Non-Hormonal Birth Control

I also was a "monster wife" when I was on b/c! Before dh had his vasectomy (which I second and third the others - was very easy for him with very little pain and quick recovery) - we used over the counter b/c - I can't remember the name but they were little thin squares that you folded and inserted vaginally about 10 min prior to intercourse. We bought them at wal-mart and never had any issues with them (I am VERY fertile!!).

Good luck to you! And best wishes for your marriage!

I would check into fertility awareness/natural family planning. There is a great book, Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler. You can also take classes through Couple to Couple League (http://ccli.org/). Although we're not using it as birth control, I've just started charting my temps and fertility signs and I love it! It's so neat to finally understand what exactly my body is doing every month.

get your tubes tied and go to a nutritionist

I had a Cu-7 (Copper 7) IUD in the 1970's. I had at least one expelled, but with subsequent insertion, it stayed in place. As I recall, I had it removed because the cramps I experienced during my period were excruciating! That was before I had children though.

By the time I'd had my children, IUD's had been pulled off the market, so I never used one after childbirth.

Vasectomy was the way for us to go.

I used a low dose pill for 6 weeks and became suicidal. After the Cu-7, I used an IUD with progesterone for a year. Loved it, but I had an ectopic pregnancy that went undetected for 8 weeks and require emergency surgery to remove a fallopian tube. My two experiences with hormone-based BC.

Do they still make diaphragms?

We used condoms exclusively for about seven years from the birth of our second child until the vasectomy without any difficulty.

J.

Have you checked out that Mirena thing that they keep advertising on TV? It's like the Copper IUD ( which I have ), but it's made of plastic. Maybe your body wont expell it, hey it's worth a shot. Also there are the good ole fashioned spermacides and foams. Now I have heard of a natural alternative but honestly I am not sure if it works or not, but I have heard before that a supplament of Wild Yam might work, but honestly the impression I get is weather it depends on how fertile you are. Also you could get your tubes tied or have your husband get a visectamy ( dont know if I am spelling it right ). Those are the things that come to mind, I hope some of it helps. I always find info when I google something. Well I hopes this helps some!

J.

Tell hubby that since you gave birth control a try and it wasn't working for you, it's his turn to be responsible for it! I never took any kind of BC, but did use the calendar method where you kind of chart when you are most likey to get pregnant and used other forms of BC then. After we were done making babies, he was glad to get fixed!

My husband & I have used condoms exclusively for about 15 years, stopping only when we wanted to have our two children.

J., my husband and I used condoms for years and never once got pregnant. Not only is it non hormonal but sex is a lot cleaner for the woman, now that we're trying and not using condoms I kind of miss them because of that.

Hi J., it's really simple...have your husband get a vasectomy. My husband had it a few months ago, and it is very painless and simple procedure. He had it done in about 15 minutes, and has not had any issues. He was supposed to take it easy and rest that weekend, but he did not even feel like he needed to, he said he felt fine.
As far as your mood swings go, maybe you could try something like St. John Wart, or something natural like that. You could go to any health food store, and they could recommend something to help. Good Luck, I hope you find something that helps.

Would the hubby be willing to be snipped?

Hey J.,
Have you tried natural family planning, where you measure temperature and mucus. I can't do bc either, it makes me neurotic...NFP is 95% effective so if you couple this with spermicide (which is great)you're covered...you can just google natural family planning and there are tons of websites that tell you how to do it...it seems tedious at first but it's really simple...hope that helps