NFP follow-up

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Lori

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This message is a follow-up to my thread asking about good NFP books and info…

For those of you who practice NFP, I am wondering which method you all find the most effective and/or the easiest to follow and stay with. I’d love to hear anything anecdotal too, since that is the kind of stuff I am really going to need to know when I am “in the trenches!” 🙂

I am 31 and my boyfriend is 29–so, while still young, we aren’t kids anymore either–I guess I’ve lived long enough (and made enough mistakes) to know that this is something I want to make a really well-informed decision on and I trust you guys since you are walking this walk!

Thank you and may our Lord bless your obedience! Lori
 
We’ve recently begun using Sympto-Thermal NFP. Actually, we’re trying to conceive our first child right now, but when we need to space our children later on, we plan on sticking with this method.

I’m a scientist and a bit of a control freak, so having three different symptoms to check and chart (basal temp., cervical mucus, cervical position) is a good thing for me. Plus, it only takes about a minute in the morning to temp with a digital thermometer, and another couple of minutes later to check the cervical signs. No big deal. It took at least that much time every day to remember to take the Pill, rummage through the drawer to find the Pill packet, get a glass of water, pop the tiny Pill out of the foil without dropping it somewhere unreachable, and finally swallow the stupid thing. Not to mention the health benefits of being off the Pill, and the fact that I’m no longer going against Church teachings.
 
I use the Sympto-Thermo method by checking my temp and mucus, but don’t check my cervix. Being almost 38, my cycle varies so it is hard to determine, but so far we’ve prevented pregnancy, not to say that I am not open to life. I would gladly accept what God gives me.
 
…and this being said, if you don’t mind me asking, how many days do you wind up abstaining a month? I realize this may vary person to person…

The good news is that I have order the Couple to Couple league home study course–I think it will be well worth the money…
 
I’ve been using the Sympto-therm. method because I like the extra assurance of the temp and cervix signs. Lately we’ve been having pretty long periods of abstinence because there’s been so many crazy things going on that I think it’s delaying ovulation. It really stinks to be quite honest! But we get through it and even the long abstinence definitely beats hormones or condemns!
 
We use the Creighton Model, Fertility Care system.

We just find it easier than the Sympto-thermal system. However, both systems are good.

Cheers.
 
Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler helped me so much. However it is not a Catholic book and she mentions the option of using barrier methods while fertile. Other than that it was a great book that I still use as a reference.
 
We have found that the Sympto-Thermal method tends to be more accurate, we used it for a while and managed a four year gap between our 4th and 5th kids, but we currently use the Billings or Creighton method. We are not really trying to prevent pregnancy, we are just trying to space the births, so we don’t really try all that hard to follow the program. We are expecting our 7th and our babies are coming about every 2 years now. When we first married we didn’t use anything at all and we ended up having 4 kids in 5 years! So two year spacing is a blessing to us. 🙂
 
Not even taking in account the moral reasons for using NFP and not contraception, I find it crazy that someone would suggest using the barrier methods (one of the least effective methods) during the most fertile time of a women’s cycle. It is especially crazy when you relize that the quoted effectivity of the condem is for the entire range of the women’s cycle and when used only in the most fertile times is easily 1/2 as effective. My wife and I are trained and active teachers in the Sympto-Thermal Method and this particular method in his book cracks me up. I do not know for sure which methods he is referring to but in my research I have discovered the FAM method which teaches that.
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Lorik:
Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler helped me so much. However it is not a Catholic book and she mentions the option of using barrier methods while fertile. Other than that it was a great book that I still use as a reference.
Click to expand...
 
Definitely the Creighton Model Fertility Care System. It is way easier than the Sympto-thermal since there is no temp taking or internal checks on the cervix and it is just as effective in avoiding a pregnancy. Also, if you’re trying to achieve a pregnancy, there is also a very high effectiveness rate there, too. And one other thing that this method has… NaProTechnology. Check it out! 👍

www.fertilitycare.org
www.popepaulvi.com
 
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