NWR: Natural Family Planning?

I am very much in agreement with Katurns and Jen C., but I went one step farther when we got married. I started using a fertility monitor (I like the Lady-Comp) that had an integrated thermometer and tracked all my information for me. I was able to use it to prevent and then to plan my son (we got pregnant on our 2nd month of trying), and now I'm using it for contraception again. It's super easy to use and does so much more that track your temp. I won't get into it all here, but their website is super informative.

Good luck and congratulations!

If you are interested in NFP, the Couple to Couple League has a lot of easy to understand information, and they offer classes. It's through the Catholic church, so your call as to whether you want to go to the classes, but I"m sure you can buy the materials separately. http://www.ccli.org/ You definitely do not want to use the rhythm method, and you should chart for several months before you start using NFP to postpone pregnancy. If you have difficulty conceiving, the first thing your fertility doctor will probably ask you to do is chart, so you'll be ahead of the game there.

Do bear in mind that it's not all rainbows and sunshine... it requires self-restraint, good communication, and he's going to have to make a real effort to get you in the mood, because women are naturally more easily aroused during their fertile period. Also, keep in mind that between fertile days and menstrual cycles, you may have as much as half the cycle where you are abstaining.

About four years ago, a good friend of mine decided to go with the family planning method. She went off the pill..waited on her cycle to regulate and it stayed right on time perfectly. So she had sex on what she called a "non-fertile" day. She found out later, she was pregnant. When she asked why and how that could happen, the doctor told her, when you go off birth control it takes a long time for your body to truly get back to normal. She started the process of family planning way too soon and was on her last ovulation day when the baby was conceived. My point, never say never. When you plan things like this, they almost always backfire and do not go as planned. I am not saying this will happen to you, all I am saying is do not be surprised if all your plans go totally another way when you least expect it. Prepare yourself, talk to your doctor. Learn all your facts.

Thanks Susan. I really appreciate the advice. Also thanks to everyone else who has responded. I have been off the pill since Feburary, and have charted my periods ever since. I haven't charted anything else but will plan to on my next cycle. I have discussed it with hubby. He knows I want to wait and so we are going to use condoms from now on (unless I am already pregnant). I think all the charting will help me to improve my chances of getting pregnant in August. I was going to pick up a basal thermometer.

Gemma, you can successfully use NFP to avoid pregnancy even while coming off the pill. The key is to have proper instruction. Yes, it can take a while for your body to get back to normal, but that doesn't mean it doesn't work. I'm sure that Susan's friend was not properly instructed or she wouldn't have thought it was a non-fertile day. I suggest trying one of the following sites to find an instructor: http://boma-usa.org/ http://ccli.org/ or http://www.fertilitycare.org/ for a certified instructor. These are the sites for Billings, Couple to Couple League, and Creighton that were all mentioned above. NFP can be used to figure out when you are possibly fertile and then you can use that info to avoid pregnancy or to achieve pregnancy. NFP charting also helps you determine if there is anything wrong with your reproductive health so you'd know if you could likely conceive come September when you want to do so. If not, you know what to fix.