What Is Your Choice for Birth Control?

S.:

We tried for sooo long to get pregnant we didn't use birth control...then once we got pregnant - I was pregnant five years in a row!!! Only have two kids - but that's how it happened!!

My cycles were sooo far off that we didn't use anything either. I ended up having the uterine ablation done and then a hysterectomy. I'm 45.

I used the pill - don't remember what it was - that was 15 years ago. I loved the pill - as when I was on it - I stayed at 135lbs...the minute I got off it? 30 lbs on....yikes!!! STILL struggling to get those 30 lbs off....

If you are done having kids - getting the tubes tied is easy (I had that done when I did the ablation)...

GOOD LUCK!!

FAM and condoms...latex free!

I reversed a tubal ligation because of the hormone imbalance it caused. I'm allergic to the pill and I'm also allergic to spermacides... and I'm allergic to latex, too. I'm kind of high maintenance but thankful for FAM and latex free condoms.

My boyfriend doesn't like using condoms. I could never remember to take the pill, even with an alarm that rang every night (The alarm would go off, I'd tell myself that I'd take the pill after I got done doing whatever I was doing and by the time I got done I forgot about the pill) and that is why I have my wonderful son. So now I'm on the depo shot. I've heard horrible things about it, and am a little scared taking it... But it's my only option, so I have to take my chances. No side effects so far except for mild depression.

I don't like condoms very much and after being on the pill for so many years, I'd just want to stop the hormones. I tried natural family planning but I got pregnant so after my daughter was born I went back on the pill again. The only non-hormonal birth control that I was interested in recently was a copper IUD but I read so many things about it that scared me away that I'll probably be on the pill until menopause. I have an alarm that rings at 8:30pm every night to remind me to take it.

i've had mirena since i was cleared to get it. i have no periods at all, so sweet! i have all the period symptoms each month though which sucks - bloated, SORE SORE SORE boobs, and of course good ol' irritability. i have no plan on changing that method anytime soon. i'm single so abstinent since i left my ex, but i think if i ever remarried i'd do pretty much whatever i could do to have my husband get "fixed". i think after childbirth, they can go to the trouble of doing that! if you're not sure if you wanna continue, i'd def go mirena again, hands down. good luck!

Right now I'm on the shot because it's safe during breastfeeding (doesn't affect milk supply) and I can't trust myself to take the pill, and want something very effective.

Before getting pregnant with my last child, I had been using the NuvaRing for about five years. Loved it.

Love the shot, too...no side effects with either for me, but I prefer the shot anyhow because I don't get my period.

Mirena, love it. Also loved Nuva Ring.

S.,

I have always used the pill. I recently got pregnant while using the pill--100% faithful, never missed a pill/time etc. Unexepected suprise but a welcomed one in our home. If you don't like the pill, have you considered nuvaring?? It has been very helpful to alot of women I know. GL

M

I got the copper IUD after I had my son and loved it for almost 4 years. I just recently had to have it taken out because it slipped out of position and was causing me a lot of pain. But I will be getting another one to have placed back in when I need it. They are expensive but you can get them from Canada for $125 vs $600 here.

I have a tubal ligation now. Prior to that I used Mirena and HATED it. It was truly awful plus I got pregnant while using it. In between Baby Number One and Mirena we used natural family planning and condoms during the fertile time period. Prior to Baby Number One I used the pill. I had zero side effects (but also got pregnant using it). I had to find something I did at the same time everyday to remember to take it. I used my lunch break at work and on my days off I just set a reminder on my cell. In the past I also used the patch, which I liked, but I had to stop using it because I have very sensitive skin and it would cause irritation. Good luck.

Fertility Awareness Method (FAM). It requires charting, but it is so easy and reliable. Read "Taking Charge of your Fertility" by Toni Weschler.

