Fertility Awareness Method after baby

cupcakesforbreakfast · June 2015

Long story: I ended up going off birth control pills months before actually wanting to get pregnant. I just wanted my body to adjust to regular cycles, and I wanted to be able to get pregnant when I decided it was "the right time." I used the Kindara app, and felt confident about my fertile days. We used condoms on those days. It worked really well as "birth control" for a few months until we were ready to try for a baby. Basically, I truly enjoyed being off of birth control pills, and I don't want to go back on them.

What I'm wondering is... after baby, and while breast-feeding, will my cycles be way too irregular to chart? Will FAM basically be impossible? I like the idea of using it as birth control; but if birthing makes everything too weird for regular charting, should I just get an IUD? I know they have non-hormonal ones, but I'm scared of heavier periods.

Just wondering if anyone has experience with this.

wedding crazed · June 2015

When I am nursing I have gotten my cycles back between 10-11 months each time. I am on pregnancy #4 though and two pregnancies I got pregnant on my first cycle (no actual period yet, but you ovulate before the period). So, I would say it's not ideal before you get your cycle back. Plus, I've heard you are really fertile while breastfeeding. After baby #1 when I did have a cycle while nursing until trying to get pregno my cycles were impossible to track. 35-52 days I think. OB had no idea when I may have conceived besides ultrasound. Up until 6 months if you nurse on demand and don't start solids it is a good method I have heard. Good luck!

DrMommaDVM · June 2015

I use FAM. It worked beautifully for TTGP. As far as birth control, I didn't ovulate until about 6 weeks after completely weaning my babies, at 12 months and a little earlier for the 2nd. But we would bedshare and night nurse, nurse on demand, and those factors tend to delay ovulation. It's different for everyone.
I would agree with pp it's probably not ideal for birth control for that transitional period between birth and ovulation if you're not experienced with it. Especially if you throw breastfeeding into the mix. Lots of room for error there.

Peanut1128 · June 2015

I have no experience with this but leads me to another question. Are you able to take birth control pills while breastfeeding? I would be terrified to get pregnant again so soon after delivery.

Squirtgun · June 2015

If you haven't read it yet, the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility is a must. We use NFP, used it successfully to avoid getting pregnant before daughter, and between daughter and now. As well as using it to successfully get pregnant both times when we wanted to. But, you have to be willing to really learn and understand about your cycles or it won't work.

AmoLovesAud · June 2015

Jenwatson6 said:

I have no experience with this but leads me to another question. Are you able to take birth control pills while breastfeeding? I would be terrified to get pregnant again so soon after delivery.

I don't have experience with it, but I think that's what the mini pill is for. It has progesterone in it but not estrogen (or the other way around? I forget) to delay ovulation but not inhibit breastfeeding. But you HAVE to take it at the exact same time each day, its a lot more fickle than the regular pill.

Pontot31 · June 2015

Jenwatson6 said:
I have no experience with this but leads me to another question. Are you able to take birth control pills while breastfeeding? I would be terrified to get pregnant again so soon after delivery.

You can take the mini pill. But you have to be very strict with it, taking it at the exact same time each day.
That's why I choose Mirena after my daughter. No issues with BFing. And I didn't get AF again until I took it out- 3 years after her birth. I got pregnant in 2 cycles too so it had no effect on my fertility.

MargaretC5 · June 2015

I never got AF while nursing. After I stopped nursing I got AF twice, but there was quite a while between then (I was regular before getting pregnant the first time). Then got pregnant with this one on a 30 day cycle according to the dating US. I would be hesitant to use any BC that relies on charting until your periods are back on a regular cycle which will happen at a different time for everyone.

Squirtgun · June 2015

@MargaretC5 NFP or FAM doesn't rely on a calendar, so it doesn't matter how long your cycles are or when in your cycle you ovulate, as long as you are charting correctly. If you are used to using it, it's really not difficult to use while nursing. If you've never used it before, though, I'd agree that while nursing would probably not be the best time to start.

MargaretC5 · June 2015

Squirtgun said:
@MargaretC5 NFP or FAM doesn't rely on a calendar, so it doesn't matter how long your cycles are or when in your cycle you ovulate, as long as you are charting correctly. If you are used to using it, it's really not difficult to use while nursing. If you've never used it before, though, I'd agree that while nursing would probably not be the best time to start.

