M
motherload
Guest
So I’ve had the privilege of being on this website before but this is my first post. I have a personal question that I’d like some help with. I’ve thought about first going to my clergy but even I know that they tend to “interpret” the Church’s teaching as they see fit. I’m not just looking for what I want to hear, but rather, I want to hear the truth. So my husband and I have been married for 10 years. When we got married we had hoped to have between 3-5 children, figuring we’d settle on 4. Child #1 was a surprise but child #2 was completely planned. Child #3 was again a surprise but we had been wanting a child so there was absolutely no disappointment. After trying to conceive child #4 for nearly a year, to no avail, for personal reasons, we needed to hold off trying for a few months. Of course, it was during those few months that child #4 was conceived.
My husband and I have been faithfully following the Creighton method of NFP since we have been married. Honestly, I’d be lying if I said I completely love doing it. I do however, trust God and believe whole heartedly in the teaching of the Church on this issue. Thus, we follow it faithfully. However, as you can see by my story, just like any form of birth control, it is not 100% effective, thus, a few surprises along the way.
Shortly after I became pregnant with child #4 my husband and I decided that we definitely wanted one more child. Our family life is very crazy at times and we felt like the best time to begin trying for child #5 would be sometime just before #4 turned 2. Well apparently God had other plans for us. When #4 was 9 months old, I was completely shocked to find that I am pregnant again. I am especially surprised because not only had we been very careful with NFP, we were also using a fertility monitor (OvaCue monitor) that monitors your hormone levels and helps to determine your fertile days. While the company does not advocate using the monitor for NFP they do not advise against it. Again, our intentions were to use this merely to supplement our NFP.
Having my last two children so close together will be quite a struggle for me. I have already found myself overwhelmed by the busyness of life plus 4 kids. Additionally, our financial situation is not the best. I am a SAHM and my husband is an educator. We really aren’t making ends meat now. Neither myself nor my children have health insurance. We simply cannot afford it. So now where do we go from here? We have used NFP according to the method but even that has given us 4 surprises. At this point, I don’t think I want any more children but I am in my early 30’s and I could certainly never rule out the possibility of having more several years down the road. I am adamantly opposed to people who believe that what they think is best for them now will be what’s best for them in 5 or 10 years from now (thus they head to permanent sterilization as the “solution”). With that said, what do we do after we have this baby? Clearly, NFP is not working for us when we need to prevent a pregnancy. There is absolutely no way financially, or mentally, that we can add another child to our family in the near future. Shy of abstaining 24/7 my husband and I just don’t know what to do.
My husband and I have been faithfully following the Creighton method of NFP since we have been married. Honestly, I’d be lying if I said I completely love doing it. I do however, trust God and believe whole heartedly in the teaching of the Church on this issue. Thus, we follow it faithfully. However, as you can see by my story, just like any form of birth control, it is not 100% effective, thus, a few surprises along the way.
Shortly after I became pregnant with child #4 my husband and I decided that we definitely wanted one more child. Our family life is very crazy at times and we felt like the best time to begin trying for child #5 would be sometime just before #4 turned 2. Well apparently God had other plans for us. When #4 was 9 months old, I was completely shocked to find that I am pregnant again. I am especially surprised because not only had we been very careful with NFP, we were also using a fertility monitor (OvaCue monitor) that monitors your hormone levels and helps to determine your fertile days. While the company does not advocate using the monitor for NFP they do not advise against it. Again, our intentions were to use this merely to supplement our NFP.
Having my last two children so close together will be quite a struggle for me. I have already found myself overwhelmed by the busyness of life plus 4 kids. Additionally, our financial situation is not the best. I am a SAHM and my husband is an educator. We really aren’t making ends meat now. Neither myself nor my children have health insurance. We simply cannot afford it. So now where do we go from here? We have used NFP according to the method but even that has given us 4 surprises. At this point, I don’t think I want any more children but I am in my early 30’s and I could certainly never rule out the possibility of having more several years down the road. I am adamantly opposed to people who believe that what they think is best for them now will be what’s best for them in 5 or 10 years from now (thus they head to permanent sterilization as the “solution”). With that said, what do we do after we have this baby? Clearly, NFP is not working for us when we need to prevent a pregnancy. There is absolutely no way financially, or mentally, that we can add another child to our family in the near future. Shy of abstaining 24/7 my husband and I just don’t know what to do.
Not artificial birth control… just OTHER NFP methods! Have you considered the Sympto-Thermal method? Or maybe take classes in the Marquette Method (which uses a fertility monitor as well)?
God Bless!