Anywhere to discuss NFP on theBump?

cecilyandgautam · July 2012

Hi Natural Mamas,

I used to post in this forum a lot while pregnant and haven't been around as much now that baby's here, but you all are generally pretty nice, well informed, and not as quick to pop pills whenever the rest of society was doing it, so that brings me here again.

Would this be the right board to discuss natural family planning things? There isn't a board specifically dedicated on the Bump, from what I can see. Perhaps another website hosts discussions on it?

We took the post partum class through Couple to Couple League and are using it, but I could always use a sounding board for interpreting my signs.

Thanks for any suggestions,

Cecily

Still free to be me · July 2012

The Trying to Get Pregnant had LOTS of ladies talking about NFP/charting etc. when I was TTC a little less than a year ago...That would be where I would start...

sschwege · July 2012

If you haven't read "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" that would be a good place to start. Also check out Fertility Friend it's an online charting website (you can access the site by clicking on the TTC ticker on my siggy). The basic membership is free.

I agree with pp about checking out the Trying to Get Pregnant board, but I would suggest lurking for a little while. Get a feel for the board before you start posting and if you decide to post make it clear in your Subject Line that you are TTA. Some of the girls on there having been TTC for quite some time and it may be hard for them to respond to someone who has a baby and is TTA. I know when I started posting on there and was TTC while BFing, I did have one girl respond to my post with something along the lines of "I don't know anything about BFing while TTC, I've never been pregnant before." It's sad that there are so many women out there struggling that a post as seemingly harmless as mine could be upsetting to someone. But definitely check out the board, the girls on there are so knowledgeable, you can learn a lot just by lurking.

MangomamaFL · July 2012

Good for you for using NFP.

I like the Creighton Model. https://www.popepaulvi.com

Unfortunately some feel that NFP is useful for only TTC. But NFP is also a good way to space pregnancies out.

https://www.fertilityfriend.com claims that their site should only be used to TTC.

Stick out tongue

They do have a few forums to help interpreting your signs.

drpayne · July 2012

I took the CCL class, too . As PP said, the fertility friend website does state that it isnt meant to be used to avoid pregnancy (which I do not really understand). We took those classes, got married and got pregnant on our honeymoon so we didn't ever focus much on avoiding. DS was born and then I nursed for 11 months/ didn't get a period until after he weaned. I felt so out of practice with charting and had to get the book out again. We got pregnant again 3 cycles later (again, I was charting but not trying to avoid pregnancy). I did feel like I had to re-learn it all as far as fertile times, etc. There are knowledgeable women on the first tri board. People post charts sometimes. TTC might be helpful, but be sure not to assume everyone on there has been pregnant before. Its easy to offend someone even if your intentions are good. Good luck!

Oh, and fertility monitors can be helpful!

InfinityDreamer · July 2012

I agree with PP's, Fertility Friend will be a good starting point.

I recall that when I was using NFP to avoid pregnancy it was a little more stressful with a baby than it had been previously because I wasn't sleeping consistent stretches of time for quite a while and that seemed to make it harder to get reliable temperature readings, so I had to rely more heavily on the other signs during my cycles.

If you have a smart phone I know there are are some apps that might be helpful as well.

bunniekrissy · July 2012

tcoyf.com has a discussion forum. It's definitely not as active as the bump, but it's a nice little community both for TTA and TTC.

PotomacSt · July 2012

(lurker butting in)

I would also love to have somewhere to discuss NFP. I took the Creighton Method class when I was engaged, read TCOYF, charted religiously, but I always had things happening in my cycle that were not "by the book" and felt really alone that I didn't have anywhere I could discuss it or ask questions. Needless to say, we were married 1.5 years before getting pregnant with our surprise baby. I just got my period at 8w PP, despite EBF/no pacis and I'm feeling pretty lost as to what to do about birth control/starting NFP again... I didn't think I'd have to deal with this so soon.

Anyway... OP, when you find a place to discuss NFP, I will be following you!

meltoine · July 2012

NFP is a popular topic on the Catholic Weddings board on TK too. There are a lot of ladies who stayed there after they were married and a few even have kids now. They talk about NFP all the time.

zaramarie81 · July 2012

I think the TTC boards (as a pp suggested) have a lot of ladies charting their cycles (many use FertilityFriend or principles from "Taking Charge of Your Fertility"). I actually use a method that doesn't use BBT (Creighton), so I felt kinda left out of those conversations:), however I know CCL teaches Sympto-Thermal which would be quite similar or even identical to what most of the folks on the TTC boards use!

zaramarie81 · July 2012

MangomamaFL:
Good for you for using NFP.
I like the Creighton Model. https://www.popepaulvi.com
Unfortunately some feel that NFP is useful for only TTC. But NFP is also a good way to space pregnancies out.
https://www.fertilityfriend.com claims that their site should only be used to TTC.

They do have a few forums to help interpreting your signs.

Oh yay, another Creighton person on TheBump! Cool.

NoeliaV · July 2012

I also suggest fertilityfriend (the free version was just fine while we TTA'd for several years) and the Trying to Get Pregnant board here. Definitely lurk on the TTGP board to get a feel for the community first. I think they also have weekly TTA check-ins that may be helpful.

I don't think I'll ever go back to hormonal BC again.

GL!

cecilyandgautam · July 2012

Thank you for all the replies!

Just to clarify, I already use NFP so I'm not necessarily looking to learn how to do it from scratch or books that teach you the basics, just hoping to refine my skills by having a community I can talk to. And at this point, we're aiming to space our children out a little bit, so I'm definitely not TTC again just yet. Though I'm happy to chat with other charting moms who are.

For those who referred to Catholic websites, can you give a link? I'm not Catholic but it's not surprising that's where I can expect to find more discussion on it.

Looks like there are plenty of charters here as well though, so I might come back with some mucus questions

Thanks ladies!