J
JRPO
Guest
p.s we have seven beautiful children that I absolutely adore each one a very special gift from God.
- Status
M
masondoggy
Guest
How long have you used NFP? 5 1/2 years
Which method do you use? STM (kind of) more like mucus-only. I’m reaaaaaallllyyy bad about charting & tempting. But my cycles are very regular so I abstain at the first sign of mucus and count days in my head when mucus starts to dry up. Definitely not using the method correctly and need to get my act in order…
Have you ever had an unexpected pregnancy? No
If you had an unexpected pregnancy, were you using your NFP method perfectly at the time you conceived? n/a, however my youngest was conceived by outright breaking the rules. Now I have a rule of no wine when I know I’m ovulating because we have no self control!
How many children do you have? 4, 1 in Heaven
Which method do you use? STM (kind of) more like mucus-only. I’m reaaaaaallllyyy bad about charting & tempting. But my cycles are very regular so I abstain at the first sign of mucus and count days in my head when mucus starts to dry up. Definitely not using the method correctly and need to get my act in order…
Have you ever had an unexpected pregnancy? No
If you had an unexpected pregnancy, were you using your NFP method perfectly at the time you conceived? n/a, however my youngest was conceived by outright breaking the rules. Now I have a rule of no wine when I know I’m ovulating because we have no self control!
How many children do you have? 4, 1 in Heaven
S
sherimarie
Guest
Annie, If your using the pill you could be aborting your newly conceived children. I think you had better give the paul vi center another try.
We have used NFP on and off for 7 years. I have crazy fertility signs so i can sympathize with anyone who has had a long time to think about why NFP was the right way to go. My Bernard and I always come back to the same truth, it is better for me (no worries about added risk of breast cancer), safer for our children (no worries about aborting them), and better for our marriage.
We have never had a surprise pregnancy.
We have 3 children and an angel in Heaven.
We have used NFP on and off for 7 years. I have crazy fertility signs so i can sympathize with anyone who has had a long time to think about why NFP was the right way to go. My Bernard and I always come back to the same truth, it is better for me (no worries about added risk of breast cancer), safer for our children (no worries about aborting them), and better for our marriage.
We have never had a surprise pregnancy.
We have 3 children and an angel in Heaven.
R
ryecroft
Guest
I won’t go too much into this, but I think most of us have seen that even Fr. Serpa has said that in situations that involve medical conditions that double effect takes place- that’s my situation - having spoken with my Catholic OBGYN, I have been told by her that the pill that I take has a miniscule possibility of having it be abortifacient is miniscule and that she has read that it can be an abortifacient but has never seen, read or heard of a situation where this occured. My husband feels that it’s better for me not to have to risk my life again with a pregnancy - when the doctors give us the o.k. that i’m well enough (which we look like we may get soon), then we will feel good about getting pregnant again. I believe that God gave us the ability to know when we should use certain things such as ABC and in our case with my medical conditions and with our past failures of NFP, using birth control is what we know we must do. I can’t afford (my health) to have another “fluke” or “miracle” as you call it to nearly kill me again and neither my husband or I have any desire to have to make a choice again between my life and that of a fetus. I’m glad it works out for you but I’m just trying to say that NFP doesn’t work for everyone (as far as trying to prevent pregnancy). We actually are using NFP (if you consider using OVACUE a form of NFP) for when we have the o.k. to try again so we’ll be able to get pregnant quickly and under natural circumstances (hopefully). You also mentioned giving the Paul the VI center another try - We can’t afford to give that place another try because the only way we’ll find out if their “new” advice isn’t correct is to wind up pregnant during a time my doctors feel I shouldn’t be. We can’ t chance that again. Sometimes the pill is the best choice even if you’re Catholic.
God Bless
Rye
Annie
A
agapewolf
Guest
There is SOOOO much misunderstanding here…
First, double effect does NOT apply to avoiding pregnancy. Double effect applies to the “pill” actually doing something such as regulate hormones needed. NOT to avoid pregnancy because the pregnancy could cause another problem.
2nd, if NFP wasn’t working for you, then that means you had some health issues having to do with your fertile signs. Its not just an “oh well, it doesn’t work for us.” Instead what should be said is “wow, my body isn’t doing what its supposed to and showing me some signs that shouldn’t be there, I should look into this further to fix that problem.”
3rd, if you can’t risk getting pregnant, which is the natural result of sex, then, don’t have sex. Don’t put up barriers that further insults your marriage and sex life. It is distorting the sex act. This is church teaching.
