Should I learn NFP now?

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I’m just looking for a little advice to you folks who are NFP-proficient. My fiance and I have decided that we are not going to use NFP to space or delay children. Not because we think it’s wrong, just because we both want a lot of children and we have no idea what kind of fertility issues we may have. We just finished reading ‘Marriage is for Keeps: Wedding Edition’ and in fact just read the NFP chapter last night. We’ve talked a lot about our family planning, but I’m wondering if I should learn and start charting now, in the event that we have trouble conceiving. I’ve had some issues with this part of my health in the past, but am now ‘normal’ whatever that means! 😛

So, again, I’m just wondering if anyone has advice…learn/chart now? Or just play it by ear assuming we won’t have any problems conceiving?

Thanks in advance! 🙂
 
I’m in the “learn it now” camp. I think it’s much easier to learn NFP before you are sexually active. It takes a few months to get the charting and observations down. You may even discover-- and correct-- problems before you are married via charting.

Learn how, practice, and then decide if you want to keep charting every day once married.

I think it would be much harder to learn in the midst of whatever type of problem you may be experiencing. And, while you are focused on conceiving, you don’t know what may happen down the road that would cause you to *need *to avoid/space. And, I think during a time when you have a serious reason to avoid is the worst time to be trying to learn NFP, gain confidence, etc. You might have a seriously prolonged period of abstinence in that case, or add to an already high stress level.

Personally, I think it’s better to know how to chart effectively, accurately, and consistently and then decide how/when/if you want to use that knowledge.
 
I am in the “start now” camp and wish we had this prior to our infertility problems.

My wife and I used the Creighton model during infertility problems, (in fact, we were patients of Dr. Hilgers in Omaha). We can’t say enough about the ability to monitor and maintain gynecological health over a lifetime. Their website is: creightonmodel.com/ or popepaulvi.com/support.htm

From their website: "The CrMS is based upon a couple’s knowledge and understanding of their naturally-occurring phases of fertility and infertility. Through this understanding, the couple is able to make decisions (choices) regarding the achievement or avoidance of pregnancy. This system provides information which deals with the complete dimension of the procreative ability. In addition, it provides women the added benefit of being able to monitor and maintain their procreative and gynecologic health over a lifetime. It is truly the only family planning system which has networked family planning with gynecologic and procreative healthcare and health maintenance. The teachers of the CrMS are trained allied health professionals and specifically-trained physicians have been educated to incorporate the CrMS into their medical practice. "

“Dr. Thomas W. Hilgers responded to this call. He began research in December 1968 as a medical student. After residency, he established research centers at St. Louis University and Creighton University Schools of Medicine. To carry on this research, he and his wife Sue founded the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction, a decision they made on the day of Pope Paul VI’s death, August 6, 1978. The Institute opened on September 1, 1985. At the Pope Paul VI Institute, a segment of America’s medical community has answered the challenge of Humanae Vitae.”

Happy ending: We have 4 children from India by growing our family through international adoption. God has richly blessed us.🙂
 
People that tell people how wonderful NFP is for diagnosing problems, should be in the camp of learn it now. In fact, they should encourage all women to learn it when they are young.

I am in the camp of knowledge is power. The more you know, the better you are. And knowing more about your body can’t be wrong. So I say go for it.👍
 
Absolutely, learn it now. I know you stated that you and you fiancee plan on having a lot of kids. What if it turns out that both of you are very fertile and decide after having your seventh or eight blessing that you may be done? My husband I just had to look at each other and we would be blessed with a child. We had our first four within 5 years, started nfp for a break and had our final blessing 4 years later. We took the nfp class while we were expecting our fourth and it was difficult getting a babysitter to watch 3 small kids while we went to class. Right now, you have no kids to have to worry about so it would be much easier for you and your fiancee to take the classes and be done.

Children are a blessing from heaven. I pray that you and your fiancee will be abundantly blessed.
 
Yes, learn it now. NFP is so much more than simply spacing or avoiding pregnancy. It’s also a way to keep track of your gynecological health.

If I hadn’t been charting, I wouldn’t have realized that I actually conceived and miscarried in January. I normally have very irregular periods, so I might have just assumed that I simply ovulated late. But when I saw that my luteal phase was longer than normal, I took a pregnancy test, which was positive. When I got my period a week later, it was devestating, but we were able to have a memorial Mass said for our miscarried child. The knowledge of NFP gave me a week with my baby and the opportunity to pray for his soul.
 
I would say to learn it now as well. My fiance and I have started already (well it’s mostly me, taking temps and etc… he just makes the charts for me!). It helps because each woman is different and its good to know your body! I was also irregular for a while… my body corrected itself (turned out to be stress) and now I’m also what they call “regular” but… who knows, if it happens again, I’ll know the signs that I’m looking for. 🙂 Good luck!
 
NFP is much easier to learn when you aren’t breastfeeding or returning to fertility after a child. Believe me my wife and I tried to learn when she was breastfeeding and we were not very successful. Learn it now; it might just save your life. 👍
 
NOW. We are/were in the exact same mind set as you had when we got married. We were not worried about it one way or another… open to as many kids as came. So we didn’t worry too much about starting it. Recently, we have switched from “We are open to it” to more of a “We want to get pregnant”, and need to know what is going on with her cycle.

When learning the Creighton Model of NFP, it requires one month abstenance to learn how to do it. And having more experience with it is better before you become intimate. Not to mention you can identify if there is anything wrong down there too.

As a note, this is coming from a newly wed husband’s point of veiw. We got married last December, and started NFP April 1rst (April fools day) So I wasn’t quite sure if my wife was playing a joke when she said we had to abstain a full month… EEEK! Though I can say it turned out to be a good thing for us as it drew us back a little and has helped keep our passions in line.
 
Learn it now.

