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Old 07-24-2012, 09:19 AM
 
Location: NYC
16,061 posts, read 26,645,672 times
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Funny when I was going back on the pill after my second child my doctor was trying to talk me into another form of birth control. Personally from all the horror stories I was too nervous to try anything else. I realized then that I was at that age that one should not be on the pill due to risks.

Since we were done with having children I told hubby to go get fixed. He was wonderful and did it! (I know this is not an option for the OP) just sharing!
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Old 07-29-2012, 02:30 PM
 
Location: Florida
7,195 posts, read 5,685,228 times
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I haven't read every page. Have you considered the Fertility Awareness Method? You take your temperature every morning and observe other fertility signs to determine where you are in your cycle. If you're not in a fertile phase, you don't need to worry about birth control. If you are in your fertile phase, then you need to abstain or use a barrier (i.e. condom, diaphragm, etc). A great book on the subject is Toni Weschler's Taking Charge of Your Fertility.

This method has served us well with zero problems for the past decade. Also, there are no side effects, no artificial hormones, and if you decide to get pregnant, you already know when you're fertile.

A close friend uses the NuvaRing and likes it, but it has similar side effects to the Pill, if I'm not mistaken.
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Old 07-29-2012, 03:29 PM
 
Location: In a house
13,250 posts, read 42,640,746 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AnotherTouchOfWhimsy View Post
I haven't read every page. Have you considered the Fertility Awareness Method? You take your temperature every morning and observe other fertility signs to determine where you are in your cycle. If you're not in a fertile phase, you don't need to worry about birth control. If you are in your fertile phase, then you need to abstain or use a barrier (i.e. condom, diaphragm, etc). A great book on the subject is Toni Weschler's Taking Charge of Your Fertility.

This method has served us well with zero problems for the past decade. Also, there are no side effects, no artificial hormones, and if you decide to get pregnant, you already know when you're fertile.

A close friend uses the NuvaRing and likes it, but it has similar side effects to the Pill, if I'm not mistaken.
If you have eggs and a healthy reproductive system, then you are fertile and can get pregnant. The rhythm method can determine the -least likely window of time- that pregnancy will occur, but you can still get pregnant on "safe" days. The fact that you've used it for the past 10 days with no "woops" pregnancies can be attributed to several factors: you've been lucky, or one of you isn't as fertile as you thought, or a variety of imbibements (from drugs to alcohol to even caffeine) has lowered the fertility rate between yourself and your significant other. Your partner might simply have a low sperm count, making it much MUCH less likely to get pregnant on "safe" days, than a couple with one partner having a high or even normal sperm count.
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Old 07-29-2012, 04:29 PM
 
Location: Florida
7,195 posts, read 5,685,228 times
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No, LOL. We're both fertile; we've gotten pregnant four times (when we wanted to) with no issues.

Fertility Awareness is not "rhythm method." Once you ovulate and your progesterone level causes your temperature to rise, a few days later your fertile time is over. Women are not fertile 28 days out of the cycle; there are two phases: the fertile phase and the luteal phase. With some practice, FAM lets you know where you are in your cycle, where your egg is, and whether there's any chance of pregnancy. The symptoms that you learn to evaluate include cervical position and whether it's open or closed, basal body temperature fluctuations, and cervical secretions at various times of the cycle.

There's obviously a LOT more to it than that, but FAM has been around for a long time and is very, very effective. Don't confuse it with the rhythm method; that is not reliable at all, because any variation in when you ovulate on any given month can lead to an oopsie.

ETA: The method of evaluating fertility signs and learning what your basal body temperature means is actually very helpful to all women, no matter what the circumstances. It can help you pick up on fertility/hormone problems within a few months, and it also helps you to know exactly when you can expect your period. Most women have luteal phases that only vary in duration by a day or two, and it can be really interesting to see estrogen surges before ovulation in months that ovulation is delayed for whatever reason.
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Old 07-29-2012, 06:05 PM
 
Location: In a house
13,250 posts, read 42,640,746 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AnotherTouchOfWhimsy View Post
No, LOL. We're both fertile; we've gotten pregnant four times (when we wanted to) with no issues.

