Birth Control Anyone??

[coloradoalice]

What are you using post-baby? I think I am going to have an IUD placed in a few more weeks, but we are also considering James getting a vascitomy (sp?). We are 99% sure we are done with just two kids, I really don't like pregnancy at all, with the GD and the c-sections, it's a lot to think of doing it again. But we are still young enough that it seems too soon to do something so permenant. We have never been great with birth control, I was pregnant with Gracie 9 months after we married, and Ian was totally the result of us being lax, we really didn't intend to get pregnant for another year, but neither of us was proactive with protection, obviously!! Anyone have experience with an IUD? I have heard mostly good things, and I think that is probably the way to go for a few years, no fuss, no muss, and no pregnancy.

[ehsclt]

This question is on my mind, too. We are also 90% sure we are done having children, but only 90%, not 100%, so I don't want to have either of us do anything permanent. I talked to my mw about an IUD, but am reluctant to do anything to mess with the normal hormone balance in my body. So, that leaves me with charting or NFP, which is what we used to achieve pg all three times. But my cycles are really irregular and this was a good method to use when we knew we wanted more children and it was just an issue of when. Now I am not so sure it's reliable enough. So, that leaves me in a bit of a quandary. What are others planning on doing?

[RainRaven]

It looks like I will be geting the merida IUD. I posted on a few boards here and It looks like the best option. very few side effects( on of them being light peirod or none at all ).

[ozzyemm]

The IUD is not an option for me. My mom had an IUD in place when she got pregnant with my brother. He was born prematurely as a result of the IUD being in place. Because of this and the fact that the IUD doesn't prevent ovulation or conception (it works by irritating the uterus so that the egg does not implant) I am looking at other forms of BC. I have heard the the Nuvaring can affect your breastmilk production because of the estrogen it contains. Is this true? In that case, I think I would do the minipill until I was finished EBing.

Any thoughts?

[coloradoalice]

Baby Center has an awesome page on all birth control options post-partum.

http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/bab...20060130:0:0:0

It does not recommend the Ring if you are breastfeeding.

It does recommend the mini-pill, however I know of at least 4 people who got pregnant while nursing and doing the mini-pill so I have no faith in it whatsoever!!!! The thing about the mini-pill is that you have to be totally anal about taking it at the exact same time every day. My schedule is never the same two days in a row, so I just know it wouldn't work.

[SMR]

We're going back to the same 'method' we used for 11 years before getting preggers... the good ole withdrawal method! (dh calls it 'dragon style!' heehee) It worked great for us all those years.. We used charting once we started TTC.. so I'll probably continue with that, just because it's cool to know when you're ovulating and all that jazz!! We are definitely NOT done having babies yet... at least a couple more!!

[Sweeney]

Does the family bed count as a form of birth control?? We'll probably go back to NFP once my cycles are back and regular- until then hopefully we'll be too exhausted to care. I don't respond well to artificial hormones (mood swings), and although we're about 90% sure about not having anymore children I hesitate to do anything permanent. I was about 99% sure the whole last half of my pregnancy but now I keep thinking that DH and I make such cute kids together...

There are IUDs out there that prevent ovulation too as well as implantation.

I'm going to really try to remember this time that for birth control to work you have to remember to use it!!

[MamaTaraX]

Family bed does not count
Ihaveno idea what we'llbe using. Currentlyu we are using the "I just had a baby three weeks ago...keep that thing away from me!" method He wants to use condoms, but I'm latex sensitive, espec ially vaginally so, it's not a greatoption. DH is whining about playing with toddler, gotta cut it short.
ETA: I like the iea of IUDs. HOwever, they are really only great if you plan to leave them in for a long time and are most effective if planned to use for 3-10 years. If I can convince DH for another baby, I'd like it in under 3 years, so no IUD for me. Once my periods resume, I will reliably know when I ovulate, until then, I guess I'lbe doing alot of praying to various dieties To be honest, the only reason I would prefer to not get pregnant rfeally fast is because when I was pregnant this time, my milk disappeared at about 8 weeks and was completely gone by 15, toddler stopped nursing altogether at 24 weeks. I can't do that to a baby. I have ana wesome network of women around me that would provide me with milk to feed my baby but I'd rather not have to tap into that reserve if I don't have to, ya know?
Sidenote: My DH wants a vasectomy. I told him to wait two full years. If he still feels that he wants one then, we can go have a consultation about it. He's a little reluctant to wait two full years but so far, he's willing to do it. Its funny: now he talks about "next time" already


