birthcontrol and prolapse

I think that most any form of birth control would work as well as it does regardless of prolapse. my thoughts are that a diaphragm might be not be comfortable to wear depending on your prolapse, and might be difficult to insert properly.
but aside from that, I can't see how a prolapse would make a difference, but I don't really know.

as far as surgery, most of us here are doing our best to avoid surgical intervention.

I have bladder and rectal prolapse but at least my uterus seems to be staying put. I had only ever been on the pill but decided after baby to try the nuva ring... gyn didn't see any problem with using it regardless of the prolapse. I never got quite comfy with it and would often find I need to push it further back up... after much looking around I finally found on the product information to consult with your doctor before using if you suffer from prolapse. Since my GYN didn't seem to be aware of any problems I made the executive decision go back on the pill and see if anything improved. My prolapses are still a problem but everything started feeling better after stopping the nuva ring.

Hi Granolamom

Yes, we do our best to avoid surgery but IMO, vasectomy is far simpler, more effective, with less side effects, less risk of complication, and is more predictable in its results than pelvic repair surgery, and IMO far less complicated than tubal ligation. I am not entirely convinced that vasectomy is squeaky clean either. Nor is it 100% reliable. Nothing is perfect.

I guess that any time we try and trick nature it might come back and bite us on the bum, one way or another. Contraception is no exception. There is no perfect solution, until menopause.

Louise

DH and I have been talking about this very thing lately.

It's a touchy subject among some of us.

Tubal ligations aren't a good idea because some women tend to develop cysts or cancer because of the eggs building up and not being able to go anywhere. When the eggs are dropped, they release hormones. Those hormones don't have anywhere to go and just sit there at the site of the "tube tie". I might not be entirely accurate in my recollection of what happens, and I'm sure that's a very simplistic explanation, but that's what I understand.

DH and I have never considered any permanent solution until now. We didn't plan on stopping at 4. We wanted a large family and we enjoy our children. However, I can hardly walk without being in a good bit of pain. It's better than it was, but I'm still not doing very well. The thought of getting pregnant again and being on bedrest for months before the birth and months after the birth (at least that's what the OB said, and my midwife didn't contradict it) and possibly losing my uterus when I push the baby out (or risk a c-section).....I don't know. I just don't know.

Poor DH. It's not his fault, but I'm really feeling sorry for him.

He said from what he's read (recently, since this isn't something we've even considered before now), there's no risk with a vasectomy. He said there's no hormones associated with sperm and that reabsorbing them isn't a problem. I asked him to please do some reading on an alternative site where they might perhaps link testicular cancer (or abnormal growths and swelling) with vasectomies and he looked a little startled. He said he'd look into it. I don't know that it's a possibility, but it seems that if you start tampering with nature, not all will remain well.

Yes, my DH was a little half-hearted about vasectomy, and I didn't want to push it too hard. I eventually fell pregnant again unexpectedly when our youngest of three was five years old, and miscarried in a rather undignified way. That was scary enough for him to go and have his vasectomy pretty soon after that. I wouldn't worry too much about your DH, with what you are going through. They are just scaredy cats at heart. Hey, who carried those babies for all those months??? who's dealing with POP now??? It doesn't hurt for the guys to do their bit.

Having said all that, DH had his vasectomy in the doctor's surgery, and he did get a slight infection, which left him with swollen testes, but antibiotics soon fixed it. Sorry about that bit of TMI, but it wouldn't be honest to leave it out. He wasn't actually very worried about the infection. After what we had been through only a few weeks prior he wasn't about to complain! I think if made him feel very brave and strong to do his bit of suffering after what I had been through, and the fright it gave him. We have never regretted it. It was a big decision to make, but going through with it was much easier. There are no easy answers to this one.

Louise

We want to be natural and avoid surgery for everyone involved: There is a sympto-thermo method of natural family planning that is as effective as the birth control pill. The method involves learning a lot of cool stuff about being a woman... and our fertility and signs of fertility. You can learn more about it on ccli.org.

Yes, we used that too. Good for monitoring your ovulation time for both trying to conceive and trying to avoid conceiving. Also very, very useful during perimenopause. NFP taught me all I know about my reproductive organs. I still used the techniques I learned after DH had his vasectomy.

It is not hard once you get the hang of it, but you do have to work as a balanced and mutually respectful team with your partner. It takes some willpower to obey when the body signals tell you that penetrative sex is off the menu.

L

We've been doing NFP for several years. Two of our babies were conceived while doing NFP. Ah, well. It seems NFP is for people who don't *really* mind having another one.

But I can't imagine trying to keep up with all that long-term! It's been difficult enough the two or three months between my periods starting back and me getting pregnant again.