4th, the pill is making the body stop working the way its supposed to. It is extremely harmful for the body. many many many docs will attest to this. see omsoul.com.
So while you are saying you can’t afford to get pregnant, you are just as much risking your health by taking the pill.
C
Cajun_Girl
Guest
How long have you used NFP?
Sporadically for three years.
Which method do you use?
Sympto-Thermal
Have you ever had an unexpected pregnancy?
No
If you had an unexpected pregnancy, were you using your NFP method perfectly at the time you conceived?
N/A
How many children do you have?
One sweet little boy.
Because of my irregularities, NFP is a little difficult for me, and it requires a long period of abstinence. However, my husband (who isn’t Catholic) and I are, overall, happy with our experience. NFP has caused us some tensions, but we’re very happy that we don’t have to worry about the cost and health effects of artifical birth control. Our marital relations are better for it.
Sporadically for three years.
Which method do you use?
Sympto-Thermal
Have you ever had an unexpected pregnancy?
No
If you had an unexpected pregnancy, were you using your NFP method perfectly at the time you conceived?
N/A
How many children do you have?
One sweet little boy.
Because of my irregularities, NFP is a little difficult for me, and it requires a long period of abstinence. However, my husband (who isn’t Catholic) and I are, overall, happy with our experience. NFP has caused us some tensions, but we’re very happy that we don’t have to worry about the cost and health effects of artifical birth control. Our marital relations are better for it.
F
frecklemom
Guest
**How long have you used NFP?
3 years
Which method do you use?
Sympto-Thermal
Have you ever had an unexpected pregnancy?
Not really…
If you had an unexpected pregnancy, were you using your NFP method perfectly at the time you conceived?
Because…it really wasn’t a big surprise. We knew we weren’t following the guidlines. We just had to be together!
How many children do you have? **3_gorgeus kids________
3 years
Which method do you use?
Sympto-Thermal
Have you ever had an unexpected pregnancy?
Not really…
If you had an unexpected pregnancy, were you using your NFP method perfectly at the time you conceived?
Because…it really wasn’t a big surprise. We knew we weren’t following the guidlines. We just had to be together!
How many children do you have? **3_gorgeus kids________
R
ryecroft
Guest
Ididn’t mean that the double effect had anything to do with pregnancy - I was on artificial birth control from a very early age due to my heavy bleeding - that is why I take it - to control the bleeding - if I wern’t married, I’d still take it. As I mentioned, as soon as the doctors o.k. our trying again, we will try - I don’t insult my marriage by taking abc, I keep myself from having to get transfusions, so I appreciate your opinion, but I am very aware of what double effect refers to. I apologize if I didn’t make that clear. Again, NFP may work for many on here but not for all. I’m sure that the doctors at omsoul.com are great doctors, I also believe that they are working medicine along with their faith, which is fine. I was referring to Fr. Serpa because he made it clear earlier on a thread that if you had medical reasons such as mine, then taking artificial birth control applied because I was not using it to keep from getting pregnant. He even stated that if the pill had an abortifacient property than it would still be under double effect due to the fact that my first intention had nothing to do with preventing pregnancy and therefore, marital relations were fine while on the pill.
God Bless
Rye
Annie
A
agapewolf
Guest
No, you didn’t read the site. THese are not doctors merely working with their faith. These are doctors, like I said before that all agree that the pill is extremely physically harmful. They are making decisions about this based on science, not their faith.
Heavy bleeding can be an indicator of some more very serious problems. Instead of fixing those probs, you’ve put a band aid on it to stop the symptoms and ignored what your body is telling you. It’s like feeling a very serious painful headache in the same side of the head for months on end, and just taking advil for it every day, instead of getting an mri to find the tumor causing the headache. These docs use the charting to go deeper, find the hormones, vitamins, or nutrients your body needs and fixing the actual problem. Therefore, the charting will then work.
J
Jenny_Z
Guest
I used the pill before I converted, from the age of 14 to 21. I used it because at age 14, I was having irregular, heavy periods. Instead of finding out why, the doc told me “just take the pill, it will regulate everything”.
I found out when I was 25 that I had polycystic ovaries. The 4 years between stopping the pill and being diagnosed were hell. I gained a ton of weight, among other very humiliating things.
The pill covered it up for years, and probably made it worse when I got off of them (because I didn’t think anything was wrong), whereas if the doctor would have actually tried to figure out what was wrong with me, I probably could have started taking meds to fix it way back then, and saved all that heartache and physical pain.
