Birth control after a vasectomy reversal

[Kindermama]

My DH had a 3 year old vasectomy reversed in June 2010. We got pregnant a few months later, miscarried and then got pregnant the very next cycle. Our baby is due next month/early January. Now the subject of birth control is coming up. This is definitely our last. I'm sure of it. He's sure of it. I'm sure I don't want to use hormonal birth control or the copper IUD either. Withdrawal and condoms are out too. Charting is doable but I really want something nearly 100% effective. I really don't want to add another child to our family by accident. 

Has anyone ever had a DH do a 2nd V after a reversal? Any short-term or long-term issues? 

[Cynthia Mosher]

Hi Kindermama. You might get more input in the Family Planning forum. I'll move your thread there. :)

[JMJ]

Charting is nearly 100% if you are careful to understand and follow the rules, but it does take a lot of self-control to do that.  You can also tailor it to your own needs for effectiveness, choosing more conservative rules if you need to be more effective and less conservative rules if you need less effectiveness.  The sympto-thermal method has a method-effectiveness of about 99%, and I've seen an estimate that for every extra day you add on either end of your fertile window increases this effectiveness approximately 10x.  You might consider looking into it to see if any of the charting methods mesh with your philosophy/personality.

[Kindermama]

Cynthia- Thank you for moving my thread! :)

JMJ- Thank you for your advice. I am familiar with charting. I have used it here and there in the past to achieve pregnancy and each time it was 100% effective within 4 months! I'm just weary about using it to avoid pregnancy. I'm not sure that I'll be able to be consistent enough to chart for the rest of my fertile years (I'm 32 now). 

[Linda on the move]

What about getting your tubes tied?

I had mine done last spring, and had another procedure at the same time. I was pretty much back to normal after 24hours.

(Congratulations, BTW!)

[JMJ]

I can understand that.  I have similar feelings about how I will feel about it if we feel like we've had all the children we should have, and it's still a long time before menopause.  This is actually a reasonably likely thing since DH is over a decade older than me and might be looking to retire sometime in his 70's rather than be putting kids through college.  I do knowi, though, that my own mother did CTA successfully for about 13-14 years between the birth of my youngest sibling and menopause.  She eventually moved from the STM to Creighton because she found it to be less of a hastle.  She didn't have to worry about temping at the same time every day, just check her CM throughout the day when she's using the restroom anyway and make a note about it at the end of the day.  The CM-only methods were really derived from the STM and finding that a lot of women who became familiar with both temp and CM could tell everything they needed to know from CM alone.  It just becomes part of the routine.  To me, that's less invasive into my life than having to remember to take a pill at the same time every day for the rest of my life because I can make observations and recordings whenever works on a particular day.

[Kindermama]

Good points, JMJ. I could see being able to tell by CM alone. My cycles are always very predictable. I guess I worry about that one "off" month that most women get once a year or every so often where O shows up randomly. I also worry that I'll give myself baby fever with all that charting and temping again. I will definitely be more open to considering charting for the long-term. 

Linda- I wanted to avoid tying my tubes if I can. Does it affect your cycles or hormones at all? I haven't even read too much into it. 

[ursusarctos]

Kindermama, fwiw my mom got her tubes tied after my youngest sibling was born and she has later said that if she had known about all the side effects she wouldn't have done it. I don't know what the side effects are but I would definitely research carefully if I were you.

Also, that youngest sibling was indeed the result of an "off month" when my mom ovulated early. Of course, if you always wait until *after* you've ovulated just to be sure then the chances of pregnancy are practically nil. But of course that involves a good 2 weeks of abstinence each cycle which is not that nice.