knew exactly when I would be most fertile when we wanted to get pregnant again and it worked, to the day! I also use an online tracking system, www.mymonthlycycle.com , all I do is input my monthly cycle info and it tells me when my ovulation days are (avoidance days) :) and when my next period will likely start so I can plan around it all. Once you learn how your body acts at each point it's so easy to tell. I love NFP.

My friend was using natural family planning when she got pregnant with her first daughter. She then became pregnant with her son while breast feeding before getting her period back.

When I breast fed, I didn't have my period for the whole year I breast fed, but some people do. I don't think there really is truly a safe time to have sex because everyone's body is different.

Hi,
Check out your local library or book store. A friend of mine found some great resources on how to do this responsibly.

Your best bet, I believe, is to contact The Couple to Couple League International at www.ccli.org or ###-###-####. They can either answer your question or refer you to a teaching couple near you that can explain everything about NFP.

Hi sweet Mama ! I am N. , mom of Cosma ( 26) & Otis (17)
and I am ready for GRANDCHilDREN! So - here is what I know about natural family planning : EAT PAPAYA . African nfp-recepy . Other things include condoms ofcourse ....
LOVE&PEACE! N.

My husband and I are attempting to practice natural family planning. Although I have not taken any classes on this I have read a lot about it on the internet and a holistic Doctor advised me on this. They say that you ovulate right in the middle of your cycle. You count from the first day you start your period to the first day of your next period. So usually it's pretty safe right after and right before your periods, However if you still havn't gotten your period back due to breastfeeding that would be really hard to tell. They sell ovulation predictor kits, it's almost like taking a pregnancy test, you urinate on a stick and it tells you when you are or are not ovulating, only thing is it is possible to get pregnant a few days before and after ovulating, so be careful. Best wishes to your family :)

Hi A.: My husband and I used NFP for many years. I took classes through the Catholic archdiocese. Now my daughter is using it and science has made a lot of progress. I charted every day by hand, now there is software and a device to measure your fertility. She got it on the internet. I also took my temperature everyday just as a backup.

Mary

Congratulations A. for your dedication to breastfeeding. There is no way to know when it's safe to avoid conception during sex, while breastfeeding. It's possible to ovulate without having monthly menstruation while nursing. Usually, you will begin to ovulate when baby begins to experiment with food, and the milk supple drops a little. This signals the pitutary that the milk supply isn't the only nurishment the baby is getting, which in turn signals the ovaries to begin the reproduction cycle. The only "safe" sex is no sex at all.

S. Wolcott, LM, RN

There is a midwife in town that will consult with you about NFP. You can get pregnant while nursing, just because you haven't had a period doesn't mean you aren't ovulating. Her name is Jill Colin CPM.

Hi A.

I just had a baby a month ago and was told by my doctor that its very unlikely I'll get preganant while breastfeeding. Of course, it's not impossible but unlikely. I did natural birth control before using the calendar method. I found the instructions online (can't remember the site) and made up a calendar of safe and unsafe days to have sex. However, if you have not started your period yet since the birth of your last child or have irregular cycles, the calendar method may not work for you since it depends on how your cycle runs. Google "natural birth control calendar". Good luck.

You can't :) But, I love my copper T IUD!!! No hormones and I'm covered 24, 7!!! Until your period starts back up it is NEVER safe... Good luck! (Remember to enjoy no periods, even if it is a little bit of a hassle with birth control)

hi,
i am familiar with nfp,i have a 15month old and still have not gotten my period since having her due to the fact thats eh still prefers nursing to anything else...i have taken so many pregnancy tests as a result,since any time i feel "off" i think i might be pregnant...id say your best bet is to just be careful,use precautions,and get some tests so you can keep your sanity.i always feel its better to know one way or another with something like that...if i were pregnant,id want to know as soon as possible,especially since i have a small little girl already. hope this helps,and im told if you nurse a lot its normal to not get your period...sometimes up to 2 years or more...but you can still get pregnant so be careful.
sincerely,A.

