How do YOU ntnp??

[LittleNikki]

Hello first a little history from me. I have an 18 month old son who we tried 14 months for before we concieved and I found it extremely stressfull.

We had an oops last month which resulted in a chemical pregnancy which I'm fine with but it has made me realise I really want another baby so we have decided to ntnp for number 2.

My question though is how do you truly ntnp when all you can think is that 'I really want another baby now!'? And tracking when the last time you had sex was and realising it was 2 days ago so best do it tonight for a chance of concieving.

What I'm really looking for is some tips to not go crazy again and be more relaxed about it, or maybe others just want to chat and help each other stay sane during this crazy time. Xxx

 

[Lou229]

Hi LittleNikki,

I totally get where you are coming from. I have been diagnosed with unexplained secondary infertility and so I don't know if a BFP will happen or not. I just wish I could forget about ttc. Once you have tried religiously and tracked everything you can't unlearn what you know about your body. Most women want to keep track of when their next period is so when you know that you can usually know roughly when your fertile days are and it's so hard not to automatically think "we better BD".

I wish there was a way to just forget it all. If you find out how then please let me know.

 

[Angel_blues]

Had sex every other day to every three days and ignored my cycle calendar. My OH would give me a days notice of when af would arrive...

 

[LittleNikki]

I tried the every other day with my Son and I think sometimes it made it seem a bit of a chore at times.

I did have post pill amenorrhea so took about 7 months for me to get my cycle back then another couple months for them to be regular so maybe would have been faster if I hadn't been on the pill. For this reason I declined the pill after having my Son in the hopes that when we wanted another we could conceive faster.

I'm hopeful that since I managed to conceive with an oops even if it did result in a chemical pregnancy that I am more fertile and it might happen quicker this time round for me.

 

[EmmySocks]

I just use the term NTNP to allow us to have sex when we want, we don't have to dtd just because it's cd 12 or whatever. I don't tend to worry about when we last had sex - it changes throughout the month (like for the first few days after af i'd rather use the bed for sleeping! but i have noticed that my sex drive does naturally pick up later)

I also don't necessarily track although i tend to know when to expect af, and have an idea of when i could be ovulating. Sometimes i notice cm but don't really worry too much about it. NTNP just allows me to relax about it and takes away that pressure of feeling i must track/ temp/ focus on what my body is doing. I just allow myself to do whatever i want and if that's a touch of symptom spotting then that's fine too

 

[LittleNikki]

Well my periods seem to be all over the place at the minute. I used to have 31/32 day cycle then recently they have been anywhere from 29 to 43 days, so as a result I have no idea when I could be ovulating or when I should expect my next period or when to test ...

I've decided since we have a few things we need to do around the house to busy myself with those things to keep my mind off it a bit. My first project is to decorate my kitchen to freshen it up a bit, and to try to lose a bit of weight, hopefully trying to keep busy will distract me from wanting a baby

 

[Rhiannon137]

I agree that, when you have regular cycles and are usedbto paying attention to your body, you can't undo that. I would say I am casually trying, rather than NTNP.

We basically just go about life as normal, but try to DTD at least every 2 days. Mentally, I think dh and I both try to uncouple that goal from the "purpose" of conception, and try to DTD often because it's fun and good for our relationship.

It's so easy to fall into a pattern or not doing it bc you're tired, stressed, busy, gassy, etc. Once we made it a goal to do it often, that became the new pattern. Realistically, it only takes 5 minutes to fit in a fun quickie. Even if i don't start out completely in the mood, I never regret it after. That being said, it's not like either of us forces the issue if the other is really not feeling it. I try to maintain the same attitude whether it's cd 3, 12 or 27.

This approach has actually made us feel more like reckless teenagers than old folks TTCing. If I fall pg this cycle it will most likely be from an interlude in a shadowy outdoor corner of a museum during a friend's wedding. Dh was wearing a kilt and we got a bit carried away.