Ok. Calendar is probably the wrong word. My understanding was these methods worked by tracking your cycles each month so you can predict when you ovulate. So if your cycles are not regular you would ovulate at a different time every month and these may not be the best method of BC. Am I confusing these with another BC method?

Squirtgun · June 2015

MargaretC5 said:

Squirtgun said:
@MargaretC5 NFP or FAM doesn't rely on a calendar, so it doesn't matter how long your cycles are or when in your cycle you ovulate, as long as you are charting correctly. If you are used to using it, it's really not difficult to use while nursing. If you've never used it before, though, I'd agree that while nursing would probably not be the best time to start.
Ok. Calendar is probably the wrong word. My understanding was these methods worked by tracking your cycles each month so you can predict when you ovulate. So if your cycles are not regular you would ovulate at a different time every month and these may not be the best method of BC. Am I confusing these with another BC method?

You're basically sight: you track your cycles to predict ovulation, but it is based on your own fertility signs. It is is no way based on your past cycles. Your cycle can change each month, even if it has been consistent in the past. You take your temp at the same time every morning, and check your mucus/discharge (gross word, sorry) to keep track of your cycle. If you ovulate on day 7 or day 27, it still works the same. The book explains it MUCH better than I can.

MargaretC5 · June 2015

Ah.... oh got it. Thanks for explaining. Ignore my prior comment.

DrMommaDVM · June 2015

Yes it's based on fertility signs: cervical position, cervical mucus, etc. But even though it doesn't rely on the calendar, irregular cycles tend to make it more confusing. Also you really need a little bit of practice before strictly relying on this method for birth control. I think if you know what you're doing it's very effective, whereas in the beginning you're just trying to figure it out.

jasbaby2 · June 2015

I'm sure these methods can be effective. However personally unless I was okay with getting pregnant again I would use another form of birth control. Just my opinion.

cupcakesforbreakfast · June 2015

I am okay with getting pregnant again, if I failed at BC. Obviously not something I'm going for right away, but also not the end of the world.

Do people have good experiences with copper IUDs? Maybe that's the way I should go. I'm just scared off by the "heavier periods" warning.

Pontot31 · June 2015

cupcakesforbreakfast said:
I am okay with getting pregnant again, if I failed at BC. Obviously not something I'm going for right away, but also not the end of the world.
Do people have good experiences with copper IUDs? Maybe that's the way I should go. I'm just scared off by the "heavier periods" warning.

I have a few friends who loved theirs. If you're BFing you may not get a period on it until you wean and by then they might be lighter.
I loved Mirena because I didn't get AF at all. I spotted a handful of times about 15 months postpartum after I stopped pumping, but that was it.

cfletch88 · June 2015

I didn't get my period back until I stopped breastfeeding, almost 3 years after my son was born. I got a Mirena IUD after that. I had it taken out in order to have another baby and once my cycle went back to normal I did the FAM method until we were ready to conceive.

Everyones body is different, so there is no telling when your cycle will return to normal. I would have a plan in action in case your cycle doesn't come back right away.

sdnyc99 · June 2015

I had a paraguard IUD (non-hormonal, copper) for 10 years and loved it. My periods were exactly the same as before, no change at all.

It was time for it to come out and we thought "well, we think we're ready for another one anyway. Let's see what happens, maybe it'll happen in a few months." Nope - was pregnant 2 weeks later.

GracedGuest · June 2015

I would start charting and monitoring your signs soon after you give birth if you're using FAM b/c your fertility can come back before even if you're exclusively breastfeeding and baby's not sleeping through the night, etc. My LO wasn't even taking pumped bottles or pacis (which is supposed to delay it for whatever reason) and my fertility returned at 4 months post-partum. Thankfully we were monitoring by then. Honestly I'd recommend taking a class - some methods you can even take a class online. I think it's much more difficult to monitor your fertility postpartum, and our class really helped. I really like using FAM, and it's been really accurate at achieving and avoiding pregnancy (we got pregnant quickly with both babies right when we started trying). However, I do think it's important to learn a method well because some cycles can be confusing.

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