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Mr Pretzel and I took our first of three NFP classes this weekend and we are so excited! It isn't a a requirement of our marriage prep- it was something that we discussed and decided on together. We are doing the Couple to Couple League course which is Sympto-thermal method. (STM)

It sounds like a funny thing to be excited about but we both geeked out a little on all of the charting.  I'm on day 2 of charting so far and looking to see if there are any other NFP newbees out there and how things are going for you.

My favorite moment of the class was the husband who said "I can't see how she'll be able to see how open her cervix is".  Priceless...

It is so cool that a bee is using NFP! I took a Couple to Couple League course too and it was really neat. Our couple had used the method from the beginning of their marriage over a course of 30 years (until she went through menopause) and had five totally planned pregnancies---really inspiring. I am 2.5 years in myself and can practically do it in my sleep. Happy charting.

@Chelseamorning- I was telling my FI about you before our class- I have read a number of your posts on the subject and I was telling him how encouraging it was to have a bee who was doing this successfully.  Our teaching couple has been using it for 30 years also and they had 8 planned children.  I was really excited that all of the people in our class wanted to be there. Two were non-catholic, (one TTC and one wishing to not use BC) another young Catholic couple, and a couple who had a 4 month of daughter and who were both in the process of converting to Catholocism. 

It was amazing the variety of situations.  I'm hoping there are others on the boards just starting to learn about NFP so we can support each other.

I've been blabbering on about NFP for more than a year now at Weddingbee :), and it's like a sea change has happened. When I first started talking about it, I felt like the idea was mostly greeted with skepticism and even a little derision, like it was some sort of junk science being forced upon Catholic brides by a backward church with a secret plan for us all to be pregnant by the honeymoon.

What a difference a year makes. I don't know if people are more accepting or if they are just keeping their noses out of it if they don't think it's a legitimate method, but I am seeing so much more support for and interest in NFP here at Weddingbee. Of course NFP isn't the right choice for everyone, but it is definitely a legitimate choice for birth control that can be used easily, effectively, and successfully by many women, especially those who may not tolerate hormonal birth control. The morality behind it is sound from a Catholic perspective, but I will always maintain that you don't have to think hormonal birth control is wrong to think NFP can be right, just like you don't have to think condoms or the IUD are wrong to think hormonal birth control is right. It's just another choice.

Congrats on starting to chart! It is fun in a geeky kind of way :) I wish I had been taught how in high school, because my doctor wishes she had a longer history of charts to refer to (we're having some issues). So the sooner you start the better!

@Kate: thanks! It's great to hear other people doing this. I hope you cycle works out for your wedding night- it would be hard to wait but not imposible. ;) Plus you might be all tuckered out from all that celebrating :)

@littlestbirds: I'll keep you updated. I'm in phase three right now- so the charting is pretty easy, can't wait for next cycle to start so we can test my powers of observation. :)  I am praying about writing that post.  I think it would have to be very carefully written and I really need the Holy Spirit's guidance.  As I go through the next couple of months I will be looking for experiences that I have that might connect with readers.  But I will definatly talk about it at some time.  I've already been blabbing to my girlfriends at work about it. They are intrigued and none are Catholic.  Please pray for me and my discernment about sharing my NFP experiences on the Blog. :)

@ Miss Key Lime:  :) Mr P loves the charting- but he cringes when I give my "mucas" report lol...

Pretzel,

Many prayers for you.  I wish you the best in figuring out how to discuss this topic on the blog. I'm Catholic and scarred to death of NFP, so I stayed on the pill, which which I was using to relieve heavy periods and nasty cramps. I'm hypothroid which tens to cause those problems. We waited for marriage to have sex. My husband woud love to use NFP but I think if he saw the amount of absteince involved he would change his tune. I follow a board on Delphi  on NFP and there have been many surpise PG's which scares me, but most of all I'm scarred by my BIL and SIL that have three under three and numero 3 was defiently not planned. They are nine months apart, baby was 6 weeks early.

Yay NFP! I look forward to reading that awkward yet glorious post, haha. :)

@lilyfaith: I used to have problems with that stuff too. Monster cramps and so on. Interestingly, the better I know my body, the more I relax and take care of symptoms. I get almost no cramps anymore, so I must be doing something right!

I wish I could do something like this, but endo precludes it. But everyone should just use what method makes them happiest/most comfortable and I think a lot of people would be curious, if you make a post, Pretzel!

@alisha, NFP is a real-time method, so yes, it works with irregular cycles. The simplest explanation is that with NFP you look for signs of fertility coming and fertility going. Before fertility comes it's called Phase I; during the fertile time is Phase II; after the fertile time is Phase III. You can have unprotected sex during Phases I and III and not get pregnant. Phase II is when you could get pregnant.

With the sympto-thermal method (STM), to determine the transition in and out of Phase II, there is a combination of signs that cross-check each other. When you see the fertile signs arrive, you take measures to not get pregnant (if you don't want to get pregnant that cycle) for the entire time you have fertile signs. The fertile signs disappear after you ovulate, and after you are sure they are gone (by waiting at least 3 days of no signs) you can have unprotected sex until you get your period again.

I have used NFP with only one irregular cycle so far and it worked. Although I have regular cycles for the most part, a few months ago I had a cycle that lasted 40 days. I kept waiting and waiting to see that I had ovulated, but the cross-checking sign (the temperature rise) did not come. I thought maybe I had missed it, but abstained from sex to be safe. Then a week later I got the cross-check sign indicating ovulation had occurred---meaning that if I had had sex, it would have been at optimal pregnancy-achieving time! Phew! The method was right; I just had to trust it.

Nevertheless, if you have irregular cycles, it means Phases I and/or II, when you are working toward ovulation, are very long. For nearly all women Phase III is the same length, about 14 days. With irregular cycles you might find that your signs of fertility take a long time to appear. Or you might find they last a long time, which could mean a lot of abstinence or a lot of condoms.

Regardless you should be able to determine what your body is doing at any given point even with irregular cycles. And it would give you a chance to discover and address the underlying problem, like KLP2010 said. You might discover your body really does have a pattern, just not a 28-day one. And if it really is too hard to deal with the unpredictability, you can always switch to another method.

Thanks Littlest Birds.  There are a lot of things to consider about NFP and I can only share my perspective and that of my FI.  I can only speak to why we made this choice together and why it fits with our beliefs.  I know that I sometimes have a strong voice, especailly when explaining my religious beleifs.  I pray that I can keep let the beauty of the message shine through without sounding like I am judging others who don't make the same choice.  Nonetheless, while I am keeping a future post in my brian I won't attempt one until I have more charting under my belt.  I'm still a newbie at this.

@eholden Thank you!

@daniellemybelle I agree about the breaks part. It sounds counter-intuitive but its true.

@maisymay My non-catholic friends are intrigued too. :)

I never thought about breaks, which could be good since we have very different drives. Only problem is phase three is when you are normally dry, no fun and lube seems to cause yeast infections for me.

I agree with Kate. Taking Charge of your Fertility is a great book.  The Couple to Couple League class option is great because with the class (online or in person) you get mentoring from a practicing couple.  It's good to have people to take a look at your chart when something looks abnormal.