Anyone opt to not take hormonal birth control after baby? I am exclusively breastfeeding my 14 week old son. I have pcos and went through infertility to get both my kids. I’d rather not take hormonal birth control and allergic to copper. I didn’t experience any improved fertility after my firstborn either like some do with pcos. Yet, I have friends who got a miracle third baby after infertility. We have discussed the risks and would welcome a third child as the miracle it would be. But, it feels weird. I haven’t had a period so I can’t do natural family planning right now either.
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Is DH open to condoms?
I figured between breastfeeding, PCOS, and lack of consistency, my odds were pretty low. We used condoms though, too, for my sake of mind.
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@DesertDreams88: allergic to latex and they feel very uncomfortable in general!
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I don't have links at hand but the IUD is a very small dose of hormones, compared to BCP.
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There is a Facebook group I'm in called Fertility Awareness Method of Birth Control. They have files on Cycle 0 methods with the ins and outs of ecological breast feeding; when it works or doesn't.
From what I gather (did nexplanon after my son, but don't plan to use hormonal BC again), you basically have to watch for fertile CM and temping and/or occasional OPK use can help.
I'm not a big fan of the holy bible "Taking Control of Your Fertility" like a lot of the women are, but it could help with pre return of fertility methods.
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We just used the pull out method mixed with natural family planning till we were ready. It worked great for us. I cant take birth control due to the hormones and how they mess with my mental health. Now that we are don with having kids though hubby is getting the snip snip haha
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I think it’s fine as long as you are truly ok with a third close in age. I have a friend who had to do IVF for her first two, didn’t use any birth control, and their surprise 3rd is only 16 months younger than her 2nd. They were surprised it happened naturally without even trying, but happy since they wanted a third.
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We're going back to the pull out method until my husband gets snipped. Worked for the 7ish years we've been together that I've not been pregnant. Depending on your husband's awareness of when it works well
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We don’t use birth control. We use condoms probably half the time. We’ve only had one oops, and that’s when I had an IUD. We honestly don’t even abstain during my fertile window—DH is just a champion puller. We did this for the 22 months between having DD1 and getting purposely pregnant with DD2, and now DD2 is 3 and we’ve been doing this since we had her. I react horribly to hormonal BC so it’s not really an option.
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DH and I use the pull out method and have never had a problem in the 14 years we've been using it. All of our pregnancies have been intentional. My OBGYN says it's just as effective as hormonal BC (97%) as long as your partner knows himself well enough to pull out on time.
We will continue to use pull out after Baby 3 is born until we decide to have another or that we are done, and then DH will get a vasectomy.
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I haven’t taken any birth control since being h pregnant with my first in 2012 so we’re just relying on condoms and abstinence 🤣
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I refused to take birth control or get an iud after I had my son. We relied on condoms until DH got snipped. I was done with being the one in charge of birth control.
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I was 100% done with birth control once i started having babies. After being on it for so many years, I felt like a fog was lifted once I went off and I was myself again. After putting my body through so much, i didn’t want to start on hormones again.
I am lucky to not struggle with infertility, and we still decided to go completely BC free after having my first, knowing that we wanted more children. I ended up getting pregnant with #2 when my first was 10.5 months old. I was breastfeeding (and had gotten my period back around 12 weeks pp).
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@dc yoga bee: I also refuse to take any more hormones. 20 years is enough for me. But I would be very careful if you don't want to get pregnant! I hear these surprise baby stories all the time especially with PCOS!
we're using condoms and the pull out method. And mostly just not ever having sex 🤦🤷 -
@dc yoga bee: I think this all sounds fine as long as you’d both be 100% ok with possibly having a baby in 10 months. Two of my friends could have written this word for word and now each have a third baby, essentially 10-11 months after having their second children. Both conceived via IVF except for thr miracle third babies.
If you are ok with that timeline, go for it!
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We just pull out and haven't had any issues!
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I personally wouldn't risk it unless you're 100% on board with a third kid! If I were you I'd convince DH to get a vasectomy!
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@dc yoga bee: I am not going to get back on birth control. I did ivf after trying about five years for my first. Then had a surprise bonus baby after my first postpartum period around 11 months. Still, I’m not going back on it. I was on it for so long and I’m done. I don’t actually totally want a third baby, so we will do natural family planning (ie, pull and pray, try to follow fertility friend calendar, and that’s about it) until husband gets the snip which will probably be in like a year. God help me. Waiting for period number two right now.
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I had a lot of problems getting pregnant with #1 so didn’t go back on BC after he was born. I got pregnant unexpectedly around his first birthday (never got my period back after DS1) so now we have 2 less than 2 years apart
We definitely don’t want 3, so I had an IUD put in ASAP after #2 was born and it’s been great so far!
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I haven't gone back to birth control after my 1st kid. I just track my cycles and use condom when I think I'm close to ovulation. After #2, I'm much more aware of my body/cycles, so DD2 is 2.5 and so far so good!
I am considering going back on the pill to manage horrendous PMS and period cramps. BUT I am also nervous about potential side effects that I don't care to deal with (I had none when I was on the pill for over a decade before I had kids, but my body is different and I'm older now so who knows).
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I haven't been on BCP for a very long time.
With IF pre-kids, we had to do a lot more TO get pregnant than to prevent. However, post baby, my cycles are like clockwork.
Honestly, we're both still so tired that timing sex around my cycle hasn't been very difficult.
It was super stressful for me before my cycle returned (we were NOT prepared to have another...), but since then it hasn't been an issue at all.
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After DS1 I tracked my fertility and we used condoms and didn't get pregnant again until we started trying for #2 two years later. After DS2 we did the same but weaning off of breastfeeding when he was 8 months old led to some irregular ovulation (aka we didn't use a condom one time but I thought I wasn't ovulating so NBD). DS3 is due a few weeks. I never had problems with infertility though, but I would proceed with caution. Seems like you're open to a surprise third though!
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i never went back on BCP after going off to start TTC 7+ years ago (my skin has never recovered but that's a story for another day) and we did get PG earlier than expected with our 2nd due to stress and delayed ovulation, but other than that (
), we've used a combo of NFP, condoms and pull out. DH is getting snipped in two months when timing allows as we're done.
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@LadyDi: This scares me as I am sitting here waiting for period number 2 and I thought I was being safe... didn't think about irregular ovulation.
@birdofafeather: my current stressful wait has me thinking about expediting the snip plans!
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I haven't been on BC sine 2006/7. I don't have regular periods at all, had IF interventions with both my boys. I had a somewhat regular period for 6 months after my youngest turned 1 but that was it (he is 2.5 now). My OB wants me to get back on BC since it isn't good to not have a period, I've just been dragging my feet.
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@agold: yeahhhhh it makes sense that it takes awhile for things to get back to normal after breastfeeding. I just really didn’t think about it and it was only one time....but apparently that’s all it takes lol. I 100% didn’t think I was pregnant and just took the test bc I was tired of waiting and had been a little nauseous during a car ride. Anyway, none of this is probably making you feel better. Sorry!
), we've used a combo of NFP, condoms and pull out. DH is getting snipped in two months when timing allows as we're done.
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