r/FAMnNFP

To preface I do have a very good instructor but just want other input!

I got pregnant last year using natural cycles on a supposed safe day so I’m a little nervous using more natural methods. However we are Catholic and trying to practice NFP.

My husband and I have been using the Marquette method since about 2.5 months postpartum. I’ve been following the breast-feeding protocol although due to oral function my milk supply is on the lower end. However, I always nurse and then just top off with formula during the day and exclusively breast-feed for motn feeds. My cycle still has not returned so my instructor and I believe that my body responds very well to the prolactin, even though I’ve needed to top off with formula pretty much since the day my son was born. I have only gotten lows since I started tracking with no indicator of my cycle returning. Until this past week. I got my first high reading. My son has been sleeping longer stretches at night and will go longer in between feeds during the day, so I assume that that’s why this is happening! I got four high readings in a row then on the day you don’t test after cycle day 15 I took an OPK and it was very positive, where as yesterday it was negative. No super noticeable cm although two days ago I did get done fertile looking cm. I have very mild cramping that does seem to favor one side. This doesn’t seem like early pregnancy symptoms does it? This seems to fall more in line with ovulation in my cycle starting again, correct? I’ve just heard stories of people getting positive ovulation test, and being pregnant! Is it possible that I could’ve gotten pregnant even though I’ve only gotten low readings and no indicators of fertility until now?

I obviously can take a pregnancy test just to be sure but before I did that, I wanted to know if I’m overreacting for no reason.

Edit: took a test, not pregnant!

TTA1 and I'm trying to figure out what our method of birthcontrol is going to be moving forward, as it will have to be long term, with us being young and still having a lot of fertile years left.

Context: Me (31F) and my husband (31M) have 5 kiddos now (currently 2 weeks PP with my 5th) and we homeschool. My plan had always been to have 4 kids, but then was convicted several years ago to not get a vasectomy and eventually my husband got on board and was/is all-in with not getting one. But now I'm reconsidering. I'm wondering if it was just a conviction for the time so that God could give us our 5th baby. I'm not fully sure whether I'm okay with closing the door to more future children, but at the same time I really don't feel like I could do a good job of homeschooling while continuing to have babies, nor do I fee I could manage 6+ different grade levels at once, so I would really like to be done with having babies for good. But then there's still that little part of me that doesn't want to permanently close that door forever.

Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone has successfully used the TCOYF FAM method long term (like 10+years?) for avoiding?

Also wondering how FAM has affected your marriage? I honestly hate the idea of having to abstain right when I want to have sex the most lol. And then only having a short window of time where we're safe. During my recent pregnancy I feel like my husband and I have finally gotten into a good rhythm and I was actually really enjoying sex for the first time (history of vaginismus and pelvic floor issues so sex has not always been enjoyable for me), so I'm sad to think that we wouldn't have the freedom to have sex as often as we would like to, and that it would only ever happen when I'm not as into it.. especially if we go with FAM as our method for long term. 😕 Do you find this method is worth the sacrifice? Do you ever wish you'd gone the vasectomy route?

So I'm currently 2 weeks postpartum with my 5th baby and looking into FAM (TTA - not having sex yet obvi, but will be TTA1 when we do). Been reading through TCOYF, on the advice of many of you here, and it seems fairly doable, but I'm concerned about how it works while postpartum and EBF. With my other 4 babies I got my period back at 6 weeks postpartum, immediately after the postpartum bleeding stops, so I assume that'll be the case again with this one. I've always EBF all through the night and day, whenever baby wants to nurse, and I always nurse my babies to sleep throughout the night and for naps as well, and still have always gotten my period regularly.

Conceived the last 3 babies unplanned. In hindsight I was using the Rhythm method thinking it was NFP, cause wow there's a lot I didn't know! 😅 My 3rd was conceived at about 18 months PP while still breastfeeding, my 4th was conceived at 9months PP while breastfeeding, and my 5th was conceived at 22 months PP but was no longer breastfeeding by this point.

I'm concerned because the author of TCOYF seems to believe that you can't ovulate while EBF, but then why would I consistently get my period all throughout my years of breastfeeding? All my conceptions were after we introduced solid foods, so I guess not EBF by that point, but I was still breastfeeding, just not exclusively.

