I’m going to take a moment to share with you my experience of natural family planning, but before I do, let me give you some background information on what it actually is.
According to the American Pregnancy Association, Fertility awareness (aka Natural Family Planning) is a collection of methods using your body’s natural and normal functioning to determine the days of the month you are most likely to get pregnant. It is also called Natural Family Planning (NFP), the Sympto-Thermal Method, the Ovulation Method, or the Billings Method. Fertility awareness or Natural Family Planning is a method of birth control that does not use any drugs or devices. It combines the calendar/rhythm method, the basal body temperature method, and the cervical mucus method. The fertility awareness method is used both as a means of preventing pregnancy as well as targeting the most fertile time for getting pregnant. Read more…
Before trying to conceive (TTC) my first child, I knew that hormonal birth control was not an option and other contraceptives were not appealing to my former hubs and I. So that started my quest on finding out more information on ‘natural birth control”. I will admit that at first, I thought I knew my body, however, never did I realize that I would begin to “know it” to the degree that my NFP journey was going to lead me on.
As the article mentioned, the key to NFP, is understanding your body’s fertile window and usually it last for approximately 48 hours. If you and your partner, are desiring to not have children, it would be in your best interest to refrain from having sex during that time. If you and your are partner are TTC, then that is the time to “baby dance” without coming up for air! LOL!
In my experience, I knew that it was my fertile time by observing my cervical mucus. For some reason, that was the easiest way for me to tell that I was highly fertile. However, that’s not to say that that is the only method to use when detecting your fertile window. You can check your temperature, using a basal thermometer; you can chart using a calendar- this method can take some getting used to, especially if you aren’t regular. You can also use ovulation kits to help you track when you’re ovulating and approaching your highly fertile window.
All of these methods I used to prevent getting pregnant before I was ready, but these same methods were used to conceive my first born. Although it took us about 9 months to conceive my daughter, I can tell you exactly what the problem was that hinder me from getting pregnant.
Lean in a little bit closer, so I can tell you this secret…
Using all of these methods, while TTC , actually put my body into stress because I was so “gung ho” with trying to get pregnant, that I actually took the fun out of “baby dancing”. Please hear my heart in what I’m saying. Don’t place your body under so much stress when implementing these methods. That is the absolute worst you can do when actually trying to conceive. Create a balance and just have fun and enjoy the love making experience that you and your partner share!
But if you are trying to prevent getting pregnant, feel free to take some of these suggestions into consideration when reducing your chances of getting the BFP (big fat positive) before you and your partner are truly ready!