I am a mother of 5 and grandmother of 2. In 15 years that I had babies (my children are 24, 20, 17, 13, 8) I never once digest a pill or took any form of birth control. I used the rhythm method most of the time. Although there was a point between the last two that I did try the shot, but it was very detrimental to my system and it made me gain weight and I was very sick from it. I kept very good track of my periods and planned very carefully so that we would not get pregnant. As you can see we have a large family, and without being graphic here, we have a very healthy sex life. lol . My advice is to plan carefully once you do get your period. You can have sex pretty freely for the two weeks after your period. After that, you must act very carefully - either use a prophylactic or use another highly recommended method (I think you understand what I mean here - I don't want to be too graphic). You are most fertile the first two weeks BEFORE your before period. So, if you want to have a baby, this will be your best shot at making a choice to get pregnant. I hope this helps!

Have you checked out WebMD? Or the seires of books starting with "What to expect when your expecting"..I think the next one is "What to expect in the first year" they are a wonderful series of books! Or talked to your Doctor about it??
All I know is abstinence is the only thing that will work 100% or use condoms. I mean if you REALLY DONT WANT ANOTHER RIGHT NOW then use common sense and do what you know and break out the condoms! Heck they taught us this in high School Lady! LOL! I am not being mean just joking with you...but come on you know what you have to do...don't you? One other thing....I have a good friend who has a sister (biological) that is only 8 months older then her...now tell me brestfeeding keeps you from getting pregnant! 1-2% chance give me a break! Says who?? Everyone is different! :0) Use your brain for goodness sakes UNPROTECTED SEX = BABY. Good luck to you :0)

Peace~Love~Light
V.

Hi A.,

My name is S. I am a mother of 5, between some of my children I did try natural family planning but, it didn't really work I still ended up pregnant wich I don't regret. There are books you can get at barns and borders. I know somethings you have to do is keep track of your cycle also , body temp around the time your ovulating will I think go up, and the consistency of your discharge at certain times of the month. I too am breastfeeding my almost six month old, I usually would become fertile around when the babies were about 8 or 9 months, if you are feeding your 7 month old other foods as well soon you probably will become fertile again. I would get pregnant always after the second period. once it came back again. So if you don't plan on having anymore maybe go and talk to you ob/gyn . I am kinda in the same boat right now , I'm not really using any kind of birth control. My husband is up next for that. Hope I this might of helped with you question.

Good luck,
congratulations,
S.

you mentioned that your baby is 7months old. i'm assuming he/she is eating solids as well. if you are exclusively feeding breastmilk from the breast (no other foods yet), and you have not had a period, you have a 1-2% chance of getting pregnant.

once your baby starts eating solids, this increases your chances of pregnancy (because hormones start changing). If you're not planning on having another one right now, i would recommend using some kind of birth control.

when couples choose to use natural family planning, the age space is usually 18mo-2yrs difference. some people have a closer gap (10mo even) or don't ever get pregnant again (probably for other reasons not just breastfeeding).

good luck!

Pick up the book "Taking Charge of your Fertility" by Toni Weschler
http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Charge-Your-Fertility-Reprod...
And check out the website:
http://www.ovusoft.com/

You can get pregnant before your first period because you have to ovulate before you have a period. You don't have to chart your temperature for the method to work. That can be the tough part when you've got a young one that your up with all the time at night. The book has special instrustions for if you're breastfeeding.
I have used the book and method for ages now and once you get used to it it's super easy to use and rely on.
The book is by far the best I've seen on the subject.

