NFP question postpartum

MuddyInsignia

I know this post is a little out of place, but you ladies were such a help before our wedding last year, that I thought you might have some good advice this year. Sadly, there is not a Catholic board on The Bump or The Nest, so for those of us actively using NFP... 

My husband and I were blessed with a baby girl 6 weeks ago now. I will need to start applying NFP, but I cannot really figure out how to do this in a postpartum world. 

Personal info: My cervix is positioned very high and is difficult for someone else (like my doctor) to reach and is impossible for me to do so, so I cannot check that. I could gauge vaginal discharge as a CM indicator, but that is also somewhat unreliable for me. Also post partum, we have lots of other discharge going on. Temperature taking worked for me before, but now with a newborn that gets up to feed in the night and wee hours of the morning, I cannot do a regular temperature at the same time every the morning after having been asleep for a while (I wish!) 

I am exclusively breast feeding, which helps, but I know I need to do some other form of checking... should I just do a half-a** job of CM and temps and hope that suplements sufficiently with breastfeeding? I have been unable to find a clear answer. The vague answer I have found is that it seems most postpartum NFP users rely on cervical positioning or CM, neither of which work for my body. 

agapecarrie

CM is always the main indicator of fertility. You cannot do NFP reliably without using cm.

THere are NFP classes that cover post partum, too. 

lalaith50

You could try the Marquette method? It is a little pricey ($170+ for the monitor itself, and then about $1 per strip, but I don't know how many days PP you would use a strip- I imagine most?) but it is very accurate, even if you use it without using CM.

At the very least, it seems you need to do some follow-up with an instructor. What method did you learn with originally? As long as you were not self-taught, many methods allow you to learn the post-partum rules for free.

professorscience

Hopefully TeaForMe will come along and answer some of your questions -- she learned Billings postpartum and is now a Billings instructor.

CM is definitely the number 1 indicator of fertility.  Obviously if you are just 6 weeks pp, things are going to be pretty crazy.  My understanding is that while you are breastfeeding, you are unlikely to ovulate, but I know that's not 100% accurate.  Billings is mucus-only, so I would definitely recommend that.  I think Tea has had great success with it since her son was born!

bibliophile2010

If you are not practicing ecological breastfeeding/LAM, I would not count on breastfeeding as a reliable method of avoiding pregnancy in the first 6 months PP, and certainly not once you begin solids. Something like 40% of women ovulate while breastfeeding. (TMI: For example, my DD is a little over 3 months, and is EBF, though she does get a paci and the occasional bottle of BM, and I got my period back last week, after apparent ovulation several days prior. I use Creighton, which is mucous-only, so did not confirm with temps.)

As others have said, mucous is the primary sign of fertility anyway, and the one you should rely on most heavily. You should work with an instructor to establish what is and is not fertile mucous, especially PP. If you lochia has stopped, I would start observing mucous now using your method's rules. For me, it took a couple of weeks to get back into the swing of even that!

All of that said, I also hope Tea pops in to give her take on all of this. Additionally, another PP mentioned Marquette, which I know many people like PP until their cycles regulate, though others say that it can force unnecessary abstinance. It might be worth at least looking at the website for more information.

Good luck! Please stick around again! There are lots of us post-wedding ladies who hang around and chat about non-wedding stuff, especially since, as you said, there's no place for that on the other boards!

MuddyInsignia

Great responses, thank you! I can certainly give the CM another chance. Sadly, my parish never offered an NFP class, so I am self-taught. I live in Southeastern CT now (not from here originally) and there do not seem to be many NFP resources besides what I can access online or in books.  I have borrowed the book The Art of Natural Family Planning, from a friend who did take an NFP class elsewhere. 

I am practicing ecological breastfeeding with the exception of trying to get our baby to take a pacifier (due to the decreased SIDS risk and because she likes either having me and/or a pacifier in her mouth at all times, lol). 

