Birth Control

MrsW101011

I'm pregnant with my first, but have been thinking about birth control. I would prefer not to be on anything, just because I don't really take medicine and don't like unnatural things, but I feel like I need to be on something. I'm also wanting to breastfeed, does birth control interfere with baby at all? I'd rather be on the pill or ring or something rather than an IUD. The IUD idea just freaks me out, I'm not sure why. What are some of you thinking?

MainelyFoolish

If you want to not worry about interference with breastfeeding, you're limited to the mini-pill (must be taken exactly at the same time every day; sometimes still fails), condoms, or an IUD (either Paraguard or Mirena).

I had a Mirena after my first child and I'm getting another one after this child.

terri_doula2010

I was on the mini-pill for 4 months and it didn't affect breastfeeding at all. You have to take it at the same time every day and I wasn't good at that and it ended up making my panicky, so I got Mirena.

Mirena DID tank my supply. It doesn't happen to everyone, but it was a substantial decrease. I was still able to feed DS adequately (I'm a SAHM), but after I got my IUD I constantly struggled to be able to pump any additional for when I was away for my very part time work (doula) or just for sanity time/date time. I ended up trying a lot of the milk increasers: Mother's Milk tea, More Milk Plus tincture, eating kale and bananas and oatmeal...stuff like that, and we made it through. It was a relief when we got to 11.5 months and I realized that it would be okay and we could start offering almond milk soon (DS has a dairy allergy). I haven't pumped since then and just stopped BFing a week ago, and the 2nd year was SO MUCH less stressful!

Oh, Mirena also made my period come back. Other than that, it was nice to not have to worry about it and wasn't painful (to me) after the first day. Not painful to DH often. It did fall out randomly after a year so that was annoying, but it did it's job.

I take my supplements and meds first thing in the morning every day now, so mini-pill should work great for me this next time.

beckslea

If you don't want an IUD, your choice is between the mini pill and condoms.  We used condoms because we knew it was unlikely I could get pregnant while bfing but I felt like they would be more reliable than me remembering to take the mini-pill.  Turns out I didn't ovulate for 11 months but that's not the case for everyone so make sure you have something in place! 

dmfan897

No f'ing clue really. I plan to breastfeed and I think that DH and I might TTC again before DC is 1 year old so I don't want to go on anything hormonal. We might do a combination of charting,condoms and EBF for the first 6 months. I would be okay with a BFP AFTER 6 months. 

FWIW I have had both the Mirena and the Paragard IUD. The pargard I hated, even though it has no hormones. The Mirena I loved and had a good experience with. It's really expensive though if insurance doesn't cover it. 

Holly_1007

I will be EBF and we will be using condoms.  I am awful about taking the pill and still unsure if I want to go the IUD route. 

kbetzner

I use a diaphragm it works really well. It is an old school option, it has no hormones you just put spermicide in it. It was really cheap also it was $40 dollars and you just wash and re-use it.

TaylorP5

holly71087:

I will be EBF and we will be using condoms.  I am awful about taking the pill and still unsure if I want to go the IUD route. 

Same here.

sweetiebird726

Since this LO was an "oops" I clearly suck at taking the pill (forgot it for a week -poof BFP!) so that won't happen again.

Im going to ask for an IUD, preferably Mirena. 

jlh2716

I don't want a hormonal birth control because I don't do well on them, I hate how they make me feel, and I intend to nurse for 12 months. I've got an appointment to get the copper IUD (Paragard) inserted at 10 weeks post partum.

MrsW101011

Some of you made me feel more comfortable with the IUD option, but some of you encouraged me to just use condoms. I kind of feel like an IUD is a little too permanent (weird, I know) and condoms are not permanent enough. Maybe the mini pill is the way to go. Thanks everyone!

blindvictory

I pretty much can't use any form of hormonal birth control, even the mini pill. They all made me super ill. 

DH and I are planning on using Natural Family Planning and condoms. We used NFP to get pregnant, and I'm pretty comfortable using it to avoid pregnancy as well. If you're unfamiliar with it, you can check out www.fertilityfriend.com or grab the book "Taking Charge of Your Fertility".  

