Speaking of babies: Anyone practice NFP?

smw42

I read a blog (formerly known as FitBride, but now she's married http://www.brie-fit.com/) and this morning she had a post about Natural Family Planning- instead of the pill. Anyone practice this?

I'd be curious to hear people's thoughts.

uppereastgirl

What would be the reason to do it?  Are you opposed to condoms?  Or is it a religious thing?  I understand not wanting to be on artificial hormones, but I don't think I'd trust self-monitoring.

But I may be biased from all the "What do you call people who practice natural family planning?" "Parents"-type jokes I've heard...

smw42

I wouldn't go as far as to say I'm opposed to hormones, but if I can avoid them I do. We use condoms now without any problems, but are considering NFP for the future. Just not sure if I trust it either!

rlb81

I can't take the pill for health reasons, so our choices in birth control are limited. I have this app on my cell phone called My Days which is really accurate at predicting my period and ovulation. When I am ovulating we use condoms (or abstain). NFP is basically the same idea except you can't use condoms. It's also a lot more scientific and biological since you have to take your basil body temperature and check for mucus etc.

I know some Catholic churches have classes for NFP if it is something you're interested in checking out.

cvl105

To me, NFP is too much work.  While I think it's a great option, it just wouldn't be for me.  The only time I'll start charting, temping, etc is if I have problems conceiving. 

A lot of girls on the bump chart.  If you have questions, you should ask around there.  They recommend a good book, but I can't think of the name now.l

NJMom050911

Well since we're been trying to get pregnant and I've been bumping a lot I've learned quite a bit about my body and the menses cycle. You really only have a 20% chance at conceiving each given month and that is if you ovulate-  some people don't. There is a great site called fertilityfriend.com which gives you lessons (for free) on how you can chart your basal body temperature and fluids in order to predict ovulation. If you abstain from sex around the time you ovulate you can succeed in preventing pregnancy, of course this will take months for you to pin point your normal ovulation time so you can see a pattern and know when to abstain. Still you may have an off month and ovulate early and oopps! LOL But you get the point. It really is not as easy to get pregnant as people make it out to be.

Just Jen

I read that blog too

I think the idea wiht her is that "she'd be OK if there was a surprise." So really, they're not "trying", but they're not NOT tryng too hard.

For me, I would never do NFP. I don't really get it.

cvl105

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_speaking-of-babies-anyone-practice-nfp?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:90Discussion:98f520db-823f-4e68-84e8-d9f8f77732a8Post:dbafa3f8-3d34-454a-9032-a858ff899bab">Re: Speaking of babies: Anyone practice NFP?</a>:
[QUOTE] For me, I would never do NFP. I don't really get it.
Posted by Just Jen[/QUOTE]
I think it's a great option for those who can't take birth control...I mean really, who wants to use a condom after not using it for a period of time. Certainly not me.

Karma01

I know nothing about it. I did have a mom once tell me "Thanks to NFP I have 4 kids!"

rlb81

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_speaking-of-babies-anyone-practice-nfp?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:90Discussion:98f520db-823f-4e68-84e8-d9f8f77732a8Post:cd13148d-eaad-411d-a060-b8cbfec10028">Re: Speaking of babies: Anyone practice NFP?</a>:
[QUOTE]They recommend a good book, but I can't think of the name now.l
Posted by cvl105[/QUOTE]

I think you might be referring to Taking Charge of your Fertility
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Charge-Your-Fertility-Reproductive/dp/0060937645">http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Charge-Your-Fertility-Reproductive/dp/0060937645</a>

And yea I agree that I think NFP is just too much work which is why we sort of do it half assed :)

NJMom050911

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_speaking-of-babies-anyone-practice-nfp?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:90Discussion:98f520db-823f-4e68-84e8-d9f8f77732a8Post:51d78b65-2b84-4481-b1ad-8fca2a490f1f">Re: Speaking of babies: Anyone practice NFP?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Speaking of babies: Anyone practice NFP? : I think it's a great option for those who can't take birth control...I mean really, who wants to use a condom after not using it for a period of time. Certainly not me.
Posted by cvl105[/QUOTE]

I agree, plus when you get off BCP you go through weeks of not understanding what is happening to your body. I will have a hard time going back on, not to mention that some people are unfortunate and don't ovulate after BCP ever without help or the doctor might tell you it can take anywhere from 3 months to 2 years to regulate. Funny how this was never mentioned to me when I first went on the pill. You don't really know or notice these things until you want to get pregnant and find out that it's not as easy as you were hoping. And yes so people do get lucky and get pregnant right away, but not most. There is really nothing hard about sticking a thermometer in your mouth every morning and writing down your temp, that's all it is.

Heather822

All I know is that at PreCana, a bunch of couples came in to talk to us about the benefits of NFP. None of them had less than 5 kids.

cknud112

To each their own, but it's not for me.  I'm a type A planner and am certainly not interested in any "surprise" pregnancies.  From what I understand, it takes a long time to understand exactly what's going on with your cycle (more for some than others) and I don't have that kind of time.  Ha ha.

uppereastgirl

In Response to <a href="http://forums.weddings.com/Sites/Weddings/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_speaking-of-babies-anyone-practice-nfp?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:90Discussion:98f520db-823f-4e68-84e8-d9f8f77732a8Post:de074d93-0d9e-43b4-b3a0-040670dbed80">Re: Speaking of babies: Anyone practice NFP?</a>:
[QUOTE]I know nothing about it. I did have a mom once tell me "Thanks to NFP I have 4 kids!"
Posted by Karma01[/QUOTE]

<div>I have to say that she deserves at least a little bit of "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me; fool me four times and I'm just an idiot" judgment.</div>

Laurms15

I have a hard enough time trusting the pill all on its own....so I don't think I could trust NFP either since there is human error involved.

Julephenia

A long time ago I was opposed to the idea of hormonal birth control. Then I met FI, and I quickly figured out that I have absolutely no patience to bother with anything other than the patch.

If you do it right, NFP can work... there MAY be some herbal ways, but I am not aware of them. You'd have to talk to someone schooled in Eastern medicine, or herbal medicine.

37 Butter Knives

NFP is basically the Catholics' take on the fertility awareness method (Taking Charge of Your Fertility). The main difference is that with NFP, when you're at your most fertile, you are to abstain from sex completely (which is tough because this is the time you're most likely to want to have sex). With FAM, you use a condom or other barrier method during that time. FAM is supposed to be quite effective, and it's recommended for people who don't want to be hopped up on hormones or who would prefer to be in tune with their bodies. While I see the appeal of FAM (as opposed to NFP), I wouldn't do it because it's quite labor intensive - it's hard enough for me sometimes to remember taking my pill!

NFP is not to be confused with the rhythm method, which was what the Catholic Church had advocated for years (and the source of all those jokes).

akmackay

We use so many different forms of BC that I wouldn't trust it... BCP, condom, pulling out... yup we are paranoid. Plus my body is so weird that I don't think it would ever be normal enough to track. Also, I'm on BCP for ovarian cysts and literally when I forget to take it for 2 days it starts to hurt, so I couldn't be off of it unless I was pregnant.

kewltif

I wouldn't use this method.  I honestly think it's really only a good method for people who may not be actively trying to have kids, but wouldn't be opposed to an "oops."

maranguren

http://www.clearblueeasy.com/clearblue-easy-fertility-monitor.php

Something we are considering in doing if you read the page youll understand it, a friend of mine uses it and got pregnant when she wanted to and since then she baby free.