Birth Control

[Riverbeauty]

Yeah, kind of a weird topic for a DDC... but here it is... What method of birth control do you use, if any... and why do you use it?


____ ____ ____ ____

During a prenatal exam my doc asked "What do you plan to use for BC when your pregnancy is over?"

I looked at her for a second and then said, "We use Natural Family Planning... I check my cervical mucous and position, basal body temperature, and chart. I can tell you the DAY I ovulate... it's really nice."

She just stopped and stared at me and said "The Rhythm Method isn't birth control."

I was shocked that she seemed unable to distinguish the Rhythm Method from Natural Family Planning... The Rhythm Method is simply charting your cycle's start date each month and assuming you will ovulate around the middle of your cycle or 14 days before the start of your next cycle... it is very inaccurate because most women, even if they have a 28 day cycle every month, can ovulate on different days of their cycle.

I explained to her the difference but she continued by saying "Two pregnancies in one summer is NOT birth control."

I laughed. Here was the problem. She was assuming that we were trying to PREVENT pregnancy and had an oops... twice... I explained to her that we were TRYING to get pregnant the first time. But in April, when I miscarried, I had decided to attempt to prevent pregnancy for a few months so that my body could normalize before I got pregnant again. Because of the miscarriage I had NO normal ovulatory cervical mucous in June or July... and I wasn't charting temps because of an illness... so it was hard to pinpoint the exact date of ovulation... and we ooops got pregnant... But 1 miss in 3 years is not exactly what I would call a bad reputation for NFP...

[NoraFlood]

We used to use withdrawal, since I can't tolerate hormonal BC and we're not fans of condoms. It worked for us for 4 years, because DH has a LOT of...um...self-control.

Once this baby is born, I plan to use NFP, although if my cycles/CM/whatever change enough to make it difficult, maybe we will just go back to withdrawal. It's easy and it seems to work really well for us!

[Jackies Ladybug]

i would find a different doc, maybe it was a little different than what you describe, but if your care provider doesnt respect your decisions on birth control, they usually wont respect your decisions in birth.
just saying.

i use nfp too, and yeah, lots of people doubt me, some even say you cant ever know when you ovuate. but my health care provider is NOT one of the doubters and knows we were trying to get pregnant. seems like a red flag.

[MaterPrimaePuellae]

I am really not a fan of hormonal birth control. I just started typing out a loooonnnnggg and ardent list of all the reasons why I think it is bad bad bad (mostly related to all of the friends I have for whom it has caused significant problems), but then I realized that's not really the point of the thread. SO, reining myself in here...

We have used both FAM/NFP and condoms. I would really like to use NFP exclusively (because I don't love the condoms, and for religious reasons which I'm still working through), but Dh isn't willing to take the plunge.

So, we use condoms before I ovulate, and once I've ovulated (I have pretty pronounced mucous changes (Tmi!) and ovulation pain) we use nothing. Baby2 was conceived right on target the first time we tried, so I think maybe Dh will trust my interpretation of the signals a little more after this pregnancy.

[lizziebits]

We're NFP users too. We started using it for religious reasons, but even without those considerations, I can't think of a single method of birth control I would find more palatable. Thankfully, my OB is very supportive.

[finn'smama]

Dp will get a vasectomy after this baby. I'm not taking any chances, lol!

[Robbins0614]

I use a diaphragm and really like it. I'm not a good diaphragm user (in that I don't use it all the time) but have very clear signs of ovulation and always use it around ovulation but not before or after. This method has worked well for us and we didn't get pregnant with #2 until we really wanted to and I stopped using the diaphragm.

[Mrs.Floyd]

Sounds like your provider could really use a copy of Taking Charge of Your Fertility. That first section where the author talks about how little she used to know about NFP/FAM and how it's very different from the Rhythm method might 'speak' to her. LOL

After having DS, and before we were ready to conceive again, we used condoms each month up until I was sure that I had ovulated. My sleep was never regular enough to be able to chart my temps, and I'm not good with cervical position/etc, but my CM is very obvious and has always proven to be an accurate way for me to look for ovulation - I would always start my cycle 12-14 days after noting ovulation based on my CM...

[Mrs.Floyd]

Originally Posted by finn'smama

Dp will get a vasectomy after this baby. I'm not taking any chances, lol!

Vasectomies are actually not 100%.....

[rolenta]

I don't even know. DS was conceived on the pill and with this one, I had an IUD (that went missing). We tried with DD, and got pregnant the first try, even though I wasn't keeping track of anything.

I was only going to have two kids, so it stands to reason that I don't want any more kids after this. I'd sign right up for the vasectomy, but I'm only 23 and DH is only 28, so it seems kind of wrong to get something permanent at such a young age. We married young and didn't plan on having kids for 5-10 years, but got pregnant the first year! It's been a steady stream of babies since then, and I'm not even sure how to halt the process.

I'm horrified of pregnancy (see my SPD thread). Absolutely horrified. I'm pulling all the stops this time around and telling everyone they'd better pitch in to keep me out of the psych ward.

