Postpartum NFP without symptom methods

[EamonGorin]

I’m looking for advice/thoughts/suggestions on postpartum NFP. My wife and have a 6 month old (baby #2) who has been exclusively breastfed until he just started trying solids a couple days ago. We started our 4-year-old (baby #1) on solids even earlier than 6 months but still breastfed heavily until about 9-10 months. My wife’s cycle returned at about 9-10 months with baby #1.

We initially tried the Creighton method right after marriage but due to my wife’s difficult mucus observations, we had a lot of days with indeterminate fertility resulting in much frustration and prolonged periods of abstinence. We still somehow managed to get pregnant while using Creighton after 7 months and after baby #1 was born, we went through several months of complete abstinence until we started resorting to condoms, something neither of us are proud of.

We then found the temp based Daysy/LadyComp device which gave us objective information that didn’t force my wife to make a subjective interpretation based on very difficult/ambiguous mucus observations. This worked well enough for quite some time until it didn’t and baby #2 came along. We are now well past the postpartum-56-days-of-infertility and are finding ourselves in a horizonless wasteland of abstinence and struggling to remain faithful to catholic teaching.

We have risked it once but we were then worried for the next 3 weeks about the possibility of being pregnant again. We are convinced that my wife double-peaked when we got pregnant with baby #2 and would be willing to get back on Daysy or possibly try TempDrop or any other exclusively objective methods, but any symptom-based methods are out as my wife will not trust herself after Creighton failed with baby #1. Most things I have read involve symptom-based methods or a combination such as Marquette or STM and temp based methods don’t seem to be reliable until after the cycle is reestablished. Short of continuing to abstain until her cycle returns, does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Brendea]

Have you tried ovulation test kits much like pregnancy tests but they tell you when your ovulating some even tell you when you have no chance of conception.

Or… I was watching something on YouTube and you can actually get a watch that manages to figure out where abouts your cycle is ( I have no idea how it works and have forgotten what its called but it looked interesting mabye Google NFP watch)

the other thing I would normally suggest is an app on her phone but if she hasn’t yet started menstruating or menstruating regularly yet that will be of no use

 

[jlc2k2]

I’m using TempDrop now and it still requires observation of other symptoms and chart interpretation. Unless you are going to avoid phase 1 entirely and only use phase 3, Marquette is the only method I can think of without other observations. There is a breastfeeding/no cycle protocol with Marquette so you may investigate that further. I considered using that after my youngest.

 

[13pollitos]

Ovulation kits can be pricy, but they are pretty accurate. If you seriously feel the need to avoid, that may be your best bet. I just looked up Marquette, and it seems very, very good. I would second that suggestion.

That being said, your spacing is really good. Many of us would love having 9-10 months of no cycles after while nursing exclusively. It might be good to realize the blessings you have been given as a couple.

 

[Clementine14]

As others have mentioned, there is a specific breastfeeding protocol for Marquette. While I never followed it (my own cycles returned three months postpartum, even while exclusively breastfeeding) we have used Marquette for many years in general.

Even if cervical mucus is hard to observe correctly, the monitor is an added reassurance.

 

[starlady]

Another vote for Marquette. I am currently almost 6 months postpartum and have been using Marquette for 4 months now. I am breastfeeding and have not yet had return of cycles. I am using the Tempdrop wearable device as well to take my temperature at night…it’s helpful because I am still waking up frequently with our son. The Tempdrop is just a thermometer, so it won’t tell you anything about where you are in your cycle until after you’ve ovulated, so you do need to use it in connection in some other method. I am only using it to cross check that ovulation has occurred (when it does).

Even using the fertility monitor alone in Marquette, the success rate is pretty high, something like 98%, I believe, and adding on temps and/or mucus observations only very slightly improve that success rate. It can be a significant upfront cost (monitor, test sticks sand instruction), but once you have those, the only recurring cost are the test sticks.

 

[Anicette]

As your wife has a 6 mounths old, who is eating solid, she cannot rely on LAM method.

Whatever method you decide, do not use it alone. Be supervised by a certified monitor.
Most methods have post partum rules to know correctly.

If you do not trust Creighton, use something else.

Combined method can be better, for you, perhaps?

And as you pointed it too, abstinence is also an other possibility.

 

[starlady]

As your wife has a 6 mounths old, who is eating solid, she cannot rely on LAM method.

Whatever method you decide, do not use it alone. Be supervised by a certified monitor.
Most methods have post partum rules to know correctly.

If you do not trust Creighton, use something else.

Combined method can be better, for you, perhaps?

And as you pointed it too, abstinence is also an other possibility.

I meant to add that to my post as well. Usually, the cited success rates are based on people who are receiving or have received formal instruction. As far as I am aware, many major NFP methods have at least some instructors who are willing to work with couples if cost is a concern.