Advice on Birth Control - Matthews,NC

hi A.,

i wanted to say how moved i was by you talking about the closeness and bond you felt with your husband while practicing nfp. that is exactly what it is supposed to do, along with the obvious family planning aspect. we are also catholic so i do know the church's teachings. my doctor put me on bc pills after my first child was born because i had such irregular cycles that he told me it would force my body to find a regular cycle and then i could come off of them and be able to track what was going on. what i learned was that your body is only forced into the regular cycle for as long as you are on the pills. there is no guarantee that you will stay "regular" after you come off of them. another thing i learned that greatly disturbed me was that bc pills won't necessarily keep you from getting pregnant but they will force your body to naturally abort the baby with your next menstral cycle and you will never even know that you were pregnant. i was devestated when i read this. this was information presented to me while i was investigating nfp. i find it hard to practice nfp without a doctor who supports that decision and can help with questions. most doctors don't understand the process completely and don't recommend it. i have recently learned about a practice that is a completely nfp practice. and they are a family practice, not just and ob/gyn office. i live in monroe, nc and this doctor is located in concord, nc. if you are interested in his name please let me know and i will send it to you. i would not encourage your husband to have the vasectomy as this is against church teaching as well. you both seem to have a strong faith and i'm sure you can work together to get back on the nfp tracking so there won't be worries. i understand your fear of getting pregnant again. we have a 8 1/2 year old and a 6 year old and just found out #3 is on the way in may. it's so exciting and scary at the same time. i hope you can find a way to make nfp work for your family again. maybe finding a doctor or some sort of support group that can help you with monitoring symptoms would help. you will be in my thoughts. best of luck to you and your family.

D. r

I am not Catholic so I don't know the church's views on BC so I am not sure what difference it would make to use oral contraceptives or having a tubal ligation or your husband having the "snip snip". Vasectomies are not what they used to be. They have made it so easy for them now that it should be an option. Have him at least talk to a Urologist about the procedure. He doesn't have to do it if he doesn't like what he hears, but he should give it a listen. You have been through enough. You should be able to enjoy making love to your husband and not having to worry about getting pregnant the whole time. I am sure that he would enjoy it more if you were relaxed, as well. God gave these doctors the knowledge of how to prevent pregnancy so why not use it? Mirena is a good option but it lasts 5 years so if you are 30 years old, you will have to have at least 3 implanted. A vasectomy costs about the same as one Mirena. Explain it to him that way and maybe he will want to save a little money!! Good luck!

I have not been on birth control since I was 30. I am now 43. I had my first child at 27 and went on B/C pills and got pregnant on the pill. I figured God really wanted me to have this child. I did not know I was truely pregnant until I was 10 weeks. Denial I guess. My husband at the time had 2 other kids from another marriage and did Not want anymore kids. He had the snip snip 6 weeks after she was born. I divorced a few yrs later and remarried. My husband and I today have not ever used anything other than the NFP. I did have one slip up a few years ago ( got caught up in the moment) and miscarried but, otherwise we keep up with the NFP. We have 5 kids between us. I believe God knows what is best and like me it did not matter if I was on B/C or not I still got pregnant. I would not trade her for the world. I did look into Mirena only because my doctor was suggesting it . I think its good but I just don't like Hormone stuff either.
I would have to say stick with the NFP - I was sad when my x had the Vasectomy. I was still young and kept thinking what if something happens and I want another child.
Prayfully consider your options.

A. B

A. b
I also had trouble with birth control, for the longest time we used the inserts they were very effective for us and you didn't have to be on it all the time just. i found encare, i think that is the name, but it's been a long time since i used them. I have a one year old and had my tubes tied when i had her c- section i know i couldn't risk having anymore at my age. suzy