Remedial fertility questions here!

[beccaboo]

I feel a little silly posting this, because it seems like I ought to know the answers, but here goes:

My menstrual cycle is regular (27-28 days). I usually know when I ovulate because I get cramps. DH and I use condoms most of the time. Sometimes at the end of my period we'll have unprotected sex, but usually not at other times in my cycle. Then this week (it was approx. 1 week after I ovulated) I thought, "heck, why not?" so we didn't use a condom. I started to worry a bit (we have 2 kids and don't want more, at least right now), but then my period showed up this morning.

So.... am I playing with fire? I remember reading somewhere at some point that eggs can be released at other times in the cycle besides ovulation. Is this true? Or is there something else I should know? [DS#1 was conceived because I had no idea how long sperm could hang out and *wait* for the egg to appear - I wish that fact were more widely publicized!]

I have toyed with the idea of getting an IUD for years now. I'm not thrilled with some of the potential side effects/complications, but it seems like it might be safer than what we're doing. We don't mind condoms, but don't like to use them 100% of the time either.

Thanks!

Becca

[beccaboo]

umm... bump!

[runner29]

Hi!
I was always told the only silly questions are the ones that you don't ask, so don't feel bad for posting.

Have you looked into the Fertility Awareness Method of bc? It's pretty similar to what you're doing except by just paying a little more attention to things like cervical mucous and your morning temperature you can be 99% sure of when you ovulated, and after a couple days (to be safe), not have to worry about pregnancy!

It's not true that you can ovulate multiple times per cycle (except in rare cases within ~24 hours of the first ovulation). BUT, it is true that sometimes you can have "cramps" for other reasons and if something were to delay ovulation (stress is a huge one for me!) you might end up with an oops.

I'd really recommend reading "Taking Charge of your Fertility" by Toni Weschler. It's a fabulous book with all the info you need!

Good luck!

[nfpmom]

Just want to second the suggestion that if you are planning on using NFP or FAM to avoid pregnancy than you should really be schooled in it, either through taking a class or being thorough in learning it at home. It isn't playing with fire if you have a good working knowledge of it- when used properly the effectiveness rating is equal to the Pill.... but I would consider it playing with fire if you are just going based on "kinda sorta" understanding the gist behind the method...

take care

[beccaboo]

Thanks to both of you for your responses. I've been aware of that book for years but (obviously!) haven't managed to gettting around to reading it. You make a good point, nfpmom, and I appreciate it!