When to start nfp

Coco1988 · September 2012

Hello-

Just got engaged this past weekend and we are thinking wedding in 9-12 months, when do we start diving into learning NFP to prepare us to be ready for when we are married?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

agapecarrie · September 2012

As soon as possible. I started charting when I was single for my health. The knowledge you gain is indispensible. I think every woman should chart (and many docs agree with me) because it serves as a health record. I have found several problems that I would have never known if not charting.

If there are any health issues you discover, you have some time to get them looked into, and learn how to decipher your signs better.

Coco1988 · September 2012

Where do I even start? Is there a beginners book to give me some direction? I am thinking I should start as early as possible also.

agapecarrie · September 2012

Taking a class is the best way to learn, in my opinion.

Look up your diocese NFP office and they likely have classes listed there.

Calypso1977 · September 2012

once you meet with your priest, they may very well tell you that an NFP course is required. however, by the time you meet with him, you may be only a few months away frrom the wedding so id start now.

i self-taught by using Taking Charge of your Fertility. Some learn better in a class setting, particulary if your cycles are abnormal. TCOYF is a great resource, although it actually teaches Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) not NFP, with the only real difference being that it allows for the use of barrier methods during fertile times. However, its easy enough to make the choice to not use barriers and abstain.

I personally liked that book because it was taught from a scientific viewpoint rather than a religious standpoint. i wanted the pure facts on how my body worked as for me, avoiding pregnancy was critical.

Riss91 · September 2012

Are your cycles regular? Assuming you're not on any BC that would artificially hide any symptoms... if they are regular and normal, you could probably self-teach as Calypso mentioned (this is what I did as well). If you have any health concerns, it would be best to take a course, to learn a method like Creighton that would assist in diagnosing any problems.

newlyseliski · September 2012

Hello and welcome, fellow Minnesotan! I would start it sooner rather than later as the ladies recommended above! The extra practice time helps a lot, especially if you have irregular cycles. It's one last thing that you'd need to worry about as you get closer to the wedding and all the wedding-related tasks pile up overwhelmingly high! The 6 months before the wedding were a complete blur to me, personally, so it was helpful to already have the routine of the NFP charting integrated into my daily life.

FWIW, I took Creighton... but there are classes for plenty of other methods in the Twin Cities! Couple to Couple league teaches Symptothermal (same as TCOYF) and if I recall from my friends that have taken it, they give you a lot of good materials and it is a bigger class setting... not sure how much it costs! Creighton was a classroom intro course with (8) follow-up individual instruction, but the book they give you is pretty small and they expect you to rely a lot on your instructor for troubleshooting and clarifications... it's $500 full price, but they reduce the fee if your income level justifies it and insurance doesn't cover it. There's also Billings method, which is similar to Creighton in that it does not rely on temperature as a fertility indicator. Feel free to ask us about any of the methods because we all have taken a variety of routes in learning NFP!

MedStudent13 · September 2012

I first heard about NFP when I started my freshman year of college (I was one of those people who never knew the church was against artifician contraception because it's NEVER MENTIONED) and I have been charting, at least basic symptoms, ever since. By the time I get married I will have been charting for at least four years maybe more.

I strongly suggest reading Taking Charge of your Fertility. That book actually made me very passionate about natural methods of avoiding pregnancy, and maybe a bit angry too because women are never taught this information in their sex-ed classes. It really is a fantastic book and it is easy to read. I have been loaning it out to my friends because it is so good, and not religiously based

Resa77 · September 2012

I second PPs -- start learning right away! Even if you have perfectly normal charts, with no crazy exceptions going on, it will only make you feel more confident to have some experience in charting.

christinamarie325 · September 2012

I'm going to Third Taking Charge of Your Fertility. It's very interesting! There is also software that you can a free trial of with the book to help with charting. This helped me a lot to understand what is happening during my cycles. I was always sucky at charts and graphs.

bibliophile2010 · September 2012

I vote hybrid -- read TCOYF AND sign up for a class. I think TCOYF is great because it presents all of the information about NFP in a non-religious way and very clearly. I think a class is essential, because having an actual instructor to troubleshoot with will help you feel confident for even the most normal charts -- and will give you somewhere to turn if things are abnormal.

FWIW, 2 months of charting based on TCOYF is one of the things (another was sleeping habits) that convinced me to learn a mucous-only method. I realized that my mucous patterns were not normal and would likely be continuous or near-continuous and I'd probably need some medical intervention. I took a Creighton class and have been very happy with the method.

professorscience · September 2012

I will second Bibli -- I started out by reading TCOYF, and while it was very informative, I still found myself with lots of questions. Especially because my sleep schedule (especially closer to the wedding) was really crazy, so my temps were all over the place Switching to a mucous-only method really helped with that.

I use Billings, which is easy once you learn it, but you do have to take a class. If you go to www.boma-usa.org you can easily find a list of instructors. Other girls might be able to give websites for finding instructors for other methods.

Also, congratulations and welcome to the board!

Coco1988 · September 2012

Ok so I ordered TCOYF right away today. I do not use bc and my cycles are a tad irregular...

My next question is there are all the different types i.e. billings method, mucous only method, Creighton... how do I know which one to choose? Does the book go into those specifically? I know I have seen previous threads breaking each one down, but at the time they were being discussed I wasn't willing reading too much of the details as I was not ready to think about which one was right for me.

Thank you for the warm welcome, I have been lurking on this board for quite sometime even before I was with my fiance, I am so thankful I have had it and have it now as a resource for my questions. I wasn't raised catholic nor do I have very many catholic friends, so my resources aren't where I would like them to be at this point, any and all help is thoroughly appreciated.

MedStudent13 · September 2012

The book basically teaches you Sympto-Thermal, which involves the three fertility signs: basal temperature, cervical mucus, and cervical position. You can really go from there and decide how many of the signs you actually want to observe. For example, many women prefer not to check cervical position but instead use only temperature and mucus. Others prefer to only use mucus. It is important to note however that mucus is the only sign that you can use by itself, as it is the main determinant of fertility. If you do decide to do mucus only, you may want to check out another method that has a more specific classifications for mucus.

First and foremost I believe that it is best to start with all three and go from there. I hope this helps!

agapecarrie · September 2012

Billings is mucous only.

Creighton is mucous only, and the only standardized teaching with scientific observation method. It is connected to NAPRO technology- your charts help docs diagnose and treat reproductive health issues by fixing the problem, not medicating the symptoms.

Sympto-thermal is mucous with crosschecking of temp and cervical position.

Marquette is basically creighton with a fertility monitor for cross checking.

If you think you might have any health problems, use creighton. The differences with each method also are the terms used to describe mucous, which are widely subjectve to each person in what the term means for them.

Coco1988 · September 2012

Just signed up for the creighton method class! Thanks again for the sound advice.

When to start nfp

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