I'm actually really, really stressed about birth control.

[Carita]

abstinance!!! dear my, i was scared to death of getting pregnant w/irish twins. then we moved to condoms, then NFP + condoms around O time. But after this one we are leaning to a V. My understanding is that after they are "checked" they are nearly as good as a tubal. that said, my cousin is a V baby.

Anyway - we chose non-hormonal after our first child because of infertility problems i believe were partially attributed to my prior hormonal BC.

[Oliver's Mama]

That's crazy about your OB's reaction.
Actually, mine was weird too.. when I had my first appointment, he looked at my chart and said, last time you were here we were trying a new birth control pill... what happened?? Maybe they've heard so many strange stories, they're just curious as to how it happens for everyone.?
Anyways, this will be our last dc, so we are going to find a permanent solution. (dh mentioned THE DAY I told him I was pregnant, "so can I schedule my vasectomy now?") WHOA, there! I've heard about a new option for women that isn't invasive surgery and is something they put in your fallopian tubes and is supposed to be more effective- but then again, it's only been tested for 5 years. what if it falls apart! We'll see.

[ivymae]

Both of my girls were pill babies (and DD1 was a pill, condom AND withdrawal baby! She really wanted to be here), so not only is hormonal BC skeevy when you look into the side effects, it also doesn't work for me, We've used NFP for the last year or so, trying to get pregnant, and I plan to use it until we are done having children, and DH will get snipped.

I am lucky to have found a NP who does yearly exams, and she was very familiar with my charts when i brought them in to ask her about some fertility issues. I was impressed, since most of the time people in the medical field assume that it's just counting days and praying.

[karen1968]

After DS's birth, I had the Mirena inserted. When we decided we were ready for #2, we switched to FAM - TTA for 2 months, then TTC for 2.

DH and I will both be 41 when this baby is born and we only ever wanted 2 kids, so it'll be the big V for him.

[rhiOrion]

Did the pill for 8 years... Ortho Tri Cyclin, Ortho Tri Cyclin Lo, Desogen, and Ortho Cyclin. I liked the Ortho Cyclin best because I could skip periods easily.

I got off the pill in early May and we started using a diaphragm, planning to start TTC in late July/Early August. I had a period 40 day cycle, and got my period in mid-june. I started charting about a week and a half into that cycle. I thought I had ovulated, and we decided to dtd without anything. Then FF changed my ovulation date, and here I am.

For the record, I had NO change in CM, and dtd 3 days before I ovulated, and somehow still got pregnant the VERY first time I EVER had unprotected sex.

It makes me feel better about being so anal about my birth control for so many years! I think I missed two pills in 8 years, and was only late taking a handful.

That said, I have NO idea what i'll do after baby gets here.

[CherryBomb]

My OB's only option for NFP is "Rhythm Method" and it drives me nuts! At least she didn't give me any crap about it the last time, we'll see about this time

Anyway, I'm orthodox Catholic so we use NFP. I use the Creighton Model, I love it.

[sew_crafty_girl]

Hopefully DH will get a V. He was really against it, but as he's seen me go through each miscarriage, he's warmed up to the idea more.

That said, I had never read that V's weren't 100% before, so I guess I'll continue to track my cycles as well.

I've previously used the Pill, evil Depo and an IUD.

[ivymae]

Originally Posted by sew_crafty_girl

Hopefully DH will get a V. He was really against it, but as he's seen me go through each miscarriage, he's warmed up to the idea more.

That said, I had never read that V's weren't 100% before, so I guess I'll continue to track my cycles as well.

I've previously used the Pill, evil Depo and an IUD.

Failure rates are less than 1% if they do all the followup tests to make sure no sperm are getting through. The younger the guy is, the more likely it is that it will regrow, but it is still on par with female sterilization (the age thing is true for women as well), and tt's still much more effective than any other form.

All that said, the one family I know who had a vasectomy fail ended up with triplets. Can you imagine?! The dad had a hard time with the pregnancy, since he couldn't help but doubt they were his, but those girls look so much like him that he can joke (and be apologetic) about it today.

[finn'smama]

Originally Posted by Mrs.Floyd

Vasectomies are actually not 100%.....

well, close enough!

[aylaanne]

I was on hormonal birth control from the time I was 18 until I was 26. At first I did pills, but then I started having some crazy cycles, so I switched to a different pill, and went psychotic. No, really.

I then tried the NuvaRing, and I really, really liked it. However, when my insurance ran out, I stopped using it, and we switched to condoms/diaphragm. Then we started TTC, and poof I was pregnant.

Now birth control is his job. I don't chart, or temp, or anything like that, but I still have a pretty good idea of when I ovulate. We use condoms whenever we have sex if we're not trying. When we decided to stop using condoms to TTC this one, we got pregnant on the first cycle (and we only had sex twice!). So we're super fertile, I guess, but we'll play the odds.

DH has already decided to get the snip when we're done having kids. I may also do Essure.