What's everyone doing for birth control after the baby? - Page 3

[maddymama]

Originally Posted by Talula Fairie

Do you know what IUD this happened with? Was it with today's IUD or the one that was used in the 70s which has been pulled from the market?

Not sure for all three, but I *think* one was Mirena, but all three have been within the last 12-18 months. Two were inserted by a MW and one was through an OB. All three ladies had to have surgery to a) find the IUD and b) remove the IUD. The scaring on the uteruses (sp?) makes the possibility of future kiddos risky for all three.
It's freaky bc I know it's a rare occurence, but to have three females close to me have the same thing happen (different states, different care providers) makes me leery of having an IUD inserted.
~maddymama

[holyhelianthus]

If all goes according to plan (and we are praying hard it will) I will be getting a tubal. I just cannot be pregnant again for health reasons.

[holyhelianthus]

BTW the reason it is a tubal and not a V is I am getting it done at the same time as my c-section. Otherwise it'd be the V. Honestly DH still wants to get the V as well to be reaaaaalllly sure.

[Cali2SC]

hmmmm. We hadn't talked about it yet. It took us over 2 years after I stopped taking "seasonale" (1 cycle every 3 months) to conceive this lo. This is our first and I think we both want at least one more. If I could postpone getting pregnant for say a year and a half after this babe is born, that would be ideal. I am breastfeeding and don't want to go back on a pill. And we've done the whole condom thing, but did not really enjoy it. I never did the whole charting thing, though I was using my discharge as an indicator of when we might conceive. Maybe I'll be better about the NFP......

What is LAM? Thanks!

[chi_mama]

Originally Posted by Care Lee

Well, we got pregnant this time when my son (thinking he was our last) was 10 weeks old. I never got my period back, I was breastfeeding all the time, and co-sleeping. It was actually the first time we had sex postpartum. DP is going in for a V soon. There is no way I will have sex until there are no more little swimmers in there. I get pregnant way too easily.

wow, that must have been quite a shock. did you know right away or were you pretty far along before you suspected? were you guys completely freaked out?

[leighann79]

I think we'll do an IUD again. We were very happy with it last time. When I had it taken out, I thought it maybe was causing some problems, but nothing changed (except me getting pregnant. Which was the plan. LOL). So, our plan is another IUD. It seems to work the best for us.

[wombatclay]

I was on the pill for years, and then depo for a few years as well... I have horrible, horrible cycles (I'll bleed for 2-3 WEEKS then have a few days off, then bleed for 5-6 days, then have no bleeding for 4-5 weeks, then bleed for a month, and so on... and during the first 1-2 days of any bleeding cycle I cramp so badly I throw up and have trouble standing upright). And although I use LAM right off the bat, even when tandem nursing 24/7 my cycles return within a few months. But I respond really well to hormonal birth control (evens out my cycle, regulates the bleeding controls the anemia) with no side effects.

I found that after dd1 that my cycle was a bit more regular... and after dd2 a little more regular again. So I'm hoping that a third babe will add yet another little boost towards normalcy, and that the moderate hormone dose from Mirena will round out the picture.

Mini-pill: it's true the mini-pill needs to be taken on a really tight schedule due it's low hormone dose. The pill my friend is taking (I really need to ask her the name again) is a low dose hormone pill (so good for breastfeeding... she breastfeeds twins and hasn't seen a drop in supply) that isn't as time sensitive. Which is important when you have little kiddos!

But the "real" bc will be the V for dh and the tubal for me (even if I don't have the c/s, my OB has a day surgery/minor invasion type deal)... the mirena or mini-pill will be more for being able to live without insane cycles.

[holyhelianthus]

But the "real" bc will be the V for dh and the tubal for me (even if I don't have the c/s, my OB has a day surgery/minor invasion type deal)...

But you still have to pump and dumb for 24+ hours. Now this is doable for lots of folks but I have the hardest time pumping or even manually expressing milk which is why I am very much hoping to avoid that.

That's just an FYI but you probablyy already knew that and are prepared

[wombatclay]

Well... if it's part of the c/s, there's no pump/dump (it's my silver lining to a possible repeat c/s). But there are actually several options that don't require a 24 hour pump/dump... obviously not all options work for all mamas, and if you get hit by a bus or something you kind of have to take what they give you, but in a planned procedure you've got a lot more wiggle room.

Make sure you contact LLL or an LC who has a recent copy of Hale's (Medications and Mother's Milk) handy or check LactMed (if specific meds have already been mentioned) and bring the data with you when you meet with the anesthesiologist and/or surgeon... a lot of doctors will give you the 24 hours spiel without actually checking the meds, and without exploring medication options.

In this case, the OB said a lot of women nurse right before the procedure, then pump/dump once (over the 4-5 hours following the procedure), and then babe is back on the breast.

[RTT]

We haven't really talked about it yet. I'd like dh to get a vasectomy at some point but I guess we're not quite ready to shut the door on the possibility of baby #3 yet (although I suspect we will be once we're in the throes of handling a newborn and a two-year-old!) I got my first ppp at 13 months last time- and got pregnant two cycles later, so I guess I do trust EBF at the beginning anyway. I'm leaning toward the mini pill at this point.

