Birth Control Again

Mom30,

My daughter just started this yesterday. I'll keep you posted.

Judy

Change what you can change; be happy with what you cannot.

I plan to never go back to hormonal bc
I got migraines, lumpy breasts and severe moodiness while on the pill
then I read up on what I was putting into my body and stopped.

still waiting to hear if anyone with POP uses a diaphragm

My husband got a vasectomy. I guess he wanted to be SURE. That's probably not helpful to you but anyway, it's what I use for bc. :-))

i am almost 20 weeks post partum. i have a cystocele and maybe a slight rectocele and uterine prolapse. i was officially diagnosed with the cystocele, but when i check things out....they aren't what they were before the baby. anyway, this question has been on my mind also. i haven't had sex with my husband and need to go on birth control. can't imagine a diaphram or anything due to the state of things "downstairs". so thinking about going in and getting script for the pill. anyone post partum start the pill???? i find my cystocele may be moody according to what time of the month it is...and wonder if constant stream of hormones will help or hurt it??? j

Hi all

My husband finally got motivated to have a vasectomy (after I had a nasty miscarriage). Many years prior to that we were using Natural Family Planning as espoused by the Roman Catholic Church. Also known as Billings Method.

This is not Vatican Roulette but a system of charting changes in cervical mucous and waking body temperature in order to time sex for either maximum or minimum chance of conceiving, depending on why you are doing it. We were actually doing it for both reasons at different times, and I think it worked quite well for both. It does rely on a cooperative partner though, and shoving a thermometer in your mouth every morning for a couple of minutes, and charting the results, then crossing your legs for a few days a month. LOL

It was actually the first time I had to familiarise myself with my genitals. I just took them for granted before that.

NFP may be a good option for some women.

Our first and second babies were conceived after infertility treatment. Our third baby was an unexpected bonus. Our fourth pregnancy, which ultimately miscarried, was a textbook case of not getting the condom on soon enough. We're not really a good advertisement for any methods of contraception but we have three lovely children, so who cares?? NB Our three children have all received very strong instruction on how to use a condom properly. ;-0

Cheers

Louise

Louise,

Hilarious. I too was a Natural Family member. My kids, however, think it's too hard.

And we have four wonderful children. So you're right; who cares?

Judy

Change what you can change; be happy with what you cannot.

Hi Judy

I think my kids think it is a bit hard too. However, I do have a message from my eldest son for you.

"You've got four kids. Were you trying to make babies or prevent babies when you were using it?"

Cheers

Louise
;-)

Be aware that doctors don't recommend the pill if you are breastfeeding because the hormones will affect your milk supply.

Postpartum moms should know about Lactational amennhorea method (not sure on spelling but if you google this you will find more info):

If:
-you are exclusively breastfeeding
-baby is less than 6 months old
-you haven't had a period yet
-baby feeds at least every 4 hours during the day and at least every 6 hours at night

then your chances of getting pregnant are about 2%.
If all of the above are true, except that baby is older than 6 months but less than a year, I believe your chances of getting pregnant are about 6%, although please double check this statistic, because I am not sure of it.

Personally, I am willing to breastfeed all day and night if it means not having to have my period ;) but I know that's not for everyone.
I also learned Natural Family Planning and would use that if I really wanted to avoid getting pregnant.

The Billings method works VERY well. My only problem with it is that the time when mother nature most makes women want sex corresponds with exactly the time you must refrain. Which kind of misses the point.

yes, knowing that the bf is preventing my periods is another benefit. makes the frequent night feeding more palatable. I usually start nightweaning once my cycles return, with the older three that happened between 14-16 mo.

Louise,

Hilarious! Tell your son that four children is only four children. I spend the day with 40 children and think that four is a drop in the bucket. I wanted all four of them and that between the first and the last there were fourteen years. I also thought I was pregnant at 50. That would have made a 30 year spread!

As practicing Catholics, we are open to the child. Children are gifts...

How are your lambs?

Judy

Change what you can change; be happy with what you cannot.

The frequent breastfeeding at night was no problem for me. Much better than bottle feeding would have been. I put the baby down at bedtime in her crib. Husband and I went to sleep, or whatever. The first time she awoke, husband got up and brought her to bed and I "plugged her in" and went back to sleep while she fed. I barely had to wake up at all. Rest of the night, just semi-wake up, roll over, plug her in, go back to sleep. I slept great that way. Cannot imagine going into the kitchen to the fridge, heating bottles, etc. at night. Or even just getting up to sit in a chair and breastfeed. Ha ha ha... can't let an infant keep you from a good night's sleep.

Oh AnneH, I couldn't agree more. I spent years with babies in bed with me, pluggin' 'em in all night. Probably about 8 years all up. I think my babies would have all starved or died of bacterial food poisoning if I had to artificially feed them! The only time I ever missed out on sleep was when we were all sick with wogs. If you follow the golden rule and sleep whenever you can get away with it, it works fine.

The only rider I would add to that is that if you are in an advanced state of sleep deprivation or taking medication or other drugs, eg alcohol, that may affect your ability to awaken, or be aware of the little body next to you, it's probably not a good idea.

Cheers

Louise

Hi jsnyc,

I can't answer your question for sure but I think if anything the Pill has actually helped rather than worsened my POP. After going off it to try for baby number two I felt my POP worsen a bit, to the point I thought I must be Pg straight away (which I wasn't). This may have just been coincidence though and I think it was Granolamom who said she think the Pill makes it worse. It may be an individual thing.

I have heard that part of pregnancy POP is the alteration in hormones so there may be something in hormone levels and POP, but I don't know that there's anything scientific out there on it. Maybe just see how your body responds?

If still breastfeeding, apparently there's a mini pill that has lower levels of hormone so doesn't harm the baby. I never took it, so it would be up to you personally, but ask your GP or ob if you want to know about it.

Louise, agree with you too; drugs or alcohol do NOT mix with baby in bed. Part of my brain was dedicated to being aware of my baby's breathing at all times, even throughout the night as I was asleep, and aware of everyone's body position. I think that talent is built into mothers after they give birth. Men don't have it, or at least I don't think they do. And drugs or alcohol will knock out that part of you too. Very dangerous.

I don't know if the pill made my prolapse worse, I found the prolapse shortly after switching from the 'mini pill' which is progesterone only to the regular pill. my whole body was falling apart at the same time, so it could have been coincidental. I went off the pill due to a breast lump and felt sooo much better (in terms of moodiness, etc)