Hi mommas!
Okay so I have a question about Birth Control options. I have been on different Birth Control from patches to shots to the nuvaring to pills since I was 19 years old. I am now 34 years old and I recently had to go through a L.E.E.P procedure and although I know my issues were not related to the Birth Control I suppose I still feel like my body just needs a rest. I have twins and I am completely happy with that for right now but my husband and I DO eventually want to have more.
This presents a new issue for us because we have always depended on Birth Control except for when we tried to get pregnant and suceeded with Twins on top of that. I don't want an IUD I don't want anything in my body at this point. I have already noticed after being off for two weeks that my sex drive has totally increased-really bad. I feel like a teenage boy or something and sex to me was never important before and its amazing to see the difference. Anyways I suggested to my husband Condoms and that foam stuff, but I don't know anything about it except for the fact we have used condoms in the past like inbetwen me switching Birth Control or being on antibiotics and we didn't care for them but we found a "lambskin" one that seemed better-more feeling. I wanted to find out which brand of condom I should trust Trojan, Lifestyles and all we need them for is to prevent against pregnancy. Then the foam what brand? How does that exactly work? Is it messy? I have seen it in the gel form too so which is better?
Don't know what to recommend for you, but you might want to check out a book called "taking charge of your fertility". It's about natural birthcontrol - basically tracking your body, cycle, etc. so you don't have sex during your fertile time (or to help you plan WHEN to have sex). It's NOT the Rhythm method, which just counts. This is based on temperature, your period, other body fluids that indicate fertility, etc. Hope that helps a little.
If you chart your BBT which I have done for a long time. You can actually just need to use condoms for aprox 7-12 days and not the whole month to be safe. I would suggest reading taking charge of your fertility, and if you can use all three methods and not just charting. if you are like me also you can even know the day exactly that you will get your period which I find is the best feature of using this method. I no longer run around scared that at any moment I will start...lol
Please read Taking Control of Your Fertility, and use its "measures" with the condoms and/or foam.
You'll be very pleasantly surprised by this wonderful, can't-recommend-enough book:)
Reread Patricia's suggestion and go with that. I have also been using Natural Family Planning for years with no surprises. It has been a great way to get to know my body, not have to take any hormones, and its cheap and easy =) My hubby and I hate condoms so that would not work for us. I really learned alot in Weschler's book--I was embarrassed I didn't know that stuff already! My own DD will be getting a copy when she gets to the right age.
I agree that "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" is an excellent source. It helped me get pregnant immediately with my first. I will say, though, that you really have to follow the rules EXACTLY. I did not and that's how I ended up with my second!
You could try Naprotechnology. It is an all natural way of tracking your cycle. I have used it for years and love it! Dr. Hilgers created it. He is world known for his fertility care.
I actually used a diaphragm and it was ok. You may want to check into the Today Sponge -it's back on the market and I used it years ago the first time it was available. I liked it a lot, but I am very sensitive and have reactions to Nonoxyl 9. If you don't, you may like using it -you can leave it for 24 hours and have sex numerous times.
I have the same problem as you as far as using birth control goes! I 've never liked being on the pill and stopped using it 6 years ago.
The best altenative I found was using a diaphragm with a spermicide.
Used properly I found it just as effective and if inserted properly you and your husband won't even know it's there.
As other ladies have said, you'll need to get fitted for one by your doctor but once I got the hang of using it, it would only take a few seconds to put in.
I've had 2 more children since and found it no problem getting pregnant again once we stopped using it. The only thing you'll have to do after each child is to get fitted again for another diapraghm as child birth can effect the size you need and hence the effectiveness of the diapraghm.
All the best!
we used "natural way" of just avoiding fertle days...it worked great for 3 years.Then hubby said he was ready for another one so we are now preg with our 3rd:)
We'll I would say that if you do not want to use any of the methods that you mentioned be prepared to have another baby. I can vouch for that as Lamb skin condoms are not the best or most effective because they do not hug like latex condoms do, and as for the foam and jell and stuff like that my doctor said that those are very unreliable too as she was telling me I was pregnate with my now 18 month old son. She said she was surprised I was not with child sooner. You will need to use both the foam or jell and condom at the same time. But try getting fitted for a diaphragm that is a good method and you can put it in before hand. Good luck
You could try a diaphragm. Your OB/GYN has to fit you for one. You could google it and see more about it. If you don't know what it is, it's a silicone dome that you fill with spermicidal gel and insert before you have sex - you can put it in up to two hours before you have sex, then you take it out the next morning or at least six hours later. It's a little tricky at first to make sure you are following all the directions correctly, but they have the same effectiveness rate as condoms if you use it properly and most of the time, neither person can feel it.
They come in different sizes to make sure that they fit snugly so your doctor would have to figure out what size you are and then they would probably order it for you. This is what I'm using now because I just cannot stand being on hormonal birth control any more - it makes me so moody I feel like I'm going crazy. You have to plan ahead a little bit but once you get used to how to put in the spermicide and how to put it in, it's really easy and much better than condoms in my opinion!
Here's a book that is a great resource called "Taking Charge of Your Fertility":
http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Charge-Your-Fertility-Annive...
If you get to know your body, you will know when to avoid having sex during your most fertile times.
