What Is Your Birth Control Option?? IUD? Others?

I have Mirena, and I love it. No, I don't have mood swings. And I have not gained weight. And, bonus, I don't get my period anymore!

The only downside I had was that I was told that it's common to have spotting for up to 3 months after it goes in. I had spotting for 5 months, very light, but annoying - I was also postpartum when I had it put in, and I don't know if that made a difference. But once I got past the annoying spotting, it's been great.

I've had mind for more than 3 years, and when I'm at 5 years, I'll get it replaced with the same thing.

Well, I was going to suggest the vasectomy, as it has worked well for us. I've been using the pill for my own health issues (Low Seasonique, which is a three month at a time sort of thing) and it's been fine.

I've gained weight but this pill isn't known for that. (I take full responsibility on that one.)

My IUD has no hormones, so no mood swings.
And for Pete's sake don't take birth control advice second hand, from your husband's buddies!!!
Also, for future reference, the pull out method is not birth control AT ALL. you were just very, very lucky. Semen can and does seep out without anyone feeling it!

When we're not trying, we use condoms. When we're done, hubby will have a vasectomy.

I used a plain copper IUD before my husband had his vasectomy. There are no hormones in it, so no mood swings.

tell him to man up and get a vasectomy ;-)

We used condoms for many years, and also the diaphragm.... we were more successful with the diaphragm, since I would use it every time we were intimate. With condoms, we only used them if I thought I might be ovulating... (yeah.. that is how we had 2 of our kids.... I mis-counted).

After #4, I also felt I was too young to make a permanent decision, so we continued with the diaphragm..... but after a few years, we felt we were done and had enough kids. Hubby volunteered to do the snip, but "never got around" to making the appointment. After REALLY sweating it out one month when I was late, (I had irregular periods, anyway..), I said that I was taking care of it. 2 weeks later, I had my tubes tied.

If you feel you are done, but don't want to make a permanent decision, use an alternate form like a diaphragm (but be sure to USE it!), until you know for sure that you are finished having kids.

I was just going to say vasectomy, but then I read your side note. Never tried anything but the pill, and hubs got a vasectomy.

Mine was always "age", but then got pregnant at almost 45, so that didn't work so well....
No seriously, we did try to get pregnant younger, but gave up and surprisingly got pregnant in mid forties.

I had a mirena and thought all was fine. No mood swings, no weight gain, but I had terrible back pain. I didn't even think that it might be the mirena until I was researching before wanting to get a new one after my first expired. I had that thing out as fast as possible and my back pain went away almost immediately and continued to get better for 6 months. So, keep that in mind if you start having weird, unexplainable pain. After I had it removed and my husband realized what birth control was doing to me, he had a vasectomy. It was a breeze compared to my 5 years of debilitating pain.

I am on the mini pill, works good with breastfeeding. The first month I got a little moody, but I feel fine now. I did the seasonique type, so I only have a period every 3 months.

I used the pill for a long time (can't remember which one).
When we wanted to start our family it took 4 years and a fertility specialist to have our son.
We learned we couldn't get pregnant without help.
So we haven't used anything since then (no point in wasting money on it).
Now I'm about 6 months way from full menopause.

Sounds like you and Hubby really aren't that done if you can't agree on a more permanent birth control between you.
If you have a surprise I hope you're both happy with baby number 4 (or more).

I had a tubal last year durning the c section with my second baby

When we're done, I'm going with Essure. I want permanent and it's much less invasive than even a vasectomy. In the meantime, we're sticking with natural family planning and a little luck. It worked well last time! :-)

My sister and I both have the copper IUD and neither of us have had any problems with it. No hormones; lasts 10 years (though I'm getting mine replaced in a few months when I've hit 9 years just because I don't want to take any chances about losing effectiveness). You still have your period (in fact I think I ended up with one day that is heavier than what I used to have), but honestly while the thought of NO periods like with some other birth control sounds nice, how do people know if something didn't work and they are pregnant? Anyway, copper IUD is totally my recommendation.

Well maybe you will luck out like me and some of his buddies will talk about their choice of vasectomy with him. Talking with dudes is what brought my man around. I hope he will come around bc not worrying over it is so liberating! I've only done the pill and a really bootleg version of the natural method which only helped me naturally conceive! But I hate the pill so I understand not wanting to mess with it! My best friend used Nuva Ring for years and liked nit worrying about it every day, I had an allergic reaction to it. Good luck!!

Does he not want a vasectomy b/c he thinks it will be painful or does he TRULY think you both might want another child?

My husband got a vasectomy, but it didn't involve cauterization. The urologist put a clip on, rather than cauterizing. My husband had a very easy, pain-free recovery with no swelling. We are definitely finished having kids, but if I remember correctly, it can be reversed by having the clip removed. Most insurance plans cover a regular vasectomy, but we had to pay an extra $200. on top of the insurance payment for this procedure. My husband said it was worth every penny! You may want to find a good urologist and get more information about this. We live in CO and our urologist was award winning Dr. Ripoll in Boulder (if your husband had an inkling to travel here)~ she's so knowledgeable and kind! Good luck!

I am not prone to any mood swings from hormonal changes, I am just nuts all the time. :)

I take Sesonale, even for hormonal people it doesn't have as many swings because you only have four periods a year.

I am about to get the Mirena IUD in for the third time, following our fourth and last child's birth. I have loved it and have not had any problems at all. It makes my periods super light, almost non-existant, and I don't have to think about it for five more years. I would rather have the IUD than nothing because my periods are so much nicer.

Wow, I can't believe how many people don't use the Nuvaring. I absolutely love it! It doesn't have nearly as many issues as the pill because it is such a low dose of meds.

I was at the gyno last week and I was looking at all the literature. The biggest thing for me that kept coming up was that if you are prone to infections, irritations, or even uncomfortable, then you should not get it. This included both the IUDs and the Skyla (the in arm hormone one). Anyway, these were not good options for me, and I even talked to the doc about it, and she agreed. So, I am staying with my Nuvaring.

I would look into it if I were you. Good luck!

I was on depo for 10 years. I liked it. I had no side effects from it, and after the first year, no periods.

Ditto everything mynewnickname said. I have had Mirena for almost 2 years and am very happy with mine. It did take about 6 months for my body to stop spotting and adjust to it. Those 6 months were very long and I questioned if it was the right choice, but now I'm glad I did. I have Mirena not for birth control (hubs had a vasectomy) but to stop my periods (they were awful).

Several years ago (before hubs had vasectomy) I had a copper T IUD and was very unhappy with it. I kept getting abnormal paps. My doctor said it was unrelated, but you couldn't convince me. Once I had it removed, no more abnormal paps. So if you are considering an IUD, talk to your doctor about which one would be your best choice.

I know you said your husband is against a vasectomy, but when my husband had his it was so freeing knowing that we did not have to worry about birth control ever again. You might suggest to your husband that (if you get an IUD) when it's time to have it removed he pony up and get his vasectomy. My rationale was that birth control was my responsibility for decades and now he needed to suck it up and do his part! He's glad he did.

There are two different iuds one is copper and hormone free. I had that one as all the hormone bcs were making me an emotional roller coaster! The copper one did not and was great!