Post-partum contraception

[Serenyd]

What are you planning to do for birth control now that your LO is here?

I've been looking at the paragard IUD, but I'm pretty chicken about putting a foreign body into my uterus, I just have a feeling I'd be one of those people who doesn't do well with it. I've been pretty lax about BC in the past, but that was because I wanted more kids (or was young and stupid, at least w/ the first one). I'm feeling pretty done right now. With two kids under two to take care of, and my soggy, lumpy, stretched out postpartum body to contemplate, I'm not exactly feeling excited about the prospect of another Oops baby. And I need to be able to concentrate on work/school too.

[Contrariety]

DH is getting a vasectomy early next year. In the meantime, it will be condoms in the off chance that we have time and opportunity to have sex in the first place... judging off our experience after our first, I'm guessing we'll be juuuusst fine until the V.

I had an mirena IUD after my first. It was alright, but the stupid thing fell out after 8 months.

[zjande]

Diaphragm + NFP.

I'd like to have more babies, but I think I need a break. I have 3 under 4 right now (plus 2 olders), and, more than anything, I can't stand tandem nursing! I've done it twice now, despised it both times, & I'm NOT gonna do it again! So we'll want to wait longer between babies so I can nurse this one long enough before becoming pregnant again & weaning. Plus we'll be moving out to some acreage in the near future & I want to invest my time in getting milk goats & learning to grow herbs & make my own herbal tinctures and and and .



(My toddler has whined his word for breastfeeding 88766 times while I typed this & is climbing all over my back, pulling my hair & falling off the chair. Gah.)

[fyrebloom]

Condoms for now and alot of abstenence . I don't even want to THINK about sex right now! One partner is getting a V or I'll get a tubal. Dunno what his insurance will cover right now and mine is good. The other likes condoms and wants to use them forever. I have hated every birth control I have ever used. Condoms I just dislike . I rejected paraguard and mirena made my milk dry up! BLEAH.

[Kmama2]

NFP all the way. We used it successfully between dd and ds.. no side effects, very little cost and totally natural.
ohhhh plus I'm Catholic so that sort of sums it up. We definately want more kiddos but I want at least 2 years in between them.

[pjs]

breastfeeding amennorhea until af returns, then we'll ttc. we want more kiddos, are Catholic, and af doesn't come back usually until I'm 18 mo pp

[fyrebloom]

I have no luck with NFP while breastfeeding, my temps are all over the place and my period started at 5m pp with DS and 6m pp with the twins. I've used it in the past, as a result I have the twins and Malcolm LOL! I totally applaud you mamas who do it. I'm NFP incompetent! I'd totally be all over it if I could do it reliably and actually avoid conceiving while doing it!

[Serenyd]

Working totally screws up the breastfeeding amenorrhea for me. Like, I go to work and start spotting after a few hours of not bf'ing. If I go back to weekends I'll be gone for two whole days and I'll probably get my period back pronto. Still trying to work out the logistics of this, I'm kind of in denial about it. After Caden my periods were really irregular, and I wasn't sure I was ovulating yet because I was so dry down there I wasn't seeing any EWCM (sorry if tmi) and I didn't realize I had any until after we had dtd, and I freaked because I'm so fertile I just knew I was pregnant. That being said we used withdrawal and condoms during fertile periods for 4 years without concieving. So far, if we've done this, I haven't become pregnant, but not sure I want to bet our lives on it, ywim?

[kjs]

I am looking into the no hormone IUD- I have gotten pregnant with a diaphragm and hate condoms, so there are few options left. (I am allergic to spermicidal gel and I did not use enough with diaphragm.) Eventually we will do vasectomy I hope, but you cannot force a guy to do that as much as I would like to. LOL. I have heard good things about the copper IUD, and that is supposedly good for 10 yrs!!!???? Oh, and right now there is abstinence!

[Spiralshell]

I'm debating depo provera... NFP is not for us, and we both HATE condoms. I'm also terrible about taking the pill, so I'm wary of the mini-pill. I had been on the Nuva Ring previously and loved it, but that's not OK to use while breastfeeding.
And I absolutely CANNOT GET PREGNANT until Nate is at least a year old. (My work would only give me 6 weeks leave with the 2nd baby if he/she came before my full leave refreshes, and I swear I'd shoot myself if I had to go back after 6 weeks instead of the full 18 weeks.) So any method that relies on me remembering to take a pill, put in a diaphragm, etc. is not going to work for us.
Also I would really like to try for a VBAC, and I know that many docs won't do one if the pregnancies are too close together.