Hi A.,
I hadn't had a period in YEARS and still got pregnant with my second child while breastfeeding my first.
It's a total myth.
YOU CAN GET PREGNANT WHILE BREASTFEEDING and you CAN GET PREGNANT BEFORE YOUR PERIOD RETURNS.
I am PROOF of that!
:)
Hope that helps.
I know condoms are no fun, but if you really aren't ready for another, you'll get used to using them again. It's not so bad.
;)
Have a great day!
S.
www.MomsOnAMission.US

A. that is awesome that you are breastfeeding! As for "safe" sex I don't believe there is a way to know until you get your period. I was breastfeeding my first son when I got pregnant again. The dr was even surprised, but the more I tell people, the more say that the same thing happened to them. My only safe way to know is that I have Mirena now. I am now breastfeeding my third son and I don't want another surprise for a long time.

Dear A.,

I can't answer your question, I'm sorry. I read a book many (MANY!!!) years ago, I thought it was called A Story of Love, but I googled it and can't find it. I started charting my cycle before I got married. My wedding day was my last "safe day" for that cycle, and a friend suggested taking condoms on my honeymoon. We ended up using a combination of NFP and condoms for many years after that - that was how we knew when to "try" to conceive my son. And how I knew, the day after a night of not thinking, that we had conceived my daughter (neither of us was thinking at 3:00 a.m., and I smacked my forehead when I got up that morning and looked at the calendar!).

Are you charting your temperature - though I'm not sure how accurate this will be if you're getting up at night to feed, and your sleep is not consistent - and your mucus symptom? Can you follow these two things when you don't have a period? Try googling Natural Family Planning - I did, and found a site - maybe you cold ask them . . .

Good luck!
B.

A.,
Congratulations on your wonderful family! It sounds like you are in the same boat I was in. Actually, It is NOT TRUE that you CAN NOT get pregnant while you are breastfeeding! I waited until I got my period back and could "track" it better before having sex without a condom. My husband understood, although it was a pain in the rear end to say the least. It is better to be safe than sorry in this situation :-)

A., please listen! NFP is fantastic. It's the best thing you could do. Most people who tell you otherwise are either uninformed, misinformed (by contraception advocacy groups), get it confused with an antiquated method like the rhythm (calendar) method, or had a bad experience because they didn't use it well.

My in-laws practiced natural family planning and had all three of their children exactly when they wanted to. I have been married to my husband for 2 1/2 years, using only NFP (I have never even touched a condom), having a very healthy amount of intimacy and never getting pregnant, then when we decided to have a baby, we got pregnant on my second cycle, and now I'm four months along. :)

NFP is inexpensive and easy to learn, free for the rest of your life, and makes for happy families! It even works if you have irregular cycles, like my mother-in-law.

My mother-in-law is actually an NFP teacher and is currently counseling several couples on recognizing their fertility after baby and during breastfeeding, as well as couples coming off the Pill, and couples with no special circumstances like her oldest son and me. If you'd like to send me a message I will gladly put you in contact with her, I know she will be happy to help, and she charges virtually nothing.

If you want to see some official info before making up your mind, here is the Billings method website:

http://www.boma-usa.org/

And just to let you know, although the information here comes largely from a Catholic or religious perspective, that in no way makes it a strictly "Catholic" thing, it's just that group which promotes NFP most strongly. The science is sound and the rewards are many!

I have a close friend who practiced this method. Just got pregnant. The only really safe sex is abstinence :( Really, it depends on what you want for the future. I wasn't comfortable putting extra hormones in my body(as in the pill or Depo), condoms are a pain! diaphragms are also a pain. I did my research and decided on a Paragard IUD. Birth control that work for 10 years. No side effects and when you're ready, have it removed and you can get pregnant the next day! Check it out. I have no complaints.
Good luck! W.

