STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Drew · Gucci

Natural Birth Control

ILoveChoo · Hermes

thanks. I cant do bcps either (they make me a lunatic) and I've been wantin to read up on this. It scares me a little, so its really nice to know that someone else "normal" does it and that it's successful (in my pre-cana class before my wedding some people came to give us a lecture on it and they had 8 kids under 10. I was like no effing way!!)

I think I'm gonna look into that book. Do you know of any good online (ie free) information that would be helpful as well?

-- Edited by ILoveChoo at 11:36, 2006-03-08

shopgirl82 · Chanel

ILoveChoo wrote:

thanks. I cant do bcps either (they make me a lunatic) and I've been wantin to read up on this. It scares me a little, so its really nice to know that someone else "normal" does it and that it's successful (in my pre-cana class before my weeding some people came to give us a lecture on it and they had 8 kids under 10. I was like no effing way!!) I think I'm gonna look into that book. Do you know of any good online (ie free) information that would be helpful as well?

that's funny ILoveChoo, 80% of the people i know (not taking religion into consideration) who practice natural family planning have 5+ children too.

Drew- i think part of the reason your doctor wanted to give you a proven method is because the rhythm method doesn't always work. yes, to be honest, it takes a lot of time to teach and educate a patient about natural family planning, and it's easier to write a prescription, but there have also been studies to show that some women ovulate more than once a month.

i just wanted to put that out there. personally, i have seen cases where this doesn't work, and having a mom who is an E.R. nurse, i can tell you she would absolutely not advocate this method because she has seen one too many "oops" pregnancies from patients using this method.

Drew · Gucci

shopgirl82 wrote:

i have seen cases where this doesn't work, and having a mom who is an E.R. nurse, i can tell you she would absolutely not advocate this method because she has seen one too many "oops" pregnancies from patients using this method.

I have seen plenty of cases of women getting preggo on birth control. It's the same for every method; if you don't do it properly, then the method can fail. Women who get pregnant on birth control almost 100% of the time do so by not taking the birth control correctly (as in dose time, missed dose, etc.). It's not just rythem method, because that in itself is a method. It's about understanding your body, being in tune with what is going on, and therefore knowing when you ovulate. Even if you ovulate twice a month, you can still know that naturally.

I Love Choo, it was awhile ago that I did my research and I didn't save the sites I like under my favorites, but I found those sights by doing google searches. I can look around again if you want me too...

Hermione · Kate Spade

I actually want to learn more about this specifically just to be in tune with my body, but fyi, having been raised VERY catholic, i do know about this, it's called NFP "natural family planning" in the catholic world -

be very very careful - I know alot of little bundles of joy that were inadvertantly the result of NFP - i mean alot, lol (catholics technically aren't allowed to use any other sort of birth control)

anyway, you're right, nothing is foolproof.

shopgirl82 · Chanel

Drew wrote:

shopgirl82 wrote: i have seen cases where this doesn't work, and having a mom who is an E.R. nurse, i can tell you she would absolutely not advocate this method because she has seen one too many "oops" pregnancies from patients using this method. I have seen plenty of cases of women getting preggo on birth control. It's the same for every method; if you don't do it properly, then the method can fail. Women who get pregnant on birth control almost 100% of the time do so by not taking the birth control correctly (as in dose time, missed dose, etc.). It's not just rythem method, because that in itself is a method.

True.

It's about understanding your body, being in tune with what is going on, and therefore knowing when you ovulate. Even if you ovulate twice a month, you can still know that naturally.

Not True.

There are times during the month when there are waves of activity by the follicles that are enough to result in a pregnancy. during these waves, hormonal activity doesn't match the waves of activity by the follicles. basal body temperture charting is nice to distinguish a pattern, but it only shows a pattern, not follicular activity.

i just want to inform everyone that it's not always as simple as finding a pattern, charting, etc, because sometimes activity can not be detected.

Elle · Hermes

shopgirl82 wrote:

It's about understanding your body, being in tune with what is going on, and therefore knowing when you ovulate. Even if you ovulate twice a month, you can still know that naturally.

Not True.

There are times during the month when there are waves of activity by the follicles that are enough to result in a pregnancy. during these waves, hormonal activity doesn't match the waves of activity by the follicles. basal body temperture charting is nice to distinguish a pattern, but it only shows a pattern, not follicular activity. i just want to inform everyone that it's not always as simple as finding a pattern, charting, etc, because sometimes activity can not be detected.

Shopgirl82 - could you elaborate a little more on this?

I would also like to clarify the difference between NFP and Charting: Many people who practice NFP are told that they ovulate on the 14th day of thier cycles, so that's when they avoid having sex. 'Day 14' is technically considered 'average' in terms of ovulation dates, but most women are not Day 14-ers but because that's what they've been told that's what they assume. So if a woman who actually ovulates around day 20 of her cycle avoids sex around day 14 of her cycle, you can see how a baby might result, no?

With charting, if you continue to do it, you should be aware of impending ovulation (via cervical mucous and cervical position) and able to confirm it after the fact with a sustained temperature rise (along with cervical position and probably lack of cervical mucous). Some womens bodies gear up for ovulation a couple of times before they actually do it, and some women aren't able to chart because their bodies simply don't respond to the higher levels of post-ovulatory progesterone with a temperature rise. That said, of course people can make mistakes while charting that could potentially result in a pregnancy as is true of any form of birth control. http://www.fertilityfriend.com/ has a free program where you plot your temps and other info and it makes your chart for you, if anyone would be interested in that.

relrel · Marc Jacobs

shopgirl82 wrote:

personally, i have seen cases where this doesn't work, and having a mom who is an E.R. nurse, i can tell you she would absolutely not advocate this method because she has seen one too many "oops" pregnancies from patients using this method.

just to put this out there as well....my mom used the rhthym method as birth control cause she was a lovely crunchy hippy but oops, she's got five daughers out of it. and she was super serious about charting and stuff. ive seen the books, she was really detailed about it and still got pregnant five times from using it.

however...as she so lovingly warned us all when we started having sex... "watch out, if you're anything like me, you are going to be extremely fertile." thanks mom.

Marg · Kenneth Cole

ooh... be so careful.

Birth control is so much easier to justify than an 'accident'.

Interesting reading though.

hotcocoa · Kate Spade

and here's the flip side using charting to avoid pregnancy — there are women who chart religiously month after month after month hoping TO get pregnant without luck. alas, nothing is foolproof.

i'll will say that it is an excellent way to learn more about how your own body functions each month. it's really quite amazing. if you do a google search for "predicting ovulation" you'll find tons of great info out there... for those of you who want to read more. a lot of the websites you'll find are pregnancy/baby related, but you'll get the info all the same. most of them do say that it's a great way to increase your chances of becoming pregnant, but not the best way to avoid pregnancy.