Natural family planning between ttc?

Sapphire86

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Has anyone used natural family planning for birth control before? I am pretty sure dh and I will want three kids and I've not been happy how hormonal birth control shuts down my fertility. I'm already thinking about what to do between #2 and #3 and we've barely started ttc #2 :o I'd like to be done having kids by the time I'm 33/34 (currently 29) but don't want them back to back because I don't want 3 in daycare at the same time. DD won't start kinder until she's almost 6 because of her Sept 6 birthday.

I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts or experiences especially tips on making it work with irregular cycles!
 
I'd suggest temping and using opks. As soon as you get a positive opk then abstain from sex until you have confirmed o with temping. I'd also use condoms as you have irregular cycles and you can be fertile for a couple of days before you get a positive opk. Also watch out for ewcm because that's also a sign that your at your fertile window. Maybe someone else has more advice but hope this helps a bit x
 
We did before ttc baby1 and then between babies and up until now. We use condoms until I'm sure I've ovulated and then another 3 days. If done properly, it's as fail-safe as you can get (although not my version as it's limited by the efficiency of condoms). Are you temping now? If so, you'll have an idea of how accurately you can detect ovulation. If you're not sure, you could always use ovulation tests or something like persona (which is essentially the same but interprets the result for you) on top of temping.
 
Temping and opks are great for TTC but not so much for avoiding conceiving- as you're fertile for a few days before a positive opk.

I guess it depends how laid back you are about the possibility of falling pregnant unexpectedly?

If you're planning on bf number 2 this could help if exclusively bf, but again- it isn't fool proof.
 
LoraLoo, it can be a very safe way of avoiding pregnancy if you follow the rules exactly. That does mean no sex before ovulation though (more or less) so it's quite restrictive. The book "Taking Charge of your Fertility" is brilliant for anyone interested, both for ttc and birth control.
 
I practice NFP as I'm catholic so it's the only way to go.

Using OPKs is not enough warning because sperm live longer than an OPK will give you warning. You can use charting and an algorthym to use OPKs though. For 6 cycles, you abstain (or use condoms if that is your deal) from CD6 until you get your pos OPK, then wait 3 days after (since ovulation generally happens 12-24 hrs after opk, and eggs live 24 hrs), then after the end of the 3rd day you are good until AF shows again. After you have 6 cycles of data, you just count back 6 days from the earliest day you had a pos OPK and start abstaining (or using condoms) on that day, everything else stays the same.

You can also use a temp based system, a mucus based system, etc. I personally use a mucus based system as my mucus is quite reliable and easy to read, some people don't have easy to read mucus.

I may switch to OPK/Fertilty monitor once my cycles return.
 
LoraLoo, it can be a very safe way of avoiding pregnancy if you follow the rules exactly. That does mean no sex before ovulation though (more or less) so it's quite restrictive. The book "Taking Charge of your Fertility" is brilliant for anyone interested, both for ttc and birth control.

But if you're only using opks and have irregular cycles and have no idea when you're going to ovulate it's not very useful- as pp said sperm can live up to 5 days.
I think if you have regular cycles it'd be a bit safer but I know for me it'd be useless
 
Yes, I've been using it for over 5 years. We only got pregnant when we were actively trying to. I know my body and when it's gearing up to ovulate, so I don't even temp. I just keep track of dates and it hasn't failed a single month yet!
 
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experiences! I'll be temping while ttc #2 so hopefully I'll be able to get a good grasp on my fertility signs and see the patterns of when they line up with ovulation.

DH and I would be pretty relaxed with an oops baby for #3 if it were to happen earlier than expected. I just want to have plenty of time to fully recover from my (very likely) second csection and I'm thinking it will be good enough odds of success for us.
 
Yes, I've been using it for over 5 years. We only got pregnant when we were actively trying to. I know my body and when it's gearing up to ovulate, so I don't even temp. I just keep track of dates and it hasn't failed a single month yet!
Just wanted to say how small of a world it is in TTC land. I stumbled upon your blog when you were pregnant with your first child and have followed your various blogs all this time! I can't believe I actually "met" someone whose blogs I read! SO COOL!! Ok I will stop being a nerd now 😜
 
If your cycles are regular and you know when you ovulate, NFP can work very well. I hate taking BC, so my husband and I decided I should stop taking it 5 years ago. We were careful around ovulation and for a full 10 days in the middle of my cycle, we would pull out. 3.5 years after stopping BC, we decided to start trying and got pregnant our first cycle. We successfully began NFP again between #1 and #2 and just started TTC #2. If practiced correctly, it's very effective. :winkwink:
 
NFP really needs time to learn, especially for people who has irregular cycle
There are lots of tools and articles that can help you with that.
I think is really helpful after I read through them :)

https://www.sexualityandu.ca/birth-control/birth_control_methods_contraception/natural_methods

https://www.wikihow.com/Use-Natural-Family-Planning

https://www.knowhen.com/index.php/2...plete-guide-ways-to-know-your-ovulation-cycle
 

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