what to do? and how to talk to him about NFP

[cecelia7]

I've been a charter for a solid decade, with a couple of "omg can i be" here and there that weren't anything...but for the most part know my body fairly well.

in the last six months, i met someone i really like, well, love, now. in order to give ourselves some freedom and b/c i'm not sure my charting skills had ever been tested by this much "activity" lol and b/c after one month of nfp with him i decided i must be pregnant and neither of us thought that was right for the relationship just then, i decided to take loestrin. its what i took in college and it worked then.

am now on third month of loestrin, with almost continuous spotting until 1.7 weeks ago. then no spotting. period should have arrived last tuesday. no sign of it or any spotting, cant find my cervix, so i know AF isn't on the way, and i need to start another pack of pills but have been putting it off (two days now) in case i am pg.

aside: i may not be considered the most diligent of pill takers. i am also on armour thyroid and forget it on a regular basis.

questions:

1) should i test?

2) assuming i'm not pg, i don't really want to go back on the pill. how would you approach the NFP discussion?

c.

[katelove]

Yep, I would say you should test. You may well not be pregnant but, if you have been relying on the OCP and not taking it perfectly then it's certainly a possibility.

As far as raising the NFP method, could you start by saying that you had some unpleasant side effects from the OCP and you'd prefer not to keep taking it. I would then discuss NFP. If I were your partner I would want to know how reliable it was and what impact it would have on our sex life so probably be prepared to answer those questions.

What are your concerns about raising it? Do you feel that it's not reliable enough for you or that he won't be prepared to participate? Would supplementing NFP with condoms during your most fertile times be an acceptable compromise?

It's probably also worth talking now about how you would handle an unplanned pregnancy (regardless of what contraception you end up choosing). Just so there are no unpleasant surprises down the track if there is an oops.