Hey guys,
Remember Dustin, the really smart and classy guy from Engaged Marriage who answered ALL my questions about natural family planning last week? Well, he kindly asked me to offer some of my own thoughts and reflections on NFP, as a response to the Q&A we put together. I enthusiastically agreed, because I now have lots to say on the subject! Maybe I was a little too enthusiastic. I wrote a lot. Nevertheless, you can find my response over on his cool blog. He gave me the thumbs-up on entitling it “An Educated, Artsy-Fartsy Protestant’s Thoughts on Natural Family Planning.” I told him I felt bad about putting “Artsy-Fartsy” in his permanent archives but he was totally cool with it. What a nice guy, right?
While you’re there, take a look around: he provides fabulous, practical marriage advice (something I don’t do), as well as thought-provoking articles on marriage. I appreciate that he’s young and that he has a fresh, energetic style. I really dig his site. It’s not every day you get to hear about marriage from a young but wise and knowledgeable guy. Plus, his site is real fancy-looking, without being flashy. I like that. I aspire to have such a nice-looking site someday.
If you’re a new visitor from Engaged Marriage: Hi! Thanks for stopping by! If you want to get a general idea of what Project M is all about, you might want to start with this post, which explains my goals and purposes. There’s also my About the Project page, but you probably could have figured that out yourself. Some people get a kick out of my discussion of sex. That’s where this whole things started, actually.
Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to check me out! Blessings!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Kathleen -
You mentioned that you’re trying to achieve a pregnancy – which is why you’re not planning on using Natural Family Planning right now – but may be interested later.
There are a couple of methods of Natural Family Planning that HELP you achieve a pregnancy by clearly identifying the time of ovulation, and then, if problems, like wacky cycles remain, certain methods can help you identify the problem (hormonal imbalance, PCOS, etc), and subsequently solve the problem. May couples struggling with infertility jump straight into the “specialist” mode and use artificial insemination or in-vitro fertilization as opposed to solving the problem going on with your body and helping you prepare for a healthy pregnancy!
I suggest you look into the Creighton Model of NFP – there are actually doctors that specialize in treating infertility in this manner – and hopefully that will assist you on your journey to motherhood – a journey I would love to start also!
Best wishes,
K
Suggested website: http://www.naprotechnology.com/
Kathy, when you first started mentioning Natural Family Planning I thought it was a good idea, but only for people trying to get pregnant, not those trying to avoid it. The more I read about it, though, the more I find it could be more useful to me than I first thought. I will have to talk to you more in person and read up on how I can use it even with my whacky cycles! Thanks for writing on this subject; mucho appreciated!
I was going to mention what another poster already said that one of the great things about using NFP is that you can use it to GET pregnant too! I know you already commented on this, but I wanted to reiterate. Also, in the NFP world there is such a thing called “fertility focused intercourse” that helps you identify your most fertile time and use that to get pregnant. Also, with Creighton (which the other Sarah mentioned) notes that if you use fertility focused intercourse for 6 months without a pregnancy then they will start looking into what may be the cause. In conventional medicine they have you try for at least one year (of randomly timed intercourse). I also highly recommend the Creighton Model Fertility Care System, especially if you have irregular, long cycles like I do (sounds like you do too). The Creighton docs will also take your acne into account. Since the hormones helped it go away, most likely it has a hormonal factor. in addition to what the other Sarah recommended look at http://www.fertilitycare.org/
This is a more comprehensive site on Creighton and their medical solutions. You can also find an instructor and doctor on this site.
I also am an evangelical non-Catholic Christian and you are right that we never hear about this stuff. I learned about it from a Catholic cousin and my husband and I could not be happier with our choice. Keep up the great work and God Bless you and you husband!
Yeah, I phrased that poorly. I shouldn’t have said I’m not planning to use NFP right now; I should have clarified that I’m not planning to use it right now in order to prevent pregnancy. That was sloppy on my part. I’m starting to see that NFP would be highly useful for getting pregnant, too.
You point to an important problem: in our culture, people tend to be too quick to jump to medical procedures to treat symptoms, rather than striving to pinpoint and solve the problem that creates the symptoms in the first place. I, too, feel the temptation to ask a specialist to “fix” my problem rather than consider how to improve my body. But I think what you’re suggesting is a lot wiser. I’m not sure if I’m making sense, but I get what you’re saying.
Thanks – I will look into these things!
Hi there – not sure if anyone mentioned it or not, but FAM (Fertility Awareness Method) is pretty much the same thing, but from a non-catholic point of view.
The book “Taking Charge of Your Fertility” is AMAZING – really just goes through everything you need to know about FAM (and NFP) and is full of some great stuff.
Thanks! There are so many terms floating around out there, I’m starting to wonder what’s what. I like the sounds of that — fertility awareness. Wow, I’m learning so much!