We use VCF and loved it. No smell, discharge, taste, etc. and didn't make me itchy!!! Give it 15 minutes to activate and it's good for 3-4 hours. I've been married for nearly 7 years, but sexually active for 17 years and have NEVER used the pill, IUD, etc. It was condoms only until I found VCF. It took me a few times to get it in right, but it's CHEAP and is 94% effective. You'd think I was a commercial, but honestly, we haven't used anything other than this in YEARS.
They will send you a free sample.
http://www.vcf-contraceptive.com/whatisvcf.html

PS Even though I breastfeed exclusively, I'm one of the lucky one that gets my period 3 weeks after the lochia stops and I get it like clockwork the entire 1.5 years I breastfeed. Using this, I never have to worry.

when i was trying to get pregnant a friend gave me her copy of "Taking Charge of Your Fertility: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health" by Toni Weschler. It teaches you to get to know your body, track your cycle to get pregnant, or not to get pregnant. if memory serves correctly, i think your specific situation is covered in the book. take a look on amazon.com if you want more info on the book. good luck!!

Ask your doctor!!!!!!!!!!

HI, There's no way to have sex "safely", even if your breastfeeding. I got pregnant while breastfeeding AND taking the "nursing" birth control pill. While it was a pleasant surprise, the next time I had an IUD inserted and we loved it. You can just have the IUD put in and then forget about it until you want to concieve. I would recommend the Mirena, though, over the copper T. The copper T IUD made me have 2 week long, extremely heavy periods and when I switched to the Mirena, my periods were extremely light and eventually went to light spotting every other month. And, when I had it removed when my daughter was almost 3 years old, I was pregnant again within 2 months. Good luck!

I was told by my Dr that you can never know when you will ovulate after you have a baby so you always have to use reliable birth control until you do have your first period. Hope this helps!

You have to be careful with that whole thing. People think that just because you are breastfeeding and don't have a period that you can't get pregnant. So, so, so not true. You can still get pregnant, so be very careful.

My doctors told me after 6 weeks after you have the baby you can have safe sex. I would suggest useing some sort of birth control if you dont plan on having any babies right now. But i would discuss with your doctor which birth control would work best for you.

from mom of 2

You can go to classes for NFP through the diocese of San Diego (or any other diocese where you live).I'm not sure if they offer it for non-catholics, but it's worth a call. There are different methods of NFP. The one that I use is based on the Creighton Model or Naprotechnology. I chart my mucus pattern every day. You will not conceive if you are having intercourse on your "dry" days, on the days that you have no cervical mucus present, usually these are on the days after you bleed to the day you ovulate. It takes practice knowing which days these are because you have to make these detailed observations. You can log onto this website if you want to attend an intro class:
www.diocese-sdiego.org. Click under Ministries, then Marriage and Family Life, then Natural family planning. you can also look up "Creighton Model" in the internet. This method has worked for me to help me conceive. It can help women know which days to avoid pregnancy. Hope this helps!

If you want another kid you're on the right path. If not, well....Breastfeeding is not going to stop you from getting prego and it does effect the homones that control periods. BUT.. breast feeding is the best and doing it for as long as you can is worth it.

I read "Your Fertility Signals" which I thought was great, easy to read(not too scientific), was very thorough on the topic for what real people need to know. I really liked understanding the cycle my body would go through better and getting to recognize them. I had a friend who said they used fertility signals for two years and then when they wanted to get pregnant they did right away because they understood her cycle. I tried to get my husband to read the book, explain it to him why we were safe when we were safe but he was too nervous and when you're not safe(around that ovulation time, risking pregnancy) you have to avoid vaginal sex or use condoms (I'm allergic to latex, we didn't want to just avoid sex for 10/12 days every month and with my husband's nervousness, I got an IUD which I love). By the way, I'm jealous you still don't have a period, I breastfed a 9 1/2 lb. boy and had my period right on schedule a month after he was born. Good luck with your family and birth control. M. from La Quinta

Hi!

I think everybody is different - my son was about the same age (7 mos) i was breastfeeding - no period and i got pregnant --- it didn't keep - but it still happened .... i you don't want to get pregnant right away, talk with your doctor about other b.c. methods to prevent it ... if you do .... have fun!!!