Contraception Post Preg

Hey guys,

Im jumping the gun a bit here as it is only 2 weeks post labour and DH and i havent BD yet but i was just after some opinions of contraception.

Im not going to rely on just BF as another preg straight away wouldnt suit at all we want to wait a couple of years, but im really not keen on the mini pill as i react quite severly to any pill except yasmin.

The midwifes gave me a whole bunch of info on the alternatives and im interested in the Progestogen IUD. If anyone has any info on this id love to hear from you.

Also did you start your form of contraception straight away, and when did you start BDing in relation to your contraception??

All info would be greatly appreciated

Cheers

I know shannon im exactly the same!! I get really down on the pill and there is no way mike would use a condom (and i dont really like them either for the matter). Hopefully someone will have some IUD advice. Meanwhile im going to do a search on the net.

Girls,

I have been thinking about this a lot too.........

After Olivia I knew I was happy to get pregnant again "whenever" and was BF, so we never bothered with any contraception and hence I have only 17 months between children!

BUT this time round there is NO WAY I am leaving it to chance again. So on the one hand am keen to get myself on the mini pill at least, as soon as I have given birth. But also have heard so many mood swing stories that this worries me about the pill. (Prior to TTC I used Marvelon which was great: no weight gain, no mood swings, but this is a full normal combination pill?)

Has anyone investigated the thought of continuing to chart to avoid pregnancy? (Or am I kidding myself?)

Or the injection type contraception?

From memory, one of the first things the midwives asked me after I gave birth to Olivia was "What contraception do you need" so I will be asking their advice for sure!

I haven't gone back onto the pill since Jacob was born, as I didn't see the point, since we wanted to start TTC when he was 10 + months old (now! eeeks!!)

A word about anyone considering depo-provera as an injection (if you are able to have that whilst BF? I'm not sure about this?).....Make sure you find out all that you can before having it. A GYN gave it to me and basically indicated that I had no choice but to have the injection and within 3 months, I put on a massive 20+ kg. This had a tremendous impact on my emotional well-being (and suffering from depression already this was not good) and even after going to my GP in tears after 1 year of having the injection (which last 3 months each), she too agreed that I should stop having the injections as it was doing me more harm than good, both physically and emotionally. Unfortunately, it was too late for me as the injections completely stuffed my metabolism and I have battled with weight every since and still feel like my body doesn't reflect who I really am (was a nice and comfortable size 12 before the injections).

lol shannon at the abstinance that is the same reason i gave my ob after my first child.

i have not used any form of birth control for 9yrs now and have only really relied on just trying to be aware when i am ovulating, condoms (very rarely) or the old withdrawal method. so far this has worked for us. i would like 1 more child then i think my dh will go for the snip - i figure after giving birth a man, its only fair a man does his bit.

After giving birth I went back onto the mini-pill for a couple of months (I think they gave it to me as I checked out of hospital)
At about 3 months after birth I started on the normal contraceptive pill (Logynon).
I have gone off the pill now, not because we are starting to TTC, but to see if my libido returns and also to see if I have less mood swings whilst off it. For contraception we are using the withdrawal method (not 100% effective, I know...)

I have actually heard really bad things about the Depovera injection, as well as the Implanon. Everyone I know that has had them reckons it stuffs up your hormones big time, and gived you MASSIVE mood swings and emotional difficulties...

I should point out that I had the depo-provera injections about 7 - 8 years ago now.....well before TTC etc.

Hi - I had an implanon in for just over two years after Caitlin was born and it was a nightmare. I had AF's that lasted 15-19 odd days and by the time I could get an appointment with my doctor to get it taken out, they would stop so I wouldn't bother.

I also went right off sex. We would go without for a month and it wouldn't bother me.

With the depo, it says on the pamphlet that on their 'test' women, some of them took up to two years to conceive again after stopping the injections, thats what put me off that. You're supposed to be fertile the next day after having an implanon taken out, but it took us 11 months to conceive again. (first one took about three months). My cycles were all over the place during that time.

I've had no trouble with the full strength pill in the past, just the remembering to take it part, so I might try my luck with the mini pill after this one is born and then think about something more permanant.

Barb.

We are going to use natural fertility again which is using Billings method and temps. We avoided conception for 6 months prior TTC and abstaining when fertile. Only thing is DH doesn't trust me 100% as he thinks I will want to get pg again soon. I won't go back on the pill again.

I don`t like the pill, they seem to give me awful mood swings. I wasn`t asked about contraception until Matthew was 4 weeks and it was my MCHN who asked me.

