Smells pretty fishy to me! Abstaining is only like 10 days isn’t it? Approxmiately. I think it is his libido.
Depends entirely on the method, on how well it works for the particular couple, and how carefully they’re using it.
Most NFP method failures occur due to sex in Phase I, the pre-ovulatory period. This is because it is not possible to p(name removed by moderator)oint ovulation before it happens; an educated guess is as good as you can get. As a result, many couples who really, really need to avoid pregnancy stick to Phase III, the post-ovulatory period. Assuming a fairly standard cycle length of 30 days with an equally standard 14-day luteal phase (the postovulatory period), you would only have 10 days out of every 30 in which you could have sex because you have to wait 3-4 days after ovulation to confirm via temperature/mucus dryup/hormonal testing that you have, in fact, ovulated.
If the woman has a shorter luteal phase–which is not at all uncommon, 10 days and up is considered a normal length–this can mean less than a week out of every month in which they can have sex. Women with abnormal luteal phases (less than 10 days, that is) may find themselves restricted to even fewer, though short luteal phases can be corrected with hormonal treatment if you have access to a doctor who will prescribe the appropriate hormones, rather than telling you to just take contraception and be done with it.
Having all of 6-10 days in a given month, and those all together rather than spaced out over the course of the month*, can mess with one’s libido somewhat. It’s hard to go from careful restraint to “yay, I can be with my spouse!” and then back to restraint in that timeframe.
(Please note I’m not excusing the use of contraception, only highlighting a problem that many couples have with NFP. Contraception has far worse problems, morality being the biggest, of course, but the fact that NFP can be very difficult for some marriages is often ignored by its biggest cheerleaders.)
*For many couples, 6-10x/month would be a normal and fulfilling sex life. The problem is that it’s not instinctual to only have sex in a week or week-and-a-half timeframe out of every thirty days; rather, they’d have sex every 3-4 days or so.
NFP is NOT “the rhythm method” (sometimes referred to as “Standard Days Method”). NFP is monitoring and recording signs of fertility, which vary from woman to woman and cycle to cycle. It can be very effective, if both spouses are on the same page about needing to avoid (or wanting to conceive) and if there aren’t health problems that make reading fertility signs difficult (though frequently these can be resolved).
:yup:
. I completely understand how important it is to “feel wanted”, but it doesn’t sound like he is denying you sex. I think THAT is far, far more harmful in a marriage.