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Catholic Weddings
NFP question, some TMI
Hi ladies!
I posted some around here before our wedding in November of 2011, and then I fell off the face of the earth. In the meantime, we began practicing the Creighton Model NFP and after avoiding for about ten months, decided to try to start our family. We are expecting our son in about a month.
I remembered you all having a wealth of knowledge about several different methods of NFP, and thought I would seek some opinions.
We want to continue NFP after the birth of our son, but we are not convinced that we want to stick with Creighton. I had continuous mucuos, and it made things frustrating. With Creighton, there is no secondary thing to chart like temp, it's just mucuos. I was wondering if some of the other models use mucuos as a primary thing and then use temp as a secondary indicator? I feel like that would help us be even more specific and take away some of the frustration from our charting.
I know that it's possible that the continuous mucous won't be an issue after having a baby since sometimes that can change your cycle, but now that I'm close to not being pregnant anymore I thought I would start my research! If anyone has good advice about NFP during breastfeeding, I am happy to hear that as well!
TIA!
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Re: NFP question, some TMI
The problem with temping is that it can be impacted my changes in your day-to-day sleep schedule, which would likely be a problem with a young child around! I've actually heard of more women straying away from temping and heading towards mucous-only methods once they have babies.
I'd recommend reading the book "Taking Charge of Your Fertiliy" which details symto-thermal (from a non-religious perspective) and I believe discusses the impacts of breastfeeding and sleep problems.
Please stop back here and let us know how things are going.
[QUOTE]Hi ladies! I posted some around here before our wedding in November of 2011, and then I fell off the face of the earth. In the meantime, we began practicing the Creighton Model NFP and after avoiding for about ten months, decided to try to start our family. We are expecting our son in about a month. I remembered you all having a wealth of knowledge about several different methods of NFP, and thought I would seek some opinions. We want to continue NFP after the birth of our son, but we are not convinced that we want to stick with Creighton. I had continuous mucuos, and it made things frustrating. With Creighton, there is no secondary thing to chart like temp, it's just mucuos. I was wondering if some of the other models use mucuos as a primary thing and then use temp as a secondary indicator? I feel like that would help us be even more specific and take away some of the frustration from our charting. I know that it's possible that the continuous mucous won't be an issue after having a baby since sometimes that can change your cycle, but now that I'm close to not being pregnant anymore I thought I would start my research! If anyone has good advice about NFP during breastfeeding, I am happy to hear that as well! TIA!
Posted by hannaht4321[/QUOTE]
From personal, recent experience the PP period can be an unusually trying period for many women, especially breastfeeding women, as their fertility returns often slowly and somewhat unpredictably (though noticeably with careful observation!). Learning a new method while PP is more challenging, but doable.
Another thing to keep in mind is that after pregnancy and childbirth, you are a "new woman." Your cycles, when they come back, may not look like they did before. They could be shorter/longer/drier/etc. and you will have to settle into a "new normal" in that way, too.
Regardless, I would recommend contacting an instructor and talking to them ASAP! Learn the PP "rules" for whatever method you are going with, and set a follow-up appointment for after the baby arrives (let them recommend a timeframe, but make a plan!). When your LO does come, charting is probably going to be the last thing on your mind for a bit, but having a recent rules review will make it fresher and having an appointment to keep will give you reason to get going on the charting, plus it will give you the chance to start asking questions.
Congrats on the impending arrival of your LO. They really are such blessings!
[QUOTE] From what I'm hearing, sticking with Creighton is going to be the best option. I didn't realize that temping required such a strict schedule. We were seeing a FertilityCare instructor until September, then I got my BFP and we were bad kids and completely stopped charting
Posted by hannaht4321[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]Also, don't feel bad about not charting while pregnant. There's no reason to.
Posted by professorscience[/QUOTE]
I actually meant setting up an appointment with your instructor for PP, because your doctor follow-up will be based on when you deliver, but the timing of the instructor follow-up isn't as big a deal if you know when they recommend starting to chart again. I wish I had followed my own advice. I found getting into the charting routine with a newborn way harder than getting into it the first time because everything seemed so topsy turvey. (Hannah, I believe very few people chart while pregnant. I planned to as well and that lasted about a day.) Then my fertility returned really fast even though I was breastfeeding (though not ecologically for lots of reasons), so that whole situation got intense quickly and I just wasn't on top of things and it all probably just cost more abstinence than was necessary.
With the doctor switcharoo, I would talk to your physicians about who to see for follow-up care and for longer-term care. For example if you got mastitis, who should you call?
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: NFP question, some TMI : I actually meant setting up an appointment with your instructor for PP, because your doctor follow-up will be based on when you deliver, but the timing of the instructor follow-up isn't as big a deal if you know when they recommend starting to chart again. I wish I had followed my own advice. I found getting into the charting routine with a newborn way harder than getting into it the first time because everything seemed so topsy turvey. (Hannah, I believe very few people chart while pregnant. I planned to as well and that lasted about a day.) Then my fertility returned really fast even though I was breastfeeding (though not ecologically for lots of reasons), so that whole situation got intense quickly and I just wasn't on top of things and it all probably just cost more abstinence than was necessary. With the doctor switcharoo, I would talk to your physicians about who to see for follow-up care and for longer-term care. For example if you got mastitis, who should you call?
Posted by bibliophile2010[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: NFP question, some TMI : Good questions to ask. I am hoping to go right back to my original doctor as soon as LO gets here. I'm only switching because the current doctor does not deliver. Also, my doctor probably IS the authority on my charting questions, so I'll probably be seeing her.
Posted by professorscience[/QUOTE]
Ah! That makes sense!