Birth Control

sjis

Hi ladies! I'm already thinking birth control options after this baby is born, ha! We are finished after this one and soon as it's safe, I'll be using the copper IUD, which is good for 10 years. Previous to this pregnancy I used mirena and it made me a mess for the first 3 months it was in.

-what methods will you be using, if at all?
-how soon after birth/if you're nursing will you be using it?

MJDsquared

I think I'll probably take the mini pill or whatever while I'm breastfeeding. I don't generally ovulate on my own, but I could and I really don't want another baby immediately after this one. I honestly know next to nothing about the mini pill, so my OB will have to enlighten me down the road.

Since I have PCOS I think I'm going to have to take hormonal birth control basically forever to shed my uterine lining, because otherwise there's a risk of cancer or something scary? I obviously don't know a whole lot about this, because I was only diagnosed with PCOS while we were TTC, so not sure what non-TTC is going to have to look like. But I think I'll stick with the pill until we TTC again. When we decide we're done I'll see if any other methods will work for me.

txmomma16

@MJDSquared From what I remember, the mini pill is very similar to the pill, just less hormones. It hopefully has less side effects. 

AFM, after everything we went through to get this pregnancy, we will likely be foregoing hormonal birth control after this pregnancy for awhile and just using barrier methods. Prior to infertility treatments I had a Mirena IUD that I LOVED. I had no periods for four years, no cramps, no bloating, no awful pain. When I am done having children, that will likely be our go-to. 

whiska

Same as @txmomma16.  H and I agree it took so long to get here that we'll start rolling the dice around 6 months, or as soon as I feel pretty good again and my iron levels look okay - so this could be between 6mos and a year.  Before that we'll use condoms for 3-4 months.  Then after 4 months if I've gotten af back, I'll start temping again.  Not my favorite thing BUT if I am lucky enough to have a regular cycle I feel pretty confident about using my charts to avoid fertile window until we're ready to NTNP or actively try.

ETA - but like I said, after months and months of hitting -2, -1, and 0 with bfns, I might be kinda laissez faire about it.

ngarciabyu

After this one DH is done done done. I may go on the mini pill until I'm done breastfeeding and then the regular pill. But honestly I would really like DH to get a vasectomy. I've been in charge of birth control prior to my 3 pregnancies, PLUS these 3 pregnancies and the fertility tests and treatments in between #2&3. Really I don't think it's asking THAT much of him, but he reacts like I'm asking him to have his left leg removed. 

whiska

@ngarciabyu Sorry your H is acting like a bit of a baby about it! Totally agree that after all these years of bc being on me, ttc was mostly on me to track, and now I'm growing our child: Yep, he can have a very common, routine procedure when we're done.

I feel like it's one of those things that a TON of guys have done but no one talks about.  I'm sure your H knows a bunch of guys with vasectomies but that's not something that comes up in everyday conversation lol.

cait5413

We used condoms after DD. It took us 6 months of trying to get preggo with her and being on bc messed with my cycle when I got off, so we figured we'd do condoms since we knew we wanted them pretty close together. For this one, it took one time unprotected (on a day that should have been safe according to my cycle)! We have always planned on 2. If we still feel good about that when this one arrives, DH will get a vasectomy.

dkizz82

@MJDsquared I got pregnant with this one on the mini pill. The big thing with that one is you HAVE to take it at the same time everyday 

mdcd44127

My OB just asked me about this at my last visit. I had tried the Mirena ages and ages ago and it hurt so fiercely that I had to have it removed. Up until TTC I was using the Nuvaring, which I loved because I could skip cycles with it, but the idea of a BC method I don't have to mess with every month is very appealing. My OB recommended trying the Nexplanon which sounds like a good plan, I just want to do a little more reading about it before I commit. And tbh, I don't think DH would ever be willing to get a vasectomy, he gets pale and squirmy just talking about it. *eye roll*

Marley629

We are definitely done after this one so I will have a tubal ligation.  I have a clotting disorder so I am unable to take hormonal birth control.  After last pregnancy, I attempted the mini pill at my OBs recommendation and had a bad experience with it (just basically bled all the time) for those who choose the mini pill, it's really important to take it at the same time every day for it to be truly effective. 

brittyclem

I've was off BC for 3 years prior to conceiving and just monitored the timing and used condoms if it was during the fertile window. We'll probably do the same after baby is born. I don't really have a plan for when we would try for a second but have always had a if it happens it happens sort of attitude. I didn't like being on BC and don't want an IUD/implant as I suspect we will be trying again in a year or two. I'm also irrationally afraid of pulmonary embolisms seeing many of them at my work, so I'm just too paranoid for anything hormonal as well. 

Long term, DH has agreed to a vasectomy unless I have a csection with my last and they can do a ligation quickly and easily. I have no tolerance for men being too wussy for a minor procedure as opposed to major surgery or putting the responsibility on the woman for the rest of her life. 

eazybreezy225

This is our 4th and last baby... I have c-sections so we decided the best option is to go for a tubal ligation since they can do it at the same time as the delivery.
I would be lying if I said I wasn't kind of terrified.
I mean, I know without a doubt we are done having kids, but it really hit home for me at my last OB appointment when I had to sign all the consent forms for it... TW- When i miscarried last year it was a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, and I lost one of my tubes- end TW.. I just remember how it felt at that time, how particularly devastating it was. I'm just nervous about how it will impact me post partum.
That and it's definitely the end of an era. It just makes me appreciate all the things about pregnancy and babies and everything, knowing this is the last time.

darkfyre

We are definitely done after this. I'll get a new copper iud after my 6 wk visit then we'll see about a vasectomy for DH.

