How has NFP worked for you? -Part I

Meg asked “Do you practice NFP? If you do and feel comfortable, could you write a post on how it’s worked for you?” Somehow my “yes, though I prefer to think of it as ‘fertility awareness‘ and it works wonderfully” did not seem like much of a post. So I asked some other women if they would write a paragraph answering the question “How has NFP worked for you?” The response was far better than I expected, so I now present you with the first in a series of posts addressing the question of how NFP has worked for very real women.

How NFP has worked for me

Rebecca’s Answer

One year ago, NFP Awareness Week and the blogging community introduced me to NFP; at first I was skeptical and overwhelmed, and doubtful that I could really do it. As I learned more, it became clear that NFP was the right answer. The first thing NFP did for me was free me from the idea that the only reliable way to prevent pregnancy was the pill (and abstinence of course). I was experiencing negative side effects of using the pill but I felt trapped because I knew that avoiding pregnancy was something we wanted to do for the foreseeable future.

As I researched the other contraceptive options, everything else had worse side effects or obstacles for us and NFP was not something I was familiar with (even though I had been raised Catholic and we attended pre-Marriage classes before our wedding). All I knew was that the Catholic Church was against birth control, but I didn’t know why and I thought the ‘rhythm’ method was our only option. After just 1 month hormone-free, I was starting to feel better. Not only did I lose the constant bloated feeling, but I felt more emotionally stable and in control of my emotions. As I learned how to read my signs, I gained a new respect for the power of my body. Now that my husband and I have used NFP for 7 months, it has done so much more. We communicate more about our physical relationship; I feel like I’m not alone in preventing pregnancy; and we feel confident in our discernment that we have just cause to avoid pregnancy at this time. Most importantly, NFP gave us back control of our fertility.

You can read more of Rebecca’s experience with NFP at her blog Feel My Love.

Elizabeth’s Answer

NFP has worked perfectly for us. I’m one of those women with textbook cycles (even the old rhythm method probably would’ve worked for us!). Even when I went off the pill, my body was easily able to get back into its natural cycles, and despite our uncertainties, we were easily able to avoid conceiving. (This is not to say it wasn’t hard in other ways.) We were also able to conceive easily. Really, the only part that wasn’t easy was discerning as a couple when we should try to postpone pregnancy and when we should try to achieve it! Oh, and I guess the abstinence part But once you’re used to it, the first part of the week is fairly easy, though of course by the end you’re really ready!

You can read more of Elizabeth’s experience with NFP at her blog That Married Couple.

Trena’s Answer

Four months before we were married, my husband and I attended a seminar on Natural Family Planning because it was required by our church. We knew, even before attending the seminar, that we would use NFP since it was one of the church teachings. Although we had little knowledge of how it worked, we knew it was the right thing to do. The seminar was amazing and we learned more about the female body then either of us had learned throughout our schooling. We were fascinated by the facts of the reproductive system and how God designed a woman’s body in such a perfect way.

For us, NFP has been more than learning how the female body works. We had no idea how much using NFP would strengthen our marriage. NFP made us talk about sex and have intimate conversations, that we may not have had if we used birth control. Sex no longer was sex but it was making love; what it should be. When we planned to avoid pregnancy, we discussed the consequences of making love on that particular day and if we were both ready to become parents. We had a burning desire to be parents but at the time we didn’t feel it was right. So we practiced SPICE during that time and were able to reconnect on a spiritual level.

When we decided we were ready to become parents, we knew, thanks to our chart, when we could achieve such an amazing goal. I remember looking at my chart every night, comparing it to the last several months and knowing, in just a few days, it would be here.

We were successful at achieving pregnancy our first month, with both pregnancies. We thank NFP for that.

You can read more of Trena’s experience with NFP (including the most hilarious NFP story I have ever read) at her blog The Third Prayer.