MrsAB1316

blindvictory:

I pretty much can't use any form of hormonal birth control, even the mini pill. They all made me super ill. 

DH and I are planning on using Natural Family Planning and condoms. We used NFP to get pregnant, and I'm pretty comfortable using it to avoid pregnancy as well. If you're unfamiliar with it, you can check out www.fertilityfriend.com or grab the book "Taking Charge of Your Fertility".  

This.   I can use hormonal birth control, but I refuse to ever again.  After coming off of a 10 year run on it, I realized that I had an easier time controlling my blood sugar (I'm hypoglycemic), I had a higher sex drive (duh) and my periods were WAY less painful....   We plan on using condoms and NFP.  

I will caution on the Mirena, though... Not that this occurs commonly, BUT, I've seen it on here a few times.  People can get pregnant on Mirena and there are some pretty significant risks with those pregnancies.   So, just do your research and figure out what works best for you.   

pamelaine923

After DD I just charted basically. I EBF for 7 months then the week + few days after I ovulated we used condoms. I know it doesn't work for everyone but I was pretty confident of when I was ovulating. We got pregnant again the first month we tried! Success!

jenwill

I'll be getting the Mirena again. I loved it! After the first couple months having it with lots of spotting, I had little to no period and really no side effects at all. I loved it and I didn't have to think about it. I was on BC pills for years prior to getting pregnant with DD but had horrible side effects on various different types (migraines, acne, wt gain). None of that with Mirena.
I actually think that I will get it even if my DH gets a vasectomy (he's considering) simply for the whole no period thing. I loved it!

mrs.kapow

If you ARE ok with hormonal (I realize not preferred for some), you can also get the Depo shot and breastfeed. I did that while BFing DD.

Some people hate it, but for someone who kind of sucks at remembering the pill (hence this pregnancy) and a sleep deprived mom, it worked for me. I also knew we would be trying for #2 too soon to make the IUD process worth it for me.

I knew it could take longer to leave my system, so I did stop when DD was approximately a year old and went back to BCP because it worked previously and I had no issues TTC after stopping it.  

GeorgiaYankee

I've been stressing about this, too. I have endo so a hormonal option would help control that and possibly make conceiving again easier. But I want to BF and don't want to mess with my supply. I got pregnant when DD was 4 months old despite EBFing her, so I don't feel comfortable doing NFP/charting. I feel like the IUD has too many risks. My sister had an ectopic taking the mini-pill. Nothing feels like a good option! I think we will most likely go back to using condoms like we were before TTC our first. Or I may possibly use a diaphragm. It's not an easy choice.

hmp1

We did the pull and pray between the two kids. I didn't want to go on BC because it took a really long time to ttc DS1 and we knew we would ttc sooner than later. We got lucky and didn't get knocked up until we were actually trying.

After this baby, I will most likely do an IUD. 

melody921

I'll do the mini pill again, like I did after DS. But then DH is going in for the snip bc this is our last LO.

Manx4

We did the pull & pray after DS - we were planning on having a second one anyway so if there was a "whoops" - oh well.  MH will be getting snipped after this one.

MarisaKathleen

I plan to do depo again.  It worked fantastic for me and I was on it on and off from 15-20yrs old or so to control my endometriosis.

I admire all of you who are thinking of TTC again before your LO is a year.  I cannot imagine going through this again for at least 3 more years.

linzeek44

I was really sick on the pill, but the Nuvaring was fine for me. Pretty low maintenance, which I enjoyed. I think post-baby we'll probably use condoms and charting instead. We ended up using condoms while I was on the ring any way. 

MainelyFoolish

Steph+J:

mrssmith265:

Mirena girl here!  I had tried the pills, patches, etc.  I hate what the horomones do to me.

Mirena IS hormonal, fyi.

It is, but not the same way the pill is. The Mirena does not contain estrogen and the progestin is mainly confined to the uterus, whereas the pill hormones (obviously) circulate throughout the body.