I’m very angry at how the pill is used as a “treat all”, when all it does is cover up the real problems that are sure to pop up again later in life.
I found out when I was 25 that I had polycystic ovaries. The 4 years between stopping the pill and being diagnosed were hell. I gained a ton of weight, among other very humiliating things.
The pill covered it up for years, and probably made it worse when I got off of them (because I didn’t think anything was wrong), whereas if the doctor would have actually tried to figure out what was wrong with me, I probably could have started taking meds to fix it way back then, and saved all that heartache and physical pain.
I’m very angry at how the pill is used as a “treat all”, when all it does is cover up the real problems that are sure to pop up again later in life.
B
Brav3N3wWorld
Guest
How long have you used NFP?
2 years and 10 months, with 14 months off due to baby
Which method do you use?
CCLI’s Sympto-thermal method
Have you ever had an unexpected pregnancy?
Yup, and I don’t know anyone using NFP personally who hasn’t had an “oops” baby.
If you had an unexpected pregnancy, were you using your NFP method perfectly at the time you conceived?
It is very hard to use NFP perfectly, especially starting out. And I don’t mean looking at the chart, and deciding to go for it anyway. I mean it is very hard to interpret your signs, and readings can be very confusing. If you really want to avoid pregnancy and use NFP, start charting NOW, or you will most likely concieve before your first honeymoon. I also have friends who concieved “oops” babies as a result of breastfeeding. The NFP literature says you can rely on breastfeeding to prevent ovulation before the baby has solid food. This is true, but after those 4 to 6 months, it is hard to tell when ovulation has occured. Once again it is easy to misinturpret your signs.
My advice: Learn NFP now. Be very very careful. Be prepared for long periods of absitnence and a possible “oops” baby. If breastfeeding your oops baby, be prepared for more long periods of abstinence.
Though many people who promote NFP discuss how wonderful it is for marriage, in my experience it’s been a real issue for us. Instead of discussing benifits like “better communication,” “more recpectful of women,” etc. (We fight a lot over NFP, and I feel like a science experiment going through daily tests.) The literature should say that it is a real cross for some couples. Don’t do NFP for these fringe benifits (which may not be there for you). Do it because the church teaches us that we should.
How many children do you have?
1
2 years and 10 months, with 14 months off due to baby
Which method do you use?
CCLI’s Sympto-thermal method
Have you ever had an unexpected pregnancy?
Yup, and I don’t know anyone using NFP personally who hasn’t had an “oops” baby.
If you had an unexpected pregnancy, were you using your NFP method perfectly at the time you conceived?
It is very hard to use NFP perfectly, especially starting out. And I don’t mean looking at the chart, and deciding to go for it anyway. I mean it is very hard to interpret your signs, and readings can be very confusing. If you really want to avoid pregnancy and use NFP, start charting NOW, or you will most likely concieve before your first honeymoon. I also have friends who concieved “oops” babies as a result of breastfeeding. The NFP literature says you can rely on breastfeeding to prevent ovulation before the baby has solid food. This is true, but after those 4 to 6 months, it is hard to tell when ovulation has occured. Once again it is easy to misinturpret your signs.
My advice: Learn NFP now. Be very very careful. Be prepared for long periods of absitnence and a possible “oops” baby. If breastfeeding your oops baby, be prepared for more long periods of abstinence.
Though many people who promote NFP discuss how wonderful it is for marriage, in my experience it’s been a real issue for us. Instead of discussing benifits like “better communication,” “more recpectful of women,” etc. (We fight a lot over NFP, and I feel like a science experiment going through daily tests.) The literature should say that it is a real cross for some couples. Don’t do NFP for these fringe benifits (which may not be there for you). Do it because the church teaches us that we should.
How many children do you have?
1
M
maryjk
Guest
Hi, I use NFP and I have not had an “oops” baby. I know I am just a name on the thread, but there are many of us out here.
F
FrenchGwen
Guest
How long have you used NFP?
15 months
Which method do you use?
Billings (+ temp for some days of the months, but I mostly rely on my Billings observation, and use my temp solely as a confirmation)
Have you ever had an unexpected pregnancy?
nope.
If you had an unexpected pregnancy, were you using your NFP method perfectly at the time you conceived?
as I said, no unexpected pregnancy, although we …
often do not use our method perfectly. The “worst” we’ve done till now is intimacy 4 days before Peak, and it looks like DH’s little swimmers are no survivors…
How many children do you have?
0.