Fertility Awareness is not "rhythm method." Once you ovulate and your progesterone level causes your temperature to rise, a few days later your fertile time is over. Women are not fertile 28 days out of the cycle; there are two phases: the fertile phase and the luteal phase. With some practice, FAM lets you know where you are in your cycle, where your egg is, and whether there's any chance of pregnancy. The symptoms that you learn to evaluate include cervical position and whether it's open or closed, basal body temperature fluctuations, and cervical secretions at various times of the cycle.

There's obviously a LOT more to it than that, but FAM has been around for a long time and is very, very effective. Don't confuse it with the rhythm method; that is not reliable at all, because any variation in when you ovulate on any given month can lead to an oopsie.

ETA: The method of evaluating fertility signs and learning what your basal body temperature means is actually very helpful to all women, no matter what the circumstances. It can help you pick up on fertility/hormone problems within a few months, and it also helps you to know exactly when you can expect your period. Most women have luteal phases that only vary in duration by a day or two, and it can be really interesting to see estrogen surges before ovulation in months that ovulation is delayed for whatever reason.
You understand, that it's possible to get pregnant -while- menstruating? It's not likely, but it's possible. As I said - you've probably been just lucky. Not all women are regular in their "most" fertile phases of their cycles. Some women have bursts of estrogen all month long, and the "safe" period is only a matter of hours per day, not days per month. You could be "safe" every morning for 18 days - but hormonally "ripe" for pregnancy after 1pm, that entire 18-day period.

The only way you could know for sure, is to have a thermometor taking your temperature continuously. I'm not sure why you think your family planning method is foolproof - did you not ever see the movie in 4th grade about womanhood and the menstrual cycle?

I'll repeat: a woman with a healthy reproductive system and healthy eggs can get pregnant *any* time of the month. It can happen, it has happened, it does happen, and it will continue to happen. You have been lucky. Some women's bodies are clockwork-accurate. Many women's bodies are not.
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Old 07-29-2012, 06:38 PM
 
7,329 posts, read 16,348,474 times
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Anothertouch, it's one thing for a married couple to use this method, since an accidental pregnancy wouldn't be as devastating. But it would really not be a good idea for a single woman. And if she had to use a barrier method during her fertile period, then why not use it all the time and be safer?
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Old 07-29-2012, 08:24 PM
 
Location: Florida
7,195 posts, read 5,685,228 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AnonChick View Post
You understand, that it's possible to get pregnant -while- menstruating? It's not likely, but it's possible. As I said - you've probably been just lucky. Not all women are regular in their "most" fertile phases of their cycles. Some women have bursts of estrogen all month long, and the "safe" period is only a matter of hours per day, not days per month. You could be "safe" every morning for 18 days - but hormonally "ripe" for pregnancy after 1pm, that entire 18-day period.

The only way you could know for sure, is to have a thermometor taking your temperature continuously. I'm not sure why you think your family planning method is foolproof - did you not ever see the movie in 4th grade about womanhood and the menstrual cycle?

I'll repeat: a woman with a healthy reproductive system and healthy eggs can get pregnant *any* time of the month. It can happen, it has happened, it does happen, and it will continue to happen. You have been lucky. Some women's bodies are clockwork-accurate. Many women's bodies are not.
I think that you just don't understand how the method works, which is fine. I suppose there is a 0.001% chance that a random woman's body might spontaneously release an egg five or six days after ovulation has already occurred. Is it likely to happen? No. Is it more likely that a condom will break or that a pill won't work? Yes.

As for the bolded, that's simply inaccurate. If you're actually interested, then I recommend you read up a bit, or ask your ob/gyn for information. You don't continuously "ripen" eggs throughout your cycle, and your hormones don't waver up and down each day for weeks on end.

