When to not have sexual contact to avoid pregnancy

[wantingagirl2b#4]

A recent conversation with a friend of mine makes me have to ask this at age 37 Well just never been a concern to me. When your monthly friend visits can you get pregnant anytime during that? I thought you could at the beginning if flow isn't really good because of the mucus being present if any I know there is a chance. I have heard of counting days, family planning, etc. but never really had a need to worry with my full house of five.

[dogmom327]

I'd recommend reading Taking Charge of Your Fertility for a more thorough answer but I'll take a quick stab at it.

I think of my cycle having two parts: The time from when your period starts until you ovulate and the time from ovulation until the start of your next period.

You can conceive in the 24 hours (approximate) following ovulation but sperm can live for 5 days (and some people say 7). So if you want to avoid pregnancy, you need to avoid intercourse for at least the five days before you ovulate and the 24 hours after you ovulate. If you have a very regular cycle and know when you ovulate (either through taking your temperature each morning or using ovulation tests), then avoiding pregnancy is fairly easy. If you have a more irregular cycle like I do, it's a bit more challenging. Here is what I did for a year to avoid pregnancy after I stopped taking birth control:

Day one through day nine of my cycle we don't worry about protection. Day ten through 24-hours after whenever I ovulate, we use protection. I am blessed/cursed with being able to feel ovulation (painful) so I generally know when it occurs. For the rest of my cycle we don't use protection.

Ideally, if you want to avoid pregnancy you would be taking your temperature each morning but DS is still nursing every two hours at night so it isn't reliable for me right now. Also, there are several other signs of ovulation you should be aware of and pay attention too (see book).

Hope that helps

[wantingagirl2b#4]

Day one meaning the first day you start your period? I so don't know all this stuff. Thanks for the recommended book.

[dogmom327]

Yes, day one is the first day of your period.