It’s also possible that you won’t have fertility problems, but could be MORE fertile than you expect. Some people become fertile very soon after birth no matter what their breastfeeding habits. Predicting the desire for lots and lots of kids is also not the same thing as being in the midst of raising a few young ones, and realizing you might need to slow down a bit. Stranger things have happened than a couple who thought they wouldn’t need NFP suddenly realizing that they need help spacing their children. You just never know what the future holds. Trying to learn NFP while you’re post-partum/breastfeedig/sexually active already can be really difficult. The signs may be tougher to read, and it may be much more difficult to ask each other to abstain for long enough to get a good baseline. I just wouldn’t want to have to deal with that learning curve in the middle of parenting too. Learn it now, and then just don’t use it if you don’t want to when you get married.
 
Jea9 said:
I’m just looking for a little advice to you folks who are NFP-proficient. My fiance and I have decided that we are not going to use NFP to space or delay children. Not because we think it’s wrong, just because we both want a lot of children and we have no idea what kind of fertility issues we may have. We just finished reading ‘Marriage is for Keeps: Wedding Edition’ and in fact just read the NFP chapter last night. We’ve talked a lot about our family planning, but I’m wondering if I should learn and start charting now, in the event that we have trouble conceiving. I’ve had some issues with this part of my health in the past, but am now ‘normal’ whatever that means! 😛

So, again, I’m just wondering if anyone has advice…learn/chart now? Or just play it by ear assuming we won’t have any problems conceiving?

Thanks in advance! 🙂
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I would learn it now. It’s hard to learn once semen starts getting confused with your cervical fluids. They are hard to differentiate, especially at first. That is not saying you must use that knowledge, but it’s good knowledge to have in case you might need it (for whatever reason) in the future. 👍 We are part of the learned it and didn’t use it club. That is what has worked best for us. And there was one single cycle I needed to use NFP to avoid, I was having a surgery and couldn’t risk being pregnant. So there are cases where you might need it even if you mostly choose to use nothing at all. 😉
 
Thanks everyone! 🙂 Although I figured this was the response I’d get, I did not even think about it being harder to learn once married and sexually active. I think it’ll be best to learn now! Shifting gears a little…can I learn it on my own? I’m in a rural area and the couple that teaches here I’m not particularly comfortable with. Or is that something that you wouldn’t recommend?

Thanks again! 😃
 
Jea9 said:
Thanks everyone! 🙂 Although I figured this was the response I’d get, I did not even think about it being harder to learn once married and sexually active. I think it’ll be best to learn now! Shifting gears a little…can I learn it on my own? I’m in a rural area and the couple that teaches here I’m not particularly comfortable with. Or is that something that you wouldn’t recommend?

Thanks again! 😃
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We self taught, but we have very limited fertility, so it’s not really the best measure of its effectiveness. 😉 I know of couples who have normal fertility who self taught and they are doing fine. But many of them will post questions on forums such as these for additional instructions and advice. The benefit of the classes is that no matter what form you take you’ll always have someone who is an expert in the area of NFP that you can call up and/or email when you have questions or run into snags along the way. But then the classes can be expensive and you go on their schedule an not yours most times. Those are just some of the pros and cons of both. It’s really up to you and how serious you are about it. If you think you’ll rarely or never use it, you’ll probably be fine self teaching. If you think you might frequently use it or have good reason to suspect fertility problems and wish to seek treatments for those if the problem should arise, then you’ll probably do best with a class that is taught by a certified NFP instructor.
 
Jea9 said:
Thanks everyone! 🙂 Although I figured this was the response I’d get, I did not even think about it being harder to learn once married and sexually active. I think it’ll be best to learn now! Shifting gears a little…can I learn it on my own? I’m in a rural area and the couple that teaches here I’m not particularly comfortable with. Or is that something that you wouldn’t recommend?

Thanks again! 😃
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There are options for distance teaching. Creighton offers it. And, if you already anticipate fertility issues, I would seriously recommend you learn Creighton. You have to chart Creighton for Dr. Hilgers to work with you at the Pope Paul VI Institute.

Self-teaching is possible in a couple of methods-- CCLI has a home study course for example-- but others such as Creighton have to be learned with an instructor, but not necessarily in person.
 
hi,
I got married 5 years ago and would equally like a lot of children but it took us four years to have our first. I didn’t learn NFP and in some ways I’m happy as my friends that were charting their fertility felt more stressed when they didn’t conceive. If you’re using fertility charts you might feel under greater pressure to conceive straight away. I would advise waiting three or four years and just bonk when you feel like it.
Bye
 
1ke said:
Self-teaching is possible in a couple of methods-- CCLI has a home study course for example-- but others such as Creighton have to be learned with an instructor, but not necessarily in person.
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:yup: I learned the Creighton method over the phone/internet from an instructor. It’s probably harder than doing it in person, but it’s possible.
 
OK - I’m newish to NFP (it wasn’t mentioned at all in RCIA), but I’ve researched it and read a lot of different online resource materials. I understand it, and really for me, it’s just a matter of consistent documentation.

But - What exactly would an instructor do??? That part I still haven’t figured out. Tell me again what I’ve already read? Call every day and ask me if I filled out my chart boxes? Very puzzling.

:confused:
 
tinalewis said:
OK - I’m newish to NFP (it wasn’t mentioned at all in RCIA), but I’ve researched it and read a lot of different online resource materials. I understand it, and really for me, it’s just a matter of consistent documentation.

But - What exactly would an instructor do??? That part I still haven’t figured out. Tell me again what I’ve already read? Call every day and ask me if I filled out my chart boxes? Very puzzling.

:confused:
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Some people just find it easier to study under a master when you are learning NFP. They can also give you advice in advanced mucus tactics and training that might be difficult to learn on your own.
 
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