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2nd Trimester
Birth Control and being pregnant with young children.
So, I have noticed that some of you ladies have 1 or 2 year olds and are pregnant with another. I have a feeling this will happen to my husband and I as we do not believe in birth control (other than natural). So here are my questions:
1. What is it like to have very young children and be pregnant again? Is it really hard on your body and ability to care for your family?
2. Does anyone know of an EASY natural way of preventing conception? We got married in March of this year and I was trying to learn the NFP method, but it was so times consuming that I ended up putting it off because we have been traveling with my husbands job since we got married. So I need and easy way to do this! I am not sure that I want to be pregnant 3 months after we have our baby! We must be pretty fertile because we got pregnant 1.5 months after being married....wow!
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Re: Birth Control and being pregnant with young children.
Being pregnant this time has been a little harder but both of my pregnancies have been fairly easy. The first trimester was the hardest (so far) because I get really nauseous. DD is super active and I SAH with her, so it can be a bit exhausting but I don't think it is much different from the first time around when I was working all day. I personally love being pregnant and we had TTTC, so I am just grateful to be pregnant again.
The only thing I can think of for avoiding pregnancy would be to chart and learn when NOT to have sex. It's still not fool proof but you learn a lot about what your body does when you are fertile/ovulate. That is assuming your cycles are fairly regular. It's easy to chart (I use an iphone app) but it can be a big hassle and is more difficult when you have a young child to care for.
I did use bc for several months after having DS, because I didn't want to take any chances having a second too soon. We planned our timing, but I can't help you in the natural bc department.
Being PG this time is WAY harder. I am more tired and sicker, and have a toddler to take care of. I do SAH, thank goodness! I don't know if I could keep up if I was working. I have had times where I feel pretty guilty for not being able to be there 100% for DS. It's definately not a walk in the park!
I never tried it but there is a beaded bracelet with different colored beads and supposedly once you know your cycle you move a bead every day and on certain color beads you abstain as those are your fertile days.
good luck!
https://www.etsy.com/listing/80224322/cycle-based-birth-control-bracelet?ref=sc_18
So the day my 2nd son was conceived I also started my period we KNOW that is when he was conceived based on when we had sex [it was not very often as we had 13 month old] and then the dating ultrasound confirmed it...this pregnancy I ovulated early on day 10 of my cycle... Every pregnancy has been harder and harder in terms of morning sickness and functioning at my normal level.My house is a disaster and a struggle to provide my kids with enough attention b/c I feel so awful.
There is no way there will be another here as even financially it gets more and more expensive. If your gonna go the NFP way just be ready to keep having them and hopefully you have a nice big house and some family around to help.
Morgan's Birth Story: http://www.fullcirclemidwifery.com/2009/06/morgans-birth/
Chloe's Birth Story: http://www.fullcirclemidwifery.com/2012/04/chloes-birth/
Mine was a whoops right after we got married and I was trying to use NFP, but apparently I suck at it. I did better this time, but I didn't get my period until Feb and we were just careful until we decided to try again a couple of months later.
I wanted them close together (although I didn't really think it would work on the first try ;p) It's not bad. I felt pretty bad at first with this one, but my husband is pretty great and took a lot more on so I could lie on the couch after work and bemoan my fate. It def. takes two people to make it bearable.
I have a 3 yr old. It is somewhat harder because she is a very active child and I get sick to my stomach when I'm out in the heat. So it's a pressure between having the energy and being able to do the things that you would like to with your other child. I always feel bad, because I want to take her outside and play all of the time. But I can't take the heat. Or I'm too tired.
As far as the natural birth control, I would suggest monitoring when your period is, find out when you are ovulating and avoid having sex around that time. I was told by my step mother, she had a friend that Amish, and to keep from getting pregnant, she did something just like that. For one week out of each month her and her husband wouldn't have sex of any sort.
We will have 3 under 3. I got pregnant with 2 & 3 while breastfeeding and before having a pp period (I haven't had a period since 2008). I got pregnant with DS when DD was 7 months and pregnant with #3 when DS was 8 months. We took some precautions earlier on (when it obviously wouldn't have mattered anyway!) but later on we took more chances. But we were willing to take the chance and welcome another baby if that were the outcome. I'd say if you don't want to get pregnant be very careful early on. I exclusively breastfed my babies for 6 months, so I think once I introduced solids ovulation was triggered.
It's tough at times being pregnant with little ones, but I love having mine so close.
