[ScarlettDrawl]

I think I got that right (Taking Charge of Your Fertility). Has anyone used this method as a means of birth control and/or getting pregnant? I'm getting married very soon and my DF and I want to wait about 6 months before we ttc. Our research of alternatives to hormone form birth control has lead us to this book and method and I was just wondering what kind of success others have had with it. TIA. Best.

[40poundsago]

Because of a hormone imbalance that I have I can not take birth control pills, So my husband and I have to use other forms of protection. I used the good old calendar. We just count the days and watch what my body is telling me. We have had it pretty well figured out. I did find last month that the tickerfactory has an ovulation calendar, and it works great! That would be an idea for you it tells you when you are fertile and you can stay away from any risky activies during that time. Hope this helps.

[Kelly J]

I've used it with success in the past. The book is great and explained a lot. The charting was a pain to begin with, but after awhile it became second nature. I would recommend it to anyone who could accept the possibility of a pregnancy okay because there is room for human error (vs. hormonal bc). I really liked being off the hormones and felt better than I had in years on the pill. It was very easy to get pregnant when we decided to because I knew right where I was in my cycle.

Good Luck!!

[ScarlettDrawl]

Thank you ladies for such prompt responses. I really think this is going work well for me. In the past, I was on bc pills and hated the way I felt, so I quit them. After years of irregular cycles, I have been blessed with regular ones as of late so this should help me to learn to understand my body even better. The possibility of pregnancy would be very much accepted (even celebrated), we're just not "trying" until later. KWIM? Anyway, thank you both, you've been most helpful.

[hautbois]

I have had success both to conceive and avoid with FAM. I have long, irregular cycles so the calendar method would never work for me. We were able to conceive the second cycle we tried. I've started charting again to avoid pg and it's amazing how quickly it becomes second nature again. Good luck to you and your future hubby!

[barbygirl43]

If you go to www.fertilityfriend.com you can sign up for a free (or paid) service where you can track your cycle online. The paid version will give you more detailed info if this helps. I too have used it in the past. When it is done correctly it is pretty effective.

[GreatBigMonsterMomma]

I love FAM, and it works well if you have an excellent understanding of it. I flat-out refuse to put more hormones into my body after what taking the birth control pill did to my PCOS. I went from having a relatively mild case--only symptoms being occasional irregular periods and acne--to a very strong case with pretty much each and every symptom there is. And the only thing that changed was I was on the Pill for a while, then came off. And from a faith standpoint, I feel much more comfortable with FAM as well.

I don't recommend counting your days to anyone as a form of birth control. That's essentially what the rhythm method was, and the Catholic church abandoned that because it didn't work for more people than it did work for. They use a form of FAM now (FAM & NFP are very close to the same), and you can get classes in it from the Couple to Couple League.

It is a little confusing to begin with, but I found TCOYF to be an excellent explanation of it. I have said before on this site (though not this particular forum) that I credit the existence of 2 of my 3 children to TCOYF.

Anything natural is probably not going to be endorsed by your doctor, of course. But I have found that natural family planning methods in general are better accepted outside of the United States. I recall after having my first daughter reading in hospital-provided literature that NFP was essentially as effective as no birth control...which of course is nonsensical. But that very same day I had a doctor tell me that there's no such thing as lactational amenorrhea, which is also nonsensical. And at the very same time I have found in my own research that natural methods are recommended by international sources, especially LAM. So, well, I don't rate too highly the opinion of someone who's writing with a Pfizer pen, KWIM?

[ScarlettDrawl]

Donna, yeah, I'm not sure I would trust the calendar method for myself either. Hopefully, FAM will become second nature to us soon .

Dawnyal, I use FertilityFriend (free version) to keep track of my cycle. I'm going to begin tracking temps and cm on my next cycle and it will hopefully be helpful for me to keep track of everything.

Sabra, I love your name. Very pretty! I'm thinking that we will be using backup for a few cycles until I get the hang of FAM. I totally agree with you though, about doctors. They are in business. My current doc is a heavy hormonal birth control pusher. He gave me NuvaRing samples and a prescription but I know I won't be using it.

Thanks!