The one thing that concerns me about depo provera vs. the mini pill is that if I react poorly to the pill I can just stop taking it, whereas the shot is a one-time thing that can't be undone.

[eloise24]

I'm debating the Diaphragm, along with NFP.

Those of you that have used it, what are your thoughts on it (Diaphragm)? I never minded tampons but for some reason, it has always seemed weird to me. Is it easy to put in? What about the spermicide thing? Do you have to be fitted for it by the doctor or something?

Thanks

[leigh09]

about the diaphragm ... i was considering it after my second baby but my ob was totally against it, saying it has only an 80% success rate. i trusted her point of view on everything else pregnancy related - she really knows her things, so trusted her on this one also. i so don't want an oops baby. 3 babies in 3 1/2 years is all i can handle right now.

we are DONE having babies, but not ready to commit to vasectomy yet (that may sound odd). i don't handle hormonal bc well, so we are on the condoms, much to dh's dismay.

[kawa kamuri]

LAM and withdrawal for now.

[Therese's Mommy]

Another Catholic here, so it is NFP, but I doubt we will use it except to possibly conceive. Bfing amenorrhea, will most likely space our next child another 2.5 years or so from now. I would say the only way we would postpone pregnancy would be if I started ovulating early since I wouldn't want my milk to dry up before this dd gets what she needs from mama

Beth

[Aufilia]

I had the Mirena IUD for 2+ years after my first and will probably get one again. I loved having it, it's dirt simple to "take care of" and I didn't have AF while I had it in. I did have trouble getting it out again because the string was cut way too short.

[Kedrosami]

I was planning on NFP, but I'm starting to think that getting an accurate basal temp every day at the same time might be kind of impossible while breastfeeding and caring for a small baby during the night.

Sooo...I'm going to get a FemCap: http://www.femcap.com/

[zjande]

Originally Posted by radicaleel

I was planning on NFP, but I'm starting to think that getting an accurate basal temp every day at the same time might be kind of impossible while breastfeeding and caring for a small baby during the night.

Sooo...I'm going to get a FemCap: http://www.femcap.com/

Wow, that's interesting. It's like an upgraded diaphragm. I like how it has the little handle to pull it out with. My only question is does the partner feel that little handle during intercourse? Maybe it's more flush with the cap than I'm picturing... I would totally try the famcap. Thanks for posting that!


Re temping with NFP, I don't bother. It's impossible for me to keep my thermometer away from my kids, plus how many moms of littles get 4 straight hours of sleep at a time? I just judge by cervical position & texture, plus CM. Once I really got to know my cervix , it was easy for me to judge where I was in my cycle just by how it felt.

Also, I never use spermicide with my diaphragm. I just don't like the idea of that chemical up in there. It's worked for us so far, but we haven't gotten to a place where an unplanned pregnancy would devastate us yet.

Eloise, you do have to be fitted for a diaphragm. And I've found it very easy to use.

[Pookietooth]

The only good thing about having to resort to IVF to get pregnant is that we never need to use birth control of any kind (haven't used any other than the BCPs to prepare for IVF). Were I in the position to need it, I would rely on bfing for the first six months then probably either NFP or the old withdrawal method. Which we thought was working until I found out that I had PCOS 13 years ago (before we were married).

[cileag]

I used a diaphragm happily for the last two years prior to getting pregnant and I usually didn't use the spermicide btw. I was also charting so during especially fertile times, we would use condoms (btw, what do people HATE about condoms? I don't get it...) as well. So I think we'll probably start with condoms and then I'll go and get refitted with a diaphragm since I hear you often change sizes post baby.

I liked that with a diaphragm you could be more spontaneous--i.e. put it in well before sex and then there wasn't any interrupting the mood.

[miss_honeyb]

LAM for the first 6 months and then NFP. However, we'll have to be more rigorous about NFP'ing now that we want to wait 3-4 years before we have one more baby (if we have any more at all!) Four babies in 4 years has taken its toll on my poor body! I just turned 30 and things aren't firming up like they used to...