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To me it was TTC, but without stressing out DH about it, lol. I tried to not care and pretend to not notice, but it was impossible, lol.

To me, NTNP means having unprotected sex knowing it could possibly result in a pregnancy... and not doing anything else to increase your chances. No charting, OPKs, etc.

To us, it was not charting, not preventing, but just having fun with our sex life..

What I'm doing now sums it up to me! We're not using any birth control, just the fact that I haven't had AF yet (EBF). So we're pretending that's our BC but know that we could get PG, and we are ok with that.

To me it just means having unprotected sex with out doing anything else like tracking your cycle and timing sex and not caring if it doesn't happen.

To me it's just having sex without protection. I think tracking your cycle and having sex around O is TTC.

@knittylady: that's what I think too. Like if you are TTC, you want to get pregnant each month. For DH and I, we were NTNP and I would have been completely ok with not getting pregnant but fine if I got pregnant too.

@yoursilverlining: Yeah but you are still not actively trying. There is definitely a difference between just not using protection and actively trying to hit days when you are most fertile.

Otherwise, wouldn't NFP also be the same as NTNP if any time you have sex without protection you are TTC?

@pui: What is NFP?

@pui: I have heard of Natural Family Planning but get a little lost in all of the HB acronyms. Thanks. Good point.

@knittylady: Agreed. When we were TTC we were on a strict sex schedule, because my cycle was all over the place due to coming off the pill.

Next time around we will probably try NTNP because I feel more confident about being able to get pregnant. However, I now have ovulation pain and more obvious O signs, so it will hopefully be pretty obvious when the ideal time would be, and we will probably still try to DTD around that time, just because our goal is to get preg.

First of all, I think any time you aren't using protection, you are "trying." You are either trying or preventing in my book - there's no grey area. (ETA: LOL @Blackbird and @LittleK - looks like we are on the same page here.) It drives me nuts when people announce that they are pregnant and then say, "But we weren't even trying!" I'm like, were you using BC? No?? Then you were trying...

Second, though, I am WAY too Type A to NTNP, so I have never done it, but I would say that NTNP means no tracking of any type (no charting, OPKs, checking CM, etc.) and no timed BD. You are just going about your normal life without the goalie.

Agree with pp who said it's having unprotected sex whenever you feel like it. Ttc is making a point to have more sex in hopes of getting pregnant, whether or not you chart, use opks, etching.

It's not reallyy style though. I can't just go with the flow like that!

@pui: IMO (and probably not a popular one), if you are having sex without protection, you know what the end result is likely to be: pregnancy. You can do things to increase your changes (timing, etc.) but it’s kind of black and white to me; whether you are timing or just doing it whenever you like, you’re engaging in a certain behavior that directly leads to pregnancy.

Sure, there is some degree of difference between just having sex whenever and checking CM, testing for O, etc. but I don’t think of them as entirely differently classed activities, like some other people do.

I'm not personally (for myself, I mean) ok with NFP as a birth control method because I don't see it as actively avoiding enough for my own needs (I don't want to get pregnant).

@yoursilverlining: Well seeing as it's virtually impossible to get pregnant if you don't have sex within 5 days before ovulation and 1 day after, having sex willy nilly isn't the best strategy. If you only have sex once a week, it's pretty likely you're missing that window. That's why many doctors recommend you at least try OPKs if you've had trouble getting pregnant before testing for infertility, because many people just assume they O CD14 and don't realize they are actually Oing 6 days later.

But you have to see how NFP is actively avoiding, though. Even if it's not fool-proof enough for you, a couple using NFP is still avoiding the times when pregnancy is more likely, decreasing their chances. I feel like NTNP is a mid point between NFP and TTC.

@littlek: You don't? That's the point.

@littlek: Well if they know when they are Oing, I'd say they are not NTNP lol. They are either trying or avoiding at that point hah.

For me it means not using any birth control and getting it on when you feel like it , without thinking about cycles or getting pregnant at all.

I know that I could never NTNP because I'm just too aware. I'm a control freak - I would *know* when it was 14 days after AF etc.