disneyfan0511

This will be our third and final child. DH is getting a vasectomy and has no issues with it. We actually have sperm banked from before his cancer treatments so if in a few years we change our mind, we're covered but I highly doubt we will. 

ameliabedelia-2

I'm relying on my non-existent sex drive to prevent pregnancies going forward. 

babymurphey

I will be using a form of natural family planning. Im using the device daisy

dkizz82

@eazybreezy225 I understand. This is our last one as well. I have said I’m getting a tubal since we found out I was pregnant.  But it hit me last week that this would be final. I don’t know. If there’s any doubt in my mind, I won’t sign and will take care of it later. I just feel it would be easier during my c section. 

elev2017

DH will be getting a vasectomy shortly after our twins are born. We'd always planned to have two kids, in addition to my stepdaughter, so we're just getting both of them sooner than we thought we would! I'm thankful that DH is completely on board with the plan and has never complained at all about getting one. 

nothingbuttherain

Hormonal birth control has caused some pretty serious depression and anxiety issues for me in the past, so we'll probably just go back to calendar method/NFP. It worked well for us before, but that's assuming my cycle is still pretty regular.

elcd458

We had good success with FAM (fertility awareness method) with the Kindara app for several years. I also credit that with how we were able to conceive relatively quickly.  But since I plan to breastfeed I am not sure how much it will mess up my temps and ovulation.  Not to mention being up and down half the night with an infant would probably make the temps inaccurate anyway-- so it's barrier methods for us until I can be sure I'm ovulating on a normal schedule again! 

kyrwyn

My cycle is FUBAR, so I'll probably be on some sort of hormonal regulation just to make sure it doesn't stretch out to 90+ days or anything again.  My OB wants me on an IUD with progesterone, but we'll see how things sort out. (I had such horrible moodswings and headaches taking progesterone as part of our TTC meds.)

beary67

I'm going to try to not be on any type of birth control.  It took 19 months with perfect timing (temping) and 3 rounds of IVF to get pregnant.  If my cycles get a little longer, I will inquire about taking something to jump start my period.  I will talk more about this with my OBGYN but at this point if we get pregnant naturally, I think it will be close to a miracle and not something either of us would be upset about since we both have infertility to some degree.  

cait5413

@rebeckyjoy consider NFP with temping and/or condoms at first. My cycle came back about 3 moths PP (pretty early since I was breastfeeding), and then I thought my cycle regulated, so I was just keeping an eye on the calendar, but we were also still using condoms. We had unprotected sex what should have been the day before my cycle started, and instead we got pregnant! We wanted them pretty close together anyway (DD will be about 16.5 months when LO arrives--that's a little closer than we'd hoped), so just a word of warning in case 2 under 2 is not appealing!

lavashiner

@beary67 This is what I did after my first--it took us 5 years to get pregnant the first time. When my period came back about a year after DD was born, we started trying again and it took us about a year to get successfully pregnant again.

This time, though, we know we are done with two so I think I might get an IUD. We're not looking for another miracle!!!

tmk0325

I'm really hoping and going to suggest that SO get snipped. I fear he will chicken out and put it off forever though.  We are 95% sure we are done of this one. That 5% would come from an oops and not a planned pregnancy.  With that said, I will probably get the arm implant that is good for a few years. I've used the pill most of my life, but at this stage with three kids the odds of me remembering to take it aren't as good as it used to be.  

ab920

I'm posting this as a reminder.

I started weaning nursing around 5 months with baby girl (she got her first tooth--gnawing on me wasn't the greatest). My doctor and I discussed getting back on birth control when I stopped breastfeeding altogether, which I planned to do around 6 months. Welp, as fate would have it, I got pregnant in the interim.

SO! Breastfeeding is not a birth control. 

KayLee77

DH will eventually be getting a vasectomy. This is our 3rd and last child.
I used and IUD - Mirena after my last DS.  While it was great not having a period, and after having it for almost 7 years( I had gotten a new one after 5 yrs).  I began to develop a lot of health issues and not knowing if it was from the IUD or not, I got it removed and started feeling better within months.  So knowing how I felt, I dont think I would go back that route and me taking a pill daily would end up with me getting pregnant again since I suck at remembering to take pills. 

failuretofly

I have no idea what we are going to do after baby. I don't want to have another for at least 4-5 years, and I don't really like the idea of hormonal birth control again, and I've seen way too many complications of IUDs come through the emerg it makes me nervous to get one... So I guess condoms it is! haha at least until I am done BF and can maybe do NFP/temping accurately. 

kln62689

I am so thankful for all of your comments and ideas because I have no idea where I am at on this. It took us 2.5 years total, 1 year after DH's vericocele surgery to get pregnant. He was so hopeful that we could have a baby without IUI/IVF that he resists science (I.e. Semen tests) vehemently since the single one he did to diagnose for the surgery. So we basically don't know our chances now for another without that data; it is obviously possible but could fall into the category of 'miracle'. He has agreed to go get updated numbers, but he also agreed to go get a teeth cleaning and so far I've been waiting for that for 5 years. I have told him we will basically be going to NTNP as soon as medically cleared if I don't have those numbers. We would prefer to spread 2 years or so between births, but not knowing if it will take another extended period of time means I will be rolling the dice sooner, since it is still possible that we will wind up at IUI for the second. Also, he hits 40 next year and I read counts naturally begin to decline at that point. Hopefully he will just go get the test done so we can make an educated decision, and even use condoms. We haven't used anything (besides 'light' timing) in 5+ years so that is likely to be an adjustment in itself.