Mama to 4 kids: girl 2009, boy 2010, girl 2012, boy 2014
www.herenowus.com
ONLY USE THE PULL OUT "METHOD" IF YOU WILL BE HAPPY WITH ANOTHER CHILD!
That is how I got my last two kidlets! (and I was/am more than happy with that... we were clearly not against having more kids.)
Malakai - 8.3.09
Ezra - 12.1.11 ASD
This book explains a lot about NFP. They also have a web based software program.
https://www.tcoyf.com/
To do NFP takes a lot of discipline to maintain, but it can be done. I hope this helps.
** Our TTC Journey Blog **
** Our Pregnancy Blog **
TTC for over 3 years. After several infertility treatments, we received our first BFP!!
My DH and I got pregnant 2 months after getting married, I was temperature charting, but we weren't really trying or trying not to get pregnant. It was a "whatever happens, happens" attitude. I was BF my DD and got my first pp period at 9 months. I was trying to chart but I had no idea if I was regularly ovulating and couldn't tell what was going on. I got pregnant that first month. My 2 LO's will be 18 months apart. My 2nd pregnancy hasn't been too difficult, but I am more tired. When you are pregnant without children you can rest when you need to. I used to come home from work and take a nap. Now with DD around I can't just rest when I need it, so I am a lot more tired. But other than that I don't mind being pregnant with a 1 yr old.
I want to use NFP, but it's really hard when you are not having regular cycles. I think I'm going to insist we use condoms after this LO until I start having regular periods.
I agree, the pull out method is actually not as bad as what people think, however he has to be able to pull out everytime. There is a lot of literature out there on how to do it correctly. There is not any BC method that is 100% effective. So no matter what you choose you should be prepared to have another child.
~lurking
We also don't believe in birth control, and I, like you, have found that I have become very fertile (didn't used to be, but that's another story). I got pregnant with DD when we had been married for 3 months.
The way we didn't get pregnant until my daughter was 11 months? breastfeeding. My DD was born June, 2010. My first period was March, 2011. Then, (because periods are irregular when they first start back up), I had another on April 16th. I got my BFP on June 16th, 60 days later. So, all-in-all, I had 2 periods and then got pregnant.
That being said, it doesn't work for everyone. There are many breastfeeding moms who start their periods not long after baby is born.
We used condoms for the first couple months after DD was born, but that went out the window pretty quick.
As for your first question, my daughter is 14 months and I am 14 weeks pregnant. For me, it's been pretty easy. She's old enough now that she'll play with her toys on her own if I just need to sit. She'll also bring me books and I read to her. Now that I'm in 2nd trimester, I'm feeling a lot more energetic too. I'm really excited about my kids being 20 months apart. Ask me again when I'm waddling at 36 weeks and trying to trudge through the snow with my DD to the car though.
All in all, the thing about us wierdos who don't believe in birth control (I say that with love), is that we always take a chance of having kids very close together, and having a lot of them. That's just the way it is. But there are reasons we believe the way we do, and IMO, it's well worth it to hold fast to what you feel is right.
Maybe you didn't mean it to be, but that came off as incredibly rude.
There are millions of women around the world who opt out of birth control for religious reasons.
It's def. harder on my body since I have a 18 month old that I'm running around after. But not too bad. I'm more worried about if they both end up waking up during the middle of the night. My 18 month old still wakes up once per night for milk. I'm happy to have them close together, though.
I don't know anything about the NFP method-- but obviously that's your best bet.
ETA: The hard part about NFP, I would think if you are breastfeeding. I did not get my period for 6 months while BFing DS. I continued to BF him until he was 12 months old. So how would I have tracked those first 6 months? - IDK. Also you can ovulate/ get pregnant before your first period returns.
It's a good idea to see if your church offers a class.. LOL. Good luck!
Nurse a lot. For as long as you can. That's the easiest way.
Night feeding (or rather the lack of them) is what triggers ovulation in most women. So make sure you do plenty of evening BFing and BF at night, too.
TTC since 6/02 (age 22) K/U instantly despite no AF for 5 months--preemie baby boy 1/03
M/C 11/04 - M/C 05 - M/C 06 - BFP 2/08--fullterm baby girl 10/08 - M/C 4/11 - went to RE at age 31
DX: crappy quality & infrequent ovulation, mild MFI
Stimmed cycle #1 C/P 7/11 - Stimmed cycle #2 C/P 8/11 - Stimmed cycle #4 C/P 10/11
On Stimmed Cycle #5
Always thought I'd be a "mom of many"--now just hoping to be a "mom of one or two more!"