Either way, if one is not comfortable with that method, then of course they shouldn't use it. Of course it's not foolproof; nothing is. This method in particular requires a heavy dose of rule-following.

Here's some info from the American Pregnancy Association: http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pre...renessNFP.html

And here is some good info regarding myths from Taking Charge of Your Fertility http://www.tcoyf.com/content/FertMyths.aspx

Quote:
A woman can spontaneously ovulate at any time in the cycle.

This is simply not true. Even though the timing of ovulation can vary from cycle to cycle, once a woman ovulates, it is virtually impossible for her to ovulate again until the following cycle. This is because once ovulation occurs, the hormone progesterone will suppresses the release of all other eggs until the following cycle.

Even in the case of a multiple ovulation, the eggs are released within 24 hours of each other. During those 24 hours, one or more eggs will be released, and then no more until the next cycle.


Women are fertile all the time.

Not true! Women are only fertile the few days around ovulation. In fact, a human egg can only survive 12-24 hours after being released from the ovary, and thus the only reason women are considered fertile for longer than 24 hours (or 48 hours in the case of a multiple ovulation) is because sperm can live for up to five days if fertile quality cervical fluid is present. Interestingly enough, it is men who are always fertile!

Last edited by AnotherTouchOfWhimsy; 07-29-2012 at 08:40 PM..
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Old 07-29-2012, 08:42 PM
 
Location: Australia
4,001 posts, read 6,250,099 times
Reputation: 6854
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnotherTouchOfWhimsy View Post
I think that you just don't understand how the method works, which is fine. I suppose there is a 0.001% chance that a random woman's body might spontaneously release an egg five or six days after ovulation has already occurred. Is it likely to happen? No. Is it more likely that a condom will break or that a pill won't work? Yes.

As for the bolded, that's simply inaccurate. If you're actually interested, then I recommend you read up a bit, or ask your ob/gyn for information. You don't continuously "ripen" eggs throughout your cycle, and your hormones don't waver up and down each day for weeks on end.

Either way, if one is not comfortable with that method, then of course they shouldn't use it. Of course it's not foolproof; nothing is. This method in particular requires a heavy dose of rule-following.

Here's some info from the American Pregnancy Association: Fertility Awareness: Natural Family Planning (NFP) : American Pregnancy Association

And here is some good info regarding myths from Taking Charge of Your Fertility Common Fertility Myths - TCOYF

Enough of our eggs, what about the sperm?

Those guys can live for days.

Then there's always the possibility of couch nymphs!
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Old 07-29-2012, 08:45 PM
 
Location: Florida
7,195 posts, read 5,685,228 times
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Yep, sperm can live for up to 5 days, which is why you're actually fertile for 5 days before ovulation (to account for long-lasting spermies) and one day after (to account for the lifespan of the egg).
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Old 07-29-2012, 09:17 PM
 
Location: In a house
13,250 posts, read 42,640,746 times
Reputation: 20198
Quote:
Originally Posted by Forever Blue View Post
I know nothing about this topic, but I need to know what's out there these days? What are most women using?

I do NOT want to get on the pill...too many side effects. I don't want something that's too much trouble to use or too much of a hassle. I don't want something that will prevent pregnancy for longer than a year because I'm in my late 30s as it is & just might want to have a child in a year or two.

Tell me everything you can, your experiences, your female friends' experiences, etc.

THANKS!
Bolded for emphasis. TouchofWhimsey, your method might work great for you, and it might even work great for 95% of the women who use it. But it involves work, effort, following the rules religiously, and being ever vigilant. In short, it is probably one of -the- most "too much trouble" and "too much of a hassle" of all possible birth control methods. With the pill, you just take one a day, no measuring, no checking, no temperatures, no marking calendars, no nothing. With surgery, you're out of commission for up to a week, and then you're basically done worrying. With barrier methods, you only have to remember using them, within an hour of needing them. You never have to even think about them the rest of the day, or the rest of the month, or the rest of your life. This is why your method is not the most popular, or even among the top 10.
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