Well, Mouse_Spouse and I are trying to have a love life. I’m very paranoid about getting pregnant again.
Hopefully, the Mouseling will nap long enough for me to do a little research on IUDs. (A blizzard between me and the pharmacy got our little one started :smack: , so I’m looking for something long-term but not permenent.)
Is there anything you have found effective?
Dear Mods: I’m not trying a spark a debate, I’m just curious about options. Please forgive me if this is the wrong venu.
Everyone: Please forgive my spelling. Four hours of sleep is great, but still not enough.
I use FAM (symptothermal method - our motto is: “No, it’s not the rhythm method, and yes, I’ve heard the one about what do you call rhythm method users.”), but it’s one great drawback is that you can’t use it while you’re nursing or while you’re getting inconsistent sleep. So it’s not for mothers of newborns, sorry!
My then-wife got an IUD after the birth of our last child. It cost us like $800, but it worked like a charm - no pregnancies (rhythm/withdrawal), no deadened sensation (condoms), no weird side effects (pill/shot), nothing to remember or forget (pill/suppository). It was very liberating for us to be able to have sex whenever the mood struck. Until, that is, the bitch left me.*
The contraceptive method I use is involuntary celibacy most of the time and condoms on the rare occasion that I have sex, but that is not the method you are looking for.
Right now, age. Before that, vasectomy. And before that, IUD. My wife has a graduate degree in reproductive physiology, so I kind of trusted her. Worked like a charm, though when we had our second and last kid they were pretty much impossible to get in the US. We actually considered going to Denmark for one, then decided on a vasectomy for me and a much warmer cruise to the Southern Caribbean.
My kids use the pill, not that they’ve ever done anything *la la la * (Need finger in ears smiley here.) Seems to work for them.
I’ve been on the pill for, what, almost ten years now? Then again, I’m good about taking pills consistently. Same time every morning. Can you take hormonal birth control if you’re breastfeeding?
Yeah, I agree. I mean, why would you have sex for something other than procreation, Mouse ? You know it is a sin not to, right? You don’t want to burn in eternal damnation and I don’t want you too either. :eek:
But seriously, my friends and I have all had great experiences with Yasmin (BC pill). I guess it has lower hormones or something, so we have all had next to no negative side effects. Before, I was on a few other kinds of pill and they all made me get horribly motion sick, among other things. I was on Depo for a while, which may have been the worst experience of my life- I gained 70 lbs, would puke all the time, my hair fell out, etc.
I’ve gotten a vasectomy and she’s gotten her tubes ligated. We both had them done before we met, though, each having opted for our choice when our then partners remained officially fertile.
Ain’t no babies gonna happen here with this combo, though.
You can take POPs (progestin only pills, also known as the mini pill) while breastfeeding. Any hormonal method that is a combination horomone (estrogen/progestin combo like the regular pill, patch, or Nuva ring) has a high tendency to decrease milk production. The downside of the mini pill is that it is less robust than the combi pill. You have to be very good about taking it at the exact same time. There’s also a higher incidence of breakthrough bleeding for some users.
I used it while breastfeeding both girls for a year after their births with no unplanned babies, but I will admit it made me a bit nervous (not being so good with that “same time” requirement, particularly on weekends).
I’ve been on the low-dose version of Depo-Provera since May. No side effects, no pills to remember, no condoms to break, no pregancies, and no more periods. It’s $95 every 3 months for the shot and the office visit, but it’s worth the price to us (my boyfriend pays for every other shot/visit). That said, Depo seems to be one of those things that women either love or hate, and results vary widely. But I love it.
Before that, vasectomy. And before that, IUD. My wife has a graduate degree in reproductive physiology, so I kind of trusted her. Worked like a charm, though when we had our second and last kid they were pretty much impossible to get in the US. We actually considered going to Denmark for one, then decided on a vasectomy for me and a much warmer cruise to the Southern Caribbean.