Any NFP teachers able to help me?

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Feanaro_s_Wife

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I am terrified of getting pregnant again anytime soon, but do not want to have to abstain permanently or use anything other than NFP.
**I had been using NFP for about a year before we became pregnant and was just starting to get really comfortable with it (the first while was tough as I was getting rid of 15 years worth of artificial hormone effects). **
With the pregnancy and now breastfeeding, I haven’t charted or observed signs for about 16 months now. I feel like I’m starting at square one again.
And with breastfeeding, I haven’t had a return of my period yet so would have to do things a little differently from what I understand. I am chronically sleep deprived and don’t feel like I can trust myself to learn something so important right now.
For many reasons, we can’t get to a class, so I’m hoping that someone here can give me some advice and walk me through the beginning…please.
Malia
 
Did you take the class through the Couple to Couple league? If so, I believe you are always able to attend classes free whenever. Now I know you said that wasn’t possible so what about the book “The Art of Natural Family Planning”? Your local library may have it but you could also look on Amazon. I took the class through CCL and that’s the book we used. It covers everything, has example charts. It starts with the basics and has advanced info as well.

As for starting at the beginning, take your temps every morning at the same time. Also check your CM. Once you see CM become sticky or tacky, consider yourself in Phase 2 - fertile. Make sure to cross check. Once you have 3 days of temps 4/10 of a degree above the previous 6, consider yourself in Phase 3 and expect a period in a week or two. I hope that helps. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. I have been (or had been) practicing NFP for a little over a year so I should be able to answer most questions.👍

Good luck!
 
Feanaro_s_Wife said:
I am terrified of getting pregnant again anytime soon, but do not want to have to abstain permanently or use anything other than NFP.

**I had been using NFP for about a year before we became pregnant and was just starting to get really comfortable with it (the first while was tough as I was getting rid of 15 years worth of artificial hormone effects). **

With the pregnancy and now breastfeeding, I haven’t charted or observed signs for about 16 months now. I feel like I’m starting at square one again.

And with breastfeeding, I haven’t had a return of my period yet so would have to do things a little differently from what I understand. I am chronically sleep deprived and don’t feel like I can trust myself to learn something so important right now.

For many reasons, we can’t get to a class, so I’m hoping that someone here can give me some advice and walk me through the beginning…please.

Malia
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I don’t know what method you use so I am not sure what to offer. Also, I am a promoter not a teacher. (My husband doesn’t want to teach.)

I use STM method taught by CCL. (6 years, one son age 2.) Post-partum, I found my cervix to be a very helpful sign. I started taking my temp again when my cervical symptoms returned. Post-partum without a period is just an extended phase I. It is really not that scary, I promise. Same rules apply. Not in the morning, and not on consecutive days. Keep you carrot intake high and especially your omega-3’s and you should have a good case of recognizable cervical fluid when the time comes.

I started charting my cervix as soon as it healed from childbirth. It FREAKED me out when I felt how much it had changed! Please remember if you use STM it is a cross-checking method. You have all of these signs. Check the ones that work best for you and are the most reliable. Post-partum breast-feeding, my cervix was most reliable due to sleep disturbance. My temps were very helpful with the full return of fertility. I got temp drops during phase III that were showing me that I was having inadequate luteal phases. If I had gotten pregnant during that time I might have miscarried if I had not taken steps to boost my luteal phases.

Sorry, I went on and on again. I am such a motor-mouth, especially things that I am passionate about. The most important thing I wanted to say is: Trust God! Don’t be afraid. Offer up your fear for those who cannot conceive. Ask God for help. Please feel free to PM me if you would like any support or need to bounce ideas off. It is a scary time, I know. From other threads I have seen that you have your hands full with your DD. God will provide! I am praying for you. We are currently TTC (trying to conceive) again. Please pray for me too.
 
I would say to my knowledge that first it depends on what type of breastfeeding you are doing. If you are doing ecological breastfeeding, i.e., strict breastfeeding every 3 or so hours than this can delay ovulation for as long as 2 years, I don’t remember if it can happen later.

