Nfp help!

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Mbp1991

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My husband and I are practicing Catholics and are completely in line with the Church’s teachings. We just got married a little less than a month ago. We took a NFP class (STM) a few months before we got married so I could practice charting. I learned how to read my charts and felt confident because I was able to p(name removed by moderator)oint ovulation and following temperature rise.

However, the chart I have been on since we got married is completely screwed up. I have had days of mucus, followed by one or two dry days, followed by 4-5 days of good obviously fertile mucus. Now I have had no mucus or sensations for 6 days since the fertile mucus and had no temperature rise at all! We started abstaining on day 8 of my chart since that was the first sign of mucus and its now day 24.

This is really stressful and discouraging especially since we are newlyweds and barely had a week together to be intimate since we have been married. I am in nursing school so we really cannot conceive. Also, we did not get a chance to go on a honeymoon immediately after our wedding because I had an entrance exam right after christmas break. So, we decided to do a couple of weekend trips throughout the year as a honeymoon. This weekend is our first trip and we were hoping to be in the luteal phase and its just not looking like that. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
 
Now I’m no expert and I use creighton but I suspect stress is what is causing your trouble. Stress can really mess with your cycles. I have a number of cycles where I double peak. I have a wave of mucus then some dry days, then another set of mucus. If ones body gets too stress it will post-pone ovulation until one is under less stress. In extreme cases you get the “missed period” effect where your body stays dry for two or more weeks following a failed ovulation attempt before trying again!

If you have an instructor to meet with I would suggest doing so. They might be able to pin-point what is happening and give you advice on how to correct it. I know I had to change my diet and add some vitamins to help manage how my body handles stress and I still have an occasional double peak month.

I’ll be praying for you to get it all figured out. 🙂
 
“I have had days of mucus, followed by one or two dry days, followed by 4-5 days of good obviously fertile mucus. Now I have had no mucus or sensations for 6 days since the fertile mucus and had no temperature rise at all! We started abstaining on day 8 of my chart since that was the first sign of mucus and its now day 24.”

I think akela has this right. This sounds like an attempt to ovulate, thwarted by stress. You just got married, you’re in school and you probably just had exams. That’s a lot of stress. Also, ironically, going on vacation can be stressful, too. If you believe that you have good reasons to delay conception, wait until you have clear evidence of ovulation and stick to Phase 3 (the post-ovulatory period).

Please bear in mind (and make sure that your husband understands) that there is a lot of abstinence involved even in non-NFP married life. Postpartum couples face an automatic 6 weeks of doctor-ordered abstinence (and women who have miscarried also often need to abstain for long periods of time to ensure a full recovery). Likewise, in the case of pregnancy complications, it’s common to wind up with months of “pelvic rest” (i.e. no sex, no vaginal activity of any kind) to avoid jeopardizing the baby.

Best wishes!
 
akela135 said:
Now I’m no expert and I use creighton but I suspect stress is what is causing your trouble. Stress can really mess with your cycles. I have a number of cycles where I double peak. I have a wave of mucus then some dry days, then another set of mucus. If ones body gets too stress it will post-pone ovulation until one is under less stress. In extreme cases you get the “missed period” effect where your body stays dry for two or more weeks following a failed ovulation attempt before trying again!

If you have an instructor to meet with I would suggest doing so. They might be able to pin-point what is happening and give you advice on how to correct it. I know I had to change my diet and add some vitamins to help manage how my body handles stress and I still have an occasional double peak month.

I’ll be praying for you to get it all figured out. 🙂
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I use STM, and I agree. Sounds a lot like stress.

Have you been keeping track of your temp? Did it go up, then back down, within a day or so?
 
I took the Creighton Model class and charted like a good catholic girl and I could not get the hang of it whatsoever. My body was ALL over the place and it was extremely frustrating. I have a severe case of endometriosis so it isn’t likely I can have children anyway so I gave up charting and we decided if we get pregnant we will be happy. Most people don’t have that problem, so I don’t know what we would have done if I was normal. I could never chart correctly and my husband always pitched a fit when I told him we had to wait a couple of days because I wasn’t sure. I know this is the only option we have since we as Catholics can’t use birth control but it is super tricky regardless of what our overly positive NFP teacher said. I can’t imagine having to rely on this method to save my life if having a pregnancy was life threatening. I would seriously just say abstain but my husband would probably lose his mind.
 
Please bear in mind (and make sure that your husband understands) that there is a lot of abstinence involved even in non-NFP married life. Postpartum couples face an automatic 6 weeks of doctor-ordered abstinence (and women who have miscarried also often need to abstain for long periods of time to ensure a full recovery).
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The dr will waive this- it’s because birth control can’t be prescribed until at least 6 wks postpartum. The most we ever did was about 2 weeks (that’s all I had real bleeding for).

Sounds like stress to me as well- do you have someone to talk to re: charting?
 
Aggies08 said:
The dr will waive this- it’s because birth control can’t be prescribed until at least 6 wks postpartum. The most we ever did was about 2 weeks (that’s all I had real bleeding for).

Sounds like stress to me as well- do you have someone to talk to re: charting?
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I agree with this. Some people who have births with little or no tearing, no stitches, etc, can have sex basically the next day if they want to. My midwife checked me out at my two week postpartum appointment and told me I was good to go (waited a bit longer because both DH and I were exhausted), but six weeks is not a hard and fast rule.

We use STM and the OP’s situation sounds pretty typical for stress. If you have someone you could talk to about charting, that would be great! STM is often a “self-learned” method, but since you took a class I would recommend contacting the instructor(s) - even if they can’t help, they will be able to point you to someone who can.
 
Aggies08 said:
The dr will waive this- it’s because birth control can’t be prescribed until at least 6 wks postpartum. The most we ever did was about 2 weeks (that’s all I had real bleeding for).

Sounds like stress to me as well- do you have someone to talk to re: charting?
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I ended up having to wait 7 weeks. So it isn’t automatic that the wait will be waived.
 
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