Implanon
www.implanon-usa.com

ONE small rod inserted in your upper arm. Lasts for three years and can be removed at anytime. I had 'break-thru' bleeding the first month, but now none. It is progestin only. It may seem expensive at first, but compared to the pill for three years, the cost is about the same.

Condoms. I've done the pill and I hate it. Makes me very angry. (literally, I felt so full of rage all of the time!) Condoms have no side effects for me, don't mess with my system, and are relatively inexpensive and easy to deal with.

Condoms. Kind of sucks, because I've been married over 5 years!! Hormonal birth control (i have tried them all) makes me crazy!! I can't do the copper IUD, because I have a copper sensitivity/allergy. We are currently saving up for my husband's vasectomy.

Natural Family Planning Method works for us

Abstinence! LOL..I'm single, so for right now, this is my preferred method ;-) otherwise, calendar and condoms, but not latex because I'm sensitive (allergic) to them, I'll feel irritated and itchy the following few days. Not fun. I never really cared for the pill, I took them only for a couple of years, and gosh, that was 20 years ago!

Condoms with hubby, not to sound so boringly practical, but it makes clean- up a breeze! And if I have to spring back into Mom mode, I can jump up immediately (after grabbing an itme or two of clothing!). Way too practical, but that our life with two wee ones. I also have used dissolving Spermicidal sheets with good results.

I just removed Mirena after 1 year of being on it. I had the typical 3 months of spotting after insertion, then nothing, then have had periods every two weeks for 3 months. I also was highly emotional on Mirena. Although, I took Birth Control Pills for ~10 years before babies (which was a good experience once I dialed in which was a good chemical fit), I cannot remember to take things daily right now. So, when the mood and opportunity strikes, we are ready with Condoms!

Condom. Who says if you are married you do not have to use it.

Well I am currently pregnant so - bonus for me I dont have to worry about that right now. But when I do I reley on the pill. I am pretty darn good at remembering and have been lucky for the many many years that I have used it with the only semi side effect of a slightly lowered sex drive

Nuva ring. Put it in once a month, take it out, have a period, put another in. They can be removed if they are uncomfortable during intercourse but usually not an issue.

It's also very low dose and doesn't really go through the whole system since it's in the general vicinity to start with.

I'm not okay with taking hormones or doing things that has hormones in them - so no pills or shots for me (have you read the side effects?). So, the only real choice left for us was condoms. (For those who are sensitive to them, lambskin is a good, safe kind.) We just had our fifth baby and are done. Hubby got snipped a couple weeks ago. So, permanent birth control has been done now.

I took the "new" Loestrin 24 Fe............three months later I had not one period, my liver enzymes spiked to 400 (normally needing to be around 50), I bounced from specialist to specialist, I couldnt eat anything but apple sauce and rice (my liver couldnt digest anything else), and I was signed up to have my gall bladder removed. Oh and I was only 19. Luckily, they figured out that that pill wasnt working for me. HA! After a few months I got mostly better but still can not ingest dairy or meat products of any sort because it makes me sick.

I am currently on Depo Provera shot and have been for nine months now. Easy to remember. Slightly controversial. But working for me....for now.

Best of luck!

I had problems with the pill, the ring, and Depo. The only methods that didn't give me problems were condoms (male or female), film, foam, or sponges.
I was SO happy when I could finally have myself surgically sterilized and never have to worry about getting pregnant again.

We used condoms/calendar for a while, and that gave us 2 of our kids.. our first, and 3rd...

(I made the mistake of only using condoms if I thought it was the wrong time of the month...).

After #3, I think, I got a diaphragm.. that worked wonderfully for me! #4 was planned, after a 5 year wait (the first 3 were within 4 years.. August '82, April '84, and August '86).

I didn't like the idea of the birth control pill, and my neurologist suggested not using it (I have epilepsy, although I didn't take any medicine for it until 1995, many years after my kids. Until 1995, it was petit mal epilepsy, not noticed except on EEG. However, I had 2 gran mal seizures.. one in 1995, and 1 in 1998.)