Unfortunately in my opinion the CCL doesn’t do a good job of really explaining post partum return to fertility, just because I think it is a very difficult time to pin-point and each women is different. So you will mostly find the answers already given which are the standard answers, so baically keep temping, and keep tracking your mucas. If you have not had a period yet you can consider yourself in post-partum still and as long as your CM is dry you can use “liberal rules” like the last dry day rule. The problem is some women get their periods first, and some women ovulate first. So you might see cervical mucas before you see a period. So you really need to keep charting.

Now if you are seriously trying to avoid than unfortunately post partum is the time of what I call extreme abstinence. You can use the last dry rule which means intercourse on the night of any dry day and never two days in a row. This, to the admission of CCL, is a very liberal rule and is how I conceived my son. So I really don’t trust this rule myself. Not to mention it is really dependent on how well you observe mucas patterns. You definately need to do cervix checks because externally you may be dry but at the cervical os there could be mucas that you don’t detect.

Now I will give you my story since my wife and I have been three cycles now post partum and experience this extremely long and trying return to fertility. My wife got her period first, and we have no evidence that she ovulated before hand. We were seriously trying to avoid so for about 4 months before this period we were abstaining. She doesn’t practice ecological breastfeeding because she works full time, so she has to feed on and off and then pump the rest for the day care to give to our son. So her fertility returned in about 5 months. The only problem is after that first period we have had 2 full cycles. One of which was anovulatory, which means we had no temperature shift and because of that we had to basically treat the whole cycle as Phase I and Phase II, so that was about 35 days of abstinence. Then in the second cycle she experience what looked like another anovulatory cycle, but we are just seeing a shift today so maybe this is a real cycle.

I will pray for you, I understand that post partum return to fertility is very hard, especially when you are seriously trying to avoid. My disappointment is the fact that CCL really only pays attention to those who are practicing ecological breastfeeding, but overall there is a general lack of information in The Art of NFP when it comes to post partum return to fertility. If you are trying to avoid, this is the time of long abstinence.

I hope some of this information helps. God Bless.
 
TallyCatholic said:
there is a general lack of information in The Art of NFP when it comes to post partum return to fertility.
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I really agree with this. You really end up “winging” it when the time comes. But for someone who is just starting out or is needing a refresher, I feel it is a good source of information.
 
Check into the Creighton Model. (There are two contacts in Alberta, CA–see what they say about long-distance learning, I know it’s been done before.) It’s external mucus observation only, totally standardized, and great for breastfeeders. Following the instructions, there’s no guessing or “taking chances.”

Malia, please don’t get offended…I’m really hoping I phrase this sensitively enough…but it’s putting quite a bit of a burden on someone to ask someone to “walk you through the beginning” on such an important issue. I say this out of the utmost respect for you, *and *for the Creighton method, because I’m familiar with how seriously you have described needing to postpone/avoid a pregnancy.

I really think a certified instructor is the way to go. You get what you pay for, and CrM instructors are top-notch!👍

Feel free to PM me for more details; I learned it at 8 weeks post-partum & fully breastfeeding.
 
I teach the Creighton Method and it can be used for women with all cycles. Breastfeeding, partially breastfeeding, ect…but it does need to be taught by a CM Practitioner and the follow-up appts are very important. It can be taught long-distance if there are no teachers in your area. I think it would be well worth it for you to look into this method. There is no need to abstain during the return to fertility because you can navigate through your fertile /non fertile times with the help of an instructor. I just had a return to cycles 5 months post-partum and totally breastfeeding and knew my menstrual period was coming 2 weeks ahead of it!! It can be done! I hope this helps you. If you need any help finding a teacher in your area you can PM me or contact the Pope Paul VI Institute and they can help locate one in your area.
God Bless!!
 
**Hi Malia, 🙂 **
I have no idea how to go about NFP, so I can’t offer any advice regarding methods, etc, but, a while back I added a product to my ‘favourites’ which someone else recommended on CAF.
When I saw it, I thought, “What an ingenious device!” Especially when many women have irregular cycles; which would, I imagine, make it more difficult to chart.
I hope this is appropriate to your situation.
ovwatch.com/
With love,
Your Sister-In-Christ
 
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