I do agree with many posters above : the key to the thing is learning ahead : I had had the time to chart 10 entire cycles before our wedding, and that was really helpful. Yet you still have to be ready to long periods of abstinence at the beginning: I do have rather “nice” cycles, but once you’re married, you need some time to get used to the way your body functions once you enjoy intimacy, so we began with some 15 days of abstaining in a row for 2 or 3 cycles before I got more confident … and we subsequently became less paranoiac to begin with, and then got into the habit of taking some liberties with the rules…
15 months
Which method do you use?
Billings (+ temp for some days of the months, but I mostly rely on my Billings observation, and use my temp solely as a confirmation)
Have you ever had an unexpected pregnancy?
nope.
If you had an unexpected pregnancy, were you using your NFP method perfectly at the time you conceived?
as I said, no unexpected pregnancy, although we …
often do not use our method perfectly. The “worst” we’ve done till now is intimacy 4 days before Peak, and it looks like DH’s little swimmers are no survivors…How many children do you have?
0.
I do agree with many posters above : the key to the thing is learning ahead : I had had the time to chart 10 entire cycles before our wedding, and that was really helpful. Yet you still have to be ready to long periods of abstinence at the beginning: I do have rather “nice” cycles, but once you’re married, you need some time to get used to the way your body functions once you enjoy intimacy, so we began with some 15 days of abstaining in a row for 2 or 3 cycles before I got more confident … and we subsequently became less paranoiac to begin with, and then got into the habit of taking some liberties with the rules…
B
Brav3N3wWorld
Guest
That’s why I said “know personally.” Apparently there are successful NFPers out there. (I’ve read about them here anyway.) I just haven’t met you in real life.
I think one thing that makes a difference is having a supportive community with plenty of teaching couples nearby. I lived in a place, where the nearest class was an hour’s drive for everyone in my parish. I think this might have contributed to our “oopsies.” Now I live in a place where there are teaching couples nearby. I’ve done the home study course, and DH and I may hook up with a class here. (Once we find a babysitter for our little oopsie blessing.)
M
Mom_jackie
Guest
How long have you used NFP? 3 years
Which method do you use? sympto thermal
Have you ever had an unexpected pregnancy? no
If you had an unexpected pregnancy, were you using your NFP method perfectly at the time you conceived?
How many children do you have? 2, baby #3 on the way
Which method do you use? sympto thermal
Have you ever had an unexpected pregnancy? no
If you had an unexpected pregnancy, were you using your NFP method perfectly at the time you conceived?
How many children do you have? 2, baby #3 on the way
R
ryecroft
Guest
Actually, I think you’re taking quite a few liberties with your belief in NFP working once I have this “problem” fixed. Having gone to the doctor the day before yesterday (and yes, a Catholic one who does promote NFP if you feel it’s “right” for you and your partner) I asked her what the other possible types of treatments I might have- we discussed the myomectamy AGAIN and also brought up the fact that I could wind up loosing more than tumors and cysts but she also brought up the fact that my periods were night mares even prior to getting cyts and tumors, another option was to go in and look around, although she didn’t think this would yeild too much, we discussed nutrition and determined that this was very unlikely the culprit as I have to eat fairly healthy due to kidney disease - then we came back to hormone therapy which we’re trying to stay off of for the next six months because we would actually like to try again to have a baby. She did say that sometimes women just have horrific periods and that NFP would not be the best answer for us after trying another pregnancy. We are using the Ovacue (the one that you can give it saliva and check your vaginal secretion and it will tell you how far off from ovulating you are and if you should have sex or not depending on what your end purpose on using this information is for) - along with barrier methods right now until all the doctors are on board with us trying to conceive and carry healthfully. And I honestly believe her- and as she has made clear to me, the only way you know if the NFP doesn’t work is if you turn up pregnant. Believe me, if I could just chart and use the machine, I would - but again these situations get so bad (and have for a long time) that I can wind up needing transfusions. So we’re praying that all will go well and in 4 1/2 more months we’ll be able to begin trying. Just as a note, I’ve had multiple surgeries to have the cysts out and they looked around in there trying to see if there was any obvious answer for why these periods were so bad, but know OBGYN can do much more than guess and God knows I’ve been to ALOT of them.
Sometimes periods are just really heavy and painful for some women and sometimes NFP works great for some women but there are times that NFP does not always work for all women (and this is something that my OBGYN has said as well - she has also drilled into my head that the only way we know it doesn’t work is by getting pregnant). Believe me, I would be THRILLED if it worked for us, but it’s just not a safe option for myself or for the children I may carry. I’m glad it works well for you though!
God Bless
Rye
- Status