2 questions...

[sask_girl]

I am in my last month of pregnancy, I used NFP (Billings Method) before conceiving, now I would like to hear from other Moms how it went doing NFP while breastfeeding, is there anything i should know? is it really effective?
Also am wondering how those of you deal with PMS while using NFP. I actually went on the pill for awhile because my PMS got so bad and my ob/gyn said to give it a try, being on the pill really helped but I don't want to use artificial BC. Is there a way to control pms without the pill?
Thanks K

[ahubb2000]

We use NFP and have had no problems, especially if you ecologically breastfeed. You want to look for a change in mucus postpartum.
I didn't ovulate till 18 month PP and couldn't concieve that month due to short luteal phase (we use sympto-thermal). My second is now 1 yr and no signs of fertility yet!

Read Fertility, Cycles, and Nutrition by Marylin Shannon, she has a whole chapter on PMS and ways to improve it nutritionally.

[runner29]

I second that book suggestion by ahubb2000! It's got tons of good suggestions. I had really bad mood swings with my PMS, including lots of crying in very inappropriate times (like in front of my whole lab before having to give a lab meeting... yeah) Anyway, mine was bad on the pill too, worse actually.

Now I take the vitamin supplement recommended in that book. It's called Optivite, and it rocks! :>) Seriously, my husband calls them my "happy" pills. It's just a special multivitamin with lots of B vitamins and C, and a bunch of other things too. My mood has been so much better in the weeks before my period and also I have more energy and a MUCH larger libido in the "safe" phase III (we use sympto-thermal bc, NFP) which is great!

Anyway, Optivite worked for me (after about 1 month on them) (dang, now I'm sounding like a commercial! Seriously, I don't work for them or anything!!!) Hope you can find something that helps!!

[sask_girl]

awesome.

Wow! That does sound awesome. My husband would definatly love me to get some "happy" pills. I went on the Pill for the sole reason that I didn;t want to have to put my poor husband through my PMS every month, I felt so bad for him yet couldn;t figure out a way to control it without the pill. It really worked well for it too but I disliked not doing NFP.
Having a libido during the "safe" phase would be awesome too, I think that's the only thing that I dislike about NFP, having to control oneself!
Thanks for the info, I will definatly wirte that down, obviously with a baby due in 4 weeks and planning to breast feed I hopefully won't need to worry about it for awhile.
K