I am taking the pill but forgetting to take it and ending up AF every 7 or so days...so now I'm taking vow of abstinance.lol

Girls my SIL (the one I love) is a doctor, and when I told her about the IUD thingy she nearly hit the roof, she said the amount of people that get severe infections and women have become infertile b/c of these infections and all other bad things that she's seen, she'd strongly advise against it, just thought Id put in my 2 cents worth.

Hey Brooke - saw in the other thread that you were popping in here so i thought i might follow you down and see whats up??

We have decided to also practise the billings method as i thought i would get an IUD and discussed it with DH but he wasnt into it as i have a scarring problem and we thought that if i got any scarring in my unterus it would be devestating as we still want many more babies. We will see what happens.

I have heard bad things about IUDs. It is hard to do Billings as I'm not sure when my cycle will start again so we are abstaining which is getting hard. Thinking about diaphragm (sp??), anyone else considered it?

I have the Implanon in my arm, which slowly releases progesterone, is supposedly 100% effective and lasts for 3 years - the first few weeks I had light bleeding daily...then no bleeding at all, yay! I have heard that once your body gets used to it, it is quite common to have the equivalent of a light period once a month. Just wanted to say I recommend it.

Hi all, just a bit about me. I had Kat and after my AF returned I relied on the cycle method to avoid becoming PG again and condoms for when I was ov'ing. Well, I only ever got one period (when AF returned) and I was pregnant again! So THAT system is out the window this time!

I can't take the pill, they affect my moods and emotions, weight and I forget too often and even when I don't forget, I have fallen pg(twice) due to relying on them (this was many yrs ago.....I ended up using just the ov method and condoms with much success untill DH and I started TTC Kat).

I fell pg on Depo provera and will NEVER consent to that again as I thought I was just having a long period (4wks).....nope.....I was pg. M/c'd a wk or so later......took something like 6months to get AF back after stopping injections....

Implanion...well, my friends (three of them) have it and swear by it. But with my sensitivity to hormones I am reluctant to use that also....

Condoms aren't appropriate as too often we get carried away and think "just this once won't hurt....."....that's why I'm pg again.

At my 12wk appt contraception was discussed and I am opting for the IUD(intra uterine device. It's where a device is placed into the uterus to stop the egg implanting). I will have to wait untill I have stopped bleeding from pg, but that is fine with me and at least this will not affect my moods and is pretty secure as a contraceptive (very few failures). There are risks as with any type of contraceptive, but I think I like the thought of this one better than taking something which will unbalance my system..... Also it can be removed and you can fall pg immediately when you decide to TTC.

Just a note about the Billings method - it's great to use to check your timing if you are trying to INCREASE your chances of getting pregnant, but it's not effective as a contraceptive method, as it is quite common to be able to fall pregnant outside of the time frame you are 'supposed' to be ovulating. Remember that all these charts are based on averages, and your body doesn't necessarily conform to the 'average' specifications all the time.

Every time I've known someone to use the Billings method for contraception, they've fallen pregnant - and yes, they WERE being very methodical about it.

I wish there were a simple, no-mess answer. I won't take something that messes up my hormones like depo-provera, and diaphragms and condoms just get in the way of a good mood! DH is talking about going for the snip, but I'm starting to feel lovey-dovey again, and he's in no hurry... so what to do until then?

Kerrie

I did Billings and temps for 6 months before TTC and it worked to avoid pg for us. You do have to have a good understanding of your CM.

Kerrie, my ovulation time was always 14 days before Kat and stupid me thought it would be the same after I got my first AF. I didn't even think about the fact that it still had to settle into routine again and that I could be fertile when we did BD as I was half asleep. I was busy with Kat (she was/is a reflux baby) and wasn't even paying attention to CM at the time. Dh woke me up and he was half asleep when we bd'd and concieved. So much so that he asked me the next morning if he'd dreamt it or not....I said if he had then we'd had the same dream! Then found out I was pg.....so we know it wasn't a dream!

LOL, great dreams! I have some friends who had a similar experience, they apparently started BD while they were both asleep, and woke up in the middle of it!

I'm not saying that Billings can't work, by the way, just that in the instances of my friends who used it, it wasn't infallible. I know my husband would think I was crazy if I suggested it as a form of contraception, based on our RL experiences.

Kerrie

Yes DH is not trusting it which is why we are using a diapragm.

mmmm I'm undecided on what to do...I too have terrible mood swings if on the full strength pill and will not be going back to that. Am not terribly keen on the mini pill either cos of the timing you have to take it, does it make you moody aswell?

The only thing concerning me about the IUD is if something goes wrong and it buggers up my uterus, just seems a bit too permanent for my likings. Might have to stick to condoms while I decide!

xxxCaz

We are going to use natural fertility again