If it's true what she says, and that all this time it hasn't been true menstruation, but a regular anovulatory bleeding, then how does this work with FAM? (Yes, I will be reading the appendix that talks about this, but seeing as she's never had babies, I'm curious if anyone has real life experience with this?) How would you ever know whether you're ovulating or not? How could I trust whether any day is safe or not? Have you ever been EBF and still gotten a regular period AND ovulation?

I’ve been looking into sensiplan but can only find limited information online, so bought the handbook. I only realised after I ordered it that it’s supposed to be used with the ‘workbook’, which is an additional £25. Money is a bit tight, and buying the handbook and thermometer was a bit costly. Will I be able to learn the method with the handbook alone, or am I going to need to workbook too? Thanks.

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Hi everyone!

I'm looking for some opinions while I wait. I'm currently around 14–15 DPO (confirmed ovulation by BBT and Oura). My cycles are usually quite regular and my Lutheal phase is always 13DPOm

Here's what's going on:

14–15 DPO today.

Two pregnancy tests have been negative (first morning urine, one today and one at 12DPO).

No spotting or period yet.

Very bloated abdomen.

Mild intermittent pain on the lower left side.

BBT is still at the coverline, not below it.

I'm travelling to abroad tomorrow for a conference, so I'm hoping to have some idea of what to expect.

Has anyone had a similar chart with negative tests at 14–15 DPO and still ended up pregnant? Or does this look more like a period that's just about to start?

I'd really appreciate hearing your experiences!

I have been doing Sensiplan for a while now and I have gotten pretty lazy with tracking because everything feels so intuitive to me at this point. I have very regular cycles and can understand my body quite well.

I don’t track temps during my period. After my period ends, I temp but I don’t track mucus until I get my EWCM/S+ CM. Then, I temp up until I get my T+3 and P+3. I don’t temp or track mucus after that. This seems reasonable for me in terms of confirming ovulation but I wanted to know if there’s any danger I’m overlooking? If my cycles were irregular perhaps I’d need to track more in-depth but they’re pretty much spot on.

There was a couple times I ovulated late and therefore had a late period, but I always know ovulation will be late when I have a lot of spotting around my usual ovulation time.

Any thoughts? Has anyone else gotten lazier with tracking as they’ve grown accustomed to their method and reading their body?

hi all!

I use Marquette and have for almost 3 years. I have regular cycles, usually 28-30 days. I peak usually days 15-18 with two outliers of 20 and 14 in the last year.

i am having a bad cycle- I had an 8 day period which is much longer than my average of 5/6 days. My first day of monitor testing, day 9, was a High read.

I am on day 22 with no Peak. This has never happened to me- I had EWCM all the way up to yesterday but now it’s creamy again. my cheap OPKs I have been taking since day 14 are also all negative.

my new NFP doctor drew my progesterone yesterday (day 21) and I got a 0.58

this is really messing with me- I’ve been crying I’m so frustrated. has this happened to anyone else? I want to be intimate with my husband and cannot and I’m just really angry and sad.

Requesting help with understanding my situation risks and possible actions.

I’m 8mo PP, breastfeeding, and taking the mini pill.

On Sunday PM, had intercourse.

On Tuesday, took pill ~8 hours late.

On Wednesday, missed pill. Fertile-seeming CM noted.

On Thursday AM, took two pills and got a positive ovulation test.

In my calculations, pregnancy is technically possible if semen can live 5 days and I ovulate 12 hours after positive LH test.

Is taking Plan B right now helpful to reduce chance of pregnancy, or, even effective at this point? (Says to take within 3 days, but I’m pretty confident I have not already ovulated).

Thanks.

Hello, can anyone recommend a thermometer without a beep alarm, with a vibrate or silent alarm instead? My partner wakes up from the beeping sound, no matter how quiet it’s advertised. I previously had an iProven thermometer with a vibrate alarm, but it recently broke and when I tried to replace it, I found that they discontinued the product. I scoured past Reddit posts with this same question and found that any previous recommendations are no longer sold. I also had no luck searching the internet. I am getting pretty desperate and am hoping one of you will know of one! I would really appreciate any recommendations 🙏

I also wanted to mention that I’m not interested in getting a temp drop or other wearable tech, partly because of the cost and partly because I don’t want to wear something every night.