[Quickbeam]

NFP for us, as always. I didn't get signs of returning fertility until 17 months after DS.

[chrissy]

I'm not sure. I am almost totally sure this is our last baby, but, like some other posters, I don't feel quite ready to make anything permanent. We haven't talked about it recently, but I'm pretty sure dh would get a vasectomy if/when I'm ready.

Almost certainly we'll use NFP for the first year or so. It gets a little tricky for me when my fertility starts to return though b/c (a) I have lots of false starts, so there would be lots of abstaining/pull-out/condoms, and (b) when my fertility starts to come back I get the baby bug BAD!

I've thought about an IUD but I need to research it a lot more. I don't love the idea of anything chemical or anything inside me. Sigh.

I really really don't think I want to be pregnant again though.

[momoftworedheads]

We use FAM, so we'll go back to that again. It works for us!

Take care!

Jen

[spiritedmama]

I haven't honestly thought about this. I guess I should since we are "pretty" sure this is the last one.....Well, since we use ecological breastfeeding and I don't get periods back for at least 14 months postpartum I suppose we have some time.....I guess I will probably use NFP loosely for about 2 years and then make a decision but hubby will probably get "snipped"...

[Cali2SC]

What is LAM?

[Amanda Williams]

I don't want to use anything for BC after this baby, but I don't think hubby will let that fly, LOL!

He'll probably pull out for a few months until he is ready for a possible "surprise" pregnancy. I'm not sure, he may even put his foot down and say this is our last baby.

The earliest my period has returned after any baby has been 9 months, I would be happy to have another little one 18 months from now... we'll see what DH wants to do.

[holyhelianthus]

Originally Posted by wombatclay

Well... if it's part of the c/s, there's no pump/dump (it's my silver lining to a possible repeat c/s). But there are actually several options that don't require a 24 hour pump/dump... obviously not all options work for all mamas, and if you get hit by a bus or something you kind of have to take what they give you, but in a planned procedure you've got a lot more wiggle room.

Make sure you contact LLL or an LC who has a recent copy of Hale's (Medications and Mother's Milk) handy or check LactMed (if specific meds have already been mentioned) and bring the data with you when you meet with the anesthesiologist and/or surgeon... a lot of doctors will give you the 24 hours spiel without actually checking the meds, and without exploring medication options.

In this case, the OB said a lot of women nurse right before the procedure, then pump/dump once (over the 4-5 hours following the procedure), and then babe is back on the breast.

That's really awesome you just have to wait a few hours. My OB said it'd be 24

I do have a copy of Mother's Milk and Medicine or something like that. I will have to check it.

I am totally not looking forward to a c-section but at very least it will make the tubal process easier. That's what I am clinging to. I have never had surgery before so I'm way freaked out.

[Talula Fairie]

Originally Posted by magstphil

That's really awesome you just have to wait a few hours. My OB said it'd be 24

I do have a copy of Mother's Milk and Medicine or something like that. I will have to check it.

I am totally not looking forward to a c-section but at very least it will make the tubal process easier. That's what I am clinging to. I have never had surgery before so I'm way freaked out.

You do not have to wait 24 hours after a c/s to breastfeed. General anesthesia leaves your system really quickly.

http://kellymom.com/health/illness/mom-surgery.html

[lisaloo]

LAM is short for "Lactational Amenorrhea Method" It's a form of natural family planning that can be used after childbirth. I'm gonna type out the quickie version of the information in Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler. She says that the criteria for using this method are:
-your menses have not returned
-you are fully or nearly fully breastfeeding
-your baby is less than 6 months old

As long as you meet the criteria you are not considered fertile and the method failure rate is less than 2% per year. Once you fail to meed any one of the criteria you have to switch back to FAM (Fertility Awareness Method) and chart your cycles to know what days are fertile and what days are considered safe.
There's a LOT of information out there about charting and NFP. I really love the method. It's what we used for both avoiding and for getting pregnant last time. This time was a bit more of me not paying attention because I had been charting for so long that I got lax and just "knew" what my body was doing. Uh huh....yeah. But you get out what you put in. If you are careful and follow the method correctly the failure rate is minimal and you get the added benefit of NO side effects. Yay!

[Talula Fairie]

For FAM to work, you have to be EXCLUSIVELY breastfeeding meaning no pacifiers, no bottles, no solids, nothing. "nearly fully" won't do it. I got my period at 11 weeks post partum and was fertile after that when I was breastfeeding #1. She was not on solids, she did not get bottles, but she did use pacifiers. The thing about LAM is that you are fertile BEFORE you get your period. So there's really no way to know if you're going to be one of those women who ovulates anyway despite the breastfeeding.

And speaking of? I seriously doubt that 2% stat. I am willing to bet that if they did a recent study, it would be higher than that. I just personally know at least 10+ women who get their periods back (or get pregnant) within weeks of delivering their baby.

Also FAM is kind of difficult to do when you're breastfeeding and your cycles are not quite regular yet. I also know a lot of women who misjudged their O date and got pregnant.

Honestly, imo, if you really REALLY don't want to get pregnant, you're going to have to use something beyond charting or FAM. I know a lot of people won't agree with me, it's just my personal experience/opinion.