Birth Control

i went with the nuvaring this time!

Personally I declined the birth control because of the long term effects on our bodies. We do practice safe sex with condoms and I track my fertile window/ovulation to avoid any mishaps. I’m all for having more children at the 2-3 year mark. But no birth control for me.

I went with an 8 year hormonal iud and I’ve had no complaints so far besides that I’m still bleeding a little

@Rachele I was considering a non-hormonal IUD but got a little nervous because 1) there’s something inside me and I’ve read a few horror stories, 2) how do you not worry each month since you don’t get a “fake period” like you do on the pill? I’d always wonder if I was pregnant by accident 🤔

@Amirah I was considering just going the natural/tracking route again too but was hoping to not have to worry about condoms. Not to be weird, but it feels so much better without them. I know we have to do it to be safe though. 😑

Birth control messed up my hormones so much, I was anovulatory for a year and a half! I will never go on birth control again. Right now my boyfriend just pulls out.

I use natural cycles and love it! Granted you will have to use a condom on days you are fertile which isn’t ideal. However I feel so much better not on a hormonal birth control. I had been on the pill, the shot, and an IUD before. The worst was the IUD. Made me cramp all the time, my husband could feel it during sex and in a year it began implanting into my uterus. The shot was nice and the pill was fine, but all in all I’ll never go on hormonal birth control again

@Corinne thank you! To track your cycle naturally, do you take your basal body temperature each day?

I use the Oura ring and it integrates with the Natural Cycles app. Based on my body temperature it’ll tell you if you’re fertile that day or not. You can also take your body temperature daily before you get out of bed for the morning. The app is FDA approved and 98% effective. But as long as I wear the ring every night it takes my temperature for me and I don’t have to think about it at all.

@Corinne omg that’s amazing. I used to track mine with a bbt thermometer each morning before having kids but with a newborn my sleep is all over the place so I doubt it would be accurate each day. I’ll need to look into the Oura ring! ❤️