Namaste, Tara

[because]

Well, we're only 50% sure we're done with babies so permanent options aren't on the radar although DH has offered to get a vas when we are done - what a trooper!

I'm not a fan of hormonal BC while BF so that really limits it.

Charting isn't an option for BC because my cycles are ridiculous. Although I think it was the only reason (well, not ONLY ) I was able to get pg.

I guess I'm going to avoid the issue until at least 6 months PP. It took me 27 months to get my cycles back to get pg with DS as DD was still nursing so I highly doubt I'm going to be fertile EBF. After that... dunno. Probably condoms since I'll likely be fertile again about the time that we'd be ready TTC or make a final decision not to.

[ajsgirl]

I carry my method with me everywhere. It even has an alarm when I'm not carrying it. We named our birth control Soraya

Seriously, I have no idea. I normally don't have a huge drive anyway, so we might just stick to condoms. Poor dh.

[pinkmilk]

Birth control????????????????????????????????????/ What's that?

Never heard of it.

[Nature]

Probably nothing. It took me 5 years to concieve my second child... and then 2 years to concieve my 3rd. I haven't used any form of birth control since I was 17 years old. Though I've found it ticks off the doctors when you tell them you don't want to use anything.

[coloradoalice]

Originally Posted by WitchyMama2

Probably nothing. It took me 5 years to concieve my second child... and then 2 years to concieve my 3rd. I haven't used any form of birth control since I was 17 years old. Though I've found it ticks off the doctors when you tell them you don't want to use anything.

Why on earth do doctors care if you want to use birth control or not??? I actually have the opposite situation, my family doctor is a staunch catholic and will not prescribe any sort of birth control or refer for it. You have to sign an agreement with him about it before he will take you as a patient. He will, however, give counsel on NFP. I am thinking of seeing him for a session about that, but I don't know if I can rely on it fully. Especially if we don't want any more children at all. That's a lot of years of charting and abstaining!!!

[MamaTaraX]

Originally Posted by WitchyMama2

Probably nothing. It took me 5 years to concieve my second child... and then 2 years to concieve my 3rd. I haven't used any form of birth control since I was 17 years old. Though I've found it ticks off the doctors when you tell them you don't want to use anything.

But see, it's taking you less time each time to get pregnant

Namaste, Tara

[Nature]

Practice makes perfect!

I think its because I'm young that doctors want to make sure I don't procreate too much or something. (I'm 27) Its very aggravating though. Usually I tell them I'm still thinking about what we want to use and I'll let them know... then I never go back.

[beachcomber]

That's a lot of years of charting and abstaining!!!

Thing with NFP is that you get to just know after a while (like a year or so) what your body is doing. So you may not need to keep up with the daily temps and charting.

Currently, the baby is an excellent form of birth control for us. We haven't even looked at each other *that way* since the middle of my pregnancy. Neither of us has a strong libido, which helps. Prior to trying to conceive we were using NFP. Since we've been together 8 years and never even had a scare, I figure that's what we'll keep doing.

I did ask my midwife about IUDs at my last appt. I know how they work but my sticking point is that I don't want one with hormones in it. I don't react well to the hormones in the Pill, so can't use any of the other hormonal options. Besides, I'm just not that keen on using manufactured hormones to regulate my body.

[Polkadots]

Ditto everything that Beach has said - going back to NFP as soon as possible and in the meantime, it hasn't even been an issue.