Birth Control??

[heamae]

Anyone else starting to wonder what BC to use?? I have 2 more weeks till my OB 6 week appointment but trying to decide what to do.

For personal reasons I dont want to use anything that uses hormones, like the pill. I only want something that will prevent sperm and egg from meeting...

This is our 4th kid and I really dont think I want any more and have been seriously considering getting my tubes tied but at only 25 years old its a little scary to do something so permanent. Dh wont get a V and that kind of hurts but Im not going to force the issue.

We were using condoms before and well they didnt work and thats how we got #4

Just not sure what to do at this point....

[BaileyB]

DDCC - I have been wondering what to do too. I REALLY don't want to take anything with hormones but I'm allergic to condoms and we didn't use anything but NFP last time and I ended up pregnant 8 weeks after our first child. I REALLY can't afford to get pregnant back to back (to back) again; emotionally, physically, and financially. I think I might breakdown and get the shot because, like I said I CANNOT get pregnant again right now.

(Sorry for the over-emphasis with the all caps)

[rosiewik]

We're in a similar boat, and using a combination of NFP, condoms, and EBF. Some say EBF is a method of birth control. I wouldn't take that to the bank, but combined with NFP and condoms it can't hurt! 

[kythryne]

I'm getting a Mirena put in when I'm 8 weeks pp. I can't do BCP, but we're hoping I'll be able to tolerate the low doses of progesterone in the Mirena, and it seems like my best option. I don't trust the infertility to stick, I'm too exhausted to be able to do FAM reliably, and given the breastfeeding problems I'm having I wouldn't trust EBF at all. Several of my friends have a Mirena and love it, so I'm really hoping it'll work out for me.

It's so odd to be considering birth control after all the years of infertility. I don't know if I want any more kids, but I do know I can't do another pregnancy right away.

[lillymonster]

I have no clue - I am not getting tube tied, I am still trying to recover from 2 infections from my c-section and I have another issue they can't figure out (pain on my right side), so I am not getting an operation and risk more infections.

They do have another form of sterlization where they place something in your tubes that forms scar tissue. I might look into that.

http://www.essure.com/

I can't do anything to risk a pregnancy. I am 40 years old, I will have to have another c-section, and I have had hypermesis for both pregnancies, I am not going to get pregnant again, and feel lucky now (and a little sad) I was able to have 2 children, there will be no more.

[soccerchic21]

I saw my midwife last week at my 3 week appt and she did bring it up. My husband was okay with getting snipped but she didn't really advise against it but told us it might be better to wait a few years sit on it and wait until we are in a different place. She had mentioned she knew people who had lost a child and while having a new child did not replace the child lost it filled a hole. I don't really know about that. Right now we have three I am 32 DH is 35 and we really feel done. We have three healthy children we are getting older and just feel done having children and ready to focus on having fun with them and taking more trips etc. 

My midwife brought up an IUD too and I don't like the idea as well as birth control pills. I am already taking mood stabilizers and I don't want to add the extra hormones. 

Condoms worked for us for 4 years so I think we will do that as well. When I wasn't breast feeding I tracked my cycles very well and I might invest in some ovulation sticks just to know when I am ovulating. 

[crunchynerd]

Interesting thread... I am with those who don't want to do anything hormonal. I was a hormonal-methods medical guinea pig starting very young due to complications of molestation that I don't need to go into (too horrific, frankly) but anyway, I completely distrust hormonal anything now and would never consider the mirena even if I didn't have strong ethical objections to the fact that IUDs work by stopping things AFTER conception.

But I'm allergic to nonoxynol-9, sensitive to latex, and unwilling to get snipped.

Like some others, I have 3 wonderful kids, and am 37 and just had #3, but unlike some, I don't consider that "old" and wouldn't be afraid to have another for that reason.

But honestly, DH and I had difficulty conceiving our first 2 (over a year each time), and #3 was a total surprise that came after only 3 very irregular cycles after over 2 years of lactational amenorrhea, so we're not expecting that failing to take every precaution will result in a kid every year from here to menopause, either!

I expect not to have periods for at least a year (it was a year with #1, and over 2 years with #2, and I'm not getting any younger and may be in perimenopause now), so I will cross the bridge of figuring out what I want, when I get there, when (and if!) my periods return this time.

[allisonrose]

Originally Posted by crunchynerd 

(snip) I completely distrust hormonal anything now and would never consider the mirena even if I didn't have strong ethical objections to the fact that IUDs work by stopping things AFTER conception. (snip)

I was considering an IUD but after reading this thread, I started thinking about how they work. Mirena's website has an interesting answer: http://www.mirena-us.com/what_is_mirena/how_mirena_works.jsp. But I think your statement is probably more accurate and I'm not sure I'm okay with that.

Anyone had good experiences with a barrier method other than condoms? Hubby is not a fan.

[OvenSeeksBun]

I'm going with a copper IUD, getting it inserted at our 6-week midwife appt on Monday

[~Adorkable~]

I'm pondering as well, so strange since we just spent so many years working the other direction.

Before we were ttc for a while we were using the sponge, kinda liked that, but for the long run it may be a hassle and it made me not want to do some things because it's potentioal for mess.

I think in the long run I'll get snipped or that other option posted. I figure if I get snipped rather than him, we could still in therory have another kid with egg retrieval. If he got snipped we would not have that option. Otherwise I would expect him to do it, my body has been messed with enough!

I wish I didn't have to think about it right now, and I'm sure that whatever the long term solution is for us, it needs to be something I don't have to think about too much then either.

Oh and whoever was thinking about the shot, think hard on the one, I have never seen a BC with so many side effects and unhappy folks and the depo shot, anything that takes up to 2 years to wear of scares me to no end!

[baglady]

Originally Posted by allisonrose 

Originally Posted by crunchynerd 

(snip) I completely distrust hormonal anything now and would never consider the mirena even if I didn't have strong ethical objections to the fact that IUDs work by stopping things AFTER conception. (snip)

I was considering an IUD but after reading this thread, I started thinking about how they work. Mirena's website has an interesting answer: http://www.mirena-us.com/what_is_mirena/how_mirena_works.jsp. But I think your statement is probably more accurate and I'm not sure I'm okay with that.

Anyone had good experiences with a barrier method other than condoms? Hubby is not a fan.

I haven't posted in a while, but I got a Mirena last week, so I'll chime in here.  You can always use the IUD as a back up.  DH and I always practiced the "pull out" method with the understanding that I could get pregnant and we were okay with that.  Now that we don't want to get pregnant again for a while, we can still use that method with the IUD as a back-up just in case.  I think the way traditional IUDs work (prevention of the fertilized egg from implanting) is the last line of defense that Mirena provides.  I know that the hormones are progesterone only and they are supposed to stay in the uterus.  I've read that most people with Mirena's blood does not test with extra progesterone.  So far I've been happy with it.  I tried to take another progesterone only pill after my first birth and had a HORRIBLE reaction to the hormones which hasn't happened this time. 

[DaddyM]

We used the copper Paragard IUD after our first. Worked great until we were ready for number 2. Got pregnant the month it was removed. My wife doesn't want any hormones so this was the perfect thing for us.