I am still worried, even with the ecological breast feeding factor, as my mom tells me that she exclusively breastfed me and did not pump (so I presume close to ecological breastfeeding) when she resumed ovulation at about 3 months postpartum. 

Without an in person instructor, is there a resource you would recommend using CM as a primary form of NFP?

agapecarrie

ALL methods of reliable NFP make cm a main indicator.  In my opinion, the book doesn't stress this enough.

If you want cm only, creighton, billings (and marquette with fertility monitor) are your methods. These all have instructors though. I know creighton does sykpe instruction

Resa77

I would recommend looking into Creighton and Billings instructors in your area, and if you can't find anyone, try to find someone who will do instruction over Skype.  You'd be amazed at what you can do long-distance!   Good luck, and stick around!

bibliophile2010

All three mucous methods alliow long-distance learning. Often, unfortunately, you need to reach out for instruction.I know that CCL has a breastfeeding book as well, but developing a relationship with an instructor is just a really good idea overall.

professorscience

According to the BOMA website, there is only one Billings teacher in CT (in Fairfield), BUT I would ask at your parish if they know of any teachers.

Another thing to look into might be NFP OB/GYNs, because many of them are well trained in one method or another and could either teach you or recommend a teacher.

TCOYF actually does teach that CM is the number 1 indicator, but as Carrie said, it doesn't really emphasize that.  It does have pictures that show the different types of CM, so that might be helpful to you.

TeaForMe

Hey, all! Sorry I'm late to the party! I was feeling rotten this weekend. Anyway... Congrats on your little one! Yay! I also felt there wasn't a good place on the Bump for these questions so that is why I hang here As was mentioned above, I had basically the same experience as you. Once the baby was here, there was no way I was going to get an accurate temp. We switched to Billings and it has worked great, especially considering the wacky post partum and breastfeeding infertility. I liked it so well that I became a teacher myself, in fact. I would contact the nearest teacher (check www.boma-USA.org) and ask if they can phone or video conference with you. And feel free to ask/ hang out here as well! And biblio, I've gotta say that stinks that you already got a period I had a glorious full year. Though it had been so long that I basically just went, "uhh, wait. What am I supposed to do now again?" when it happened.

mcda04

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_nfp-question-postpartum?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:76b90ac6-b041-4aa9-9ffa-e90afbe85634Post:1f352083-c796-4b65-8f0c-e3fb896119ab">Re: NFP question postpartum</a>:
[QUOTE]Great responses, thank you! I can certainly give the CM another chance. Sadly, my parish never offered an NFP class, so I am self-taught. I live in Southeastern CT now (not from here originally) and there do not seem to be many NFP resources besides what I can access online or in books.  I have borrowed the book The Art of Natural Family Planning, from a friend who did take an NFP class elsewhere.  I am practicing ecological breastfeeding with the exception of trying to get our baby to take a pacifier (due to the decreased SIDS risk and because she likes either having me and/or a pacifier in her mouth at all times, lol).  I am still worried, even with the ecological breast feeding factor, as my mom tells me that she exclusively breastfed me and did not pump (so I presume close to ecological breastfeeding) when she resumed ovulation at about 3 months postpartum.  Without an in person instructor, is there a resource you would recommend using CM as a primary form of NFP?
Posted by MuddyInsignia[/QUOTE]
You have been given great advice by the ladies.

Do not rely on breastfeeding for FP, I was breastfeeding when i became pregnant with my son, and i didn't have a period for over a year. It was one of the "I didn't know i was pregnant" things too.

professorscience

Disclaimer: I was definitely not suggesting that OP should throw caution to the wind and just assume that she was okay because she's breastfeeding.  

bibliophile2010

Prof, all of the breastfeeding talk came from OP's comment about it helping.

Tea, it does stink. I'm focusing on the silver lining that maybe my cycles will "normalize" faster too. It did have that feeling of being 13 all over again though.