Lactational Amenorrhea Questions
Hello--
I'm kind of new to this community. I was a member years ago (2007ish) under a different name. So a bit of a background... I've used FAM since January 2007 as a method of birth control. During my travels in Europe with my husband, I conceived. It should be said that this was no fault of FAM (which worked effectively for nearly 4 years!), but instead of a condom that broke the day I ovulated. I would probably have gotten a morning after pill had I been in Canada, but in rural Croatia on Christmas Day this was just not possible.
Luckily, we wanted to have a baby anyway, it was just a couple years early! Now we have a very healthy baby boy, and have gotten the go ahead from my doctor that I can have sex again (which is fantastic, because even a week after childbirth I was emotionally ready for sex again, even though I was still healing physically).
Anyway, finally to my point (I see that there has been some discussion of FAM while breastfeeding in the tags, but none exactly what I am about to ask)...
...I understand that under certain circumstances breastfeeding and the infertility created thereof is extremely effective at preventing pregnancy. However, I am unsure about it as I have never used it before. Have other people found it effective with diligent use?
I breastfeed exclusively and my baby (almost two months old) feeds 8-12 times per day. He uses a pacifier somewhat, and will probably have a bottle or two a couple times a week from my husband. I practice babywearing, and we spend pretty much at least 20 hours a day side by side, as I understand that makes a difference in effectiveness.
I don't wabt to be on hormonal birth control again and condoms failed us last time. I have considered a non-hormonal IUD but my periods were already quite painful and it is less effective than lactational induced fertility and just as effective as FAM, it seems.
Mostly what I want to know is will I have "dry" days until I begin to be fertile again? Is it worth it to chart my cervical fluids or temps, or should I only bother checking my temps once I no longer have dry days? It seems so far I have only had dry days since my lochia stopped. I want to know about this as I feel slightly nervous about the lactational amenorrhea on it's own (though I imagine after a couple of months of use I will feel more comfortable).
I don't recall what was said in TCOYF, and at this time I cannot reference it (my copy is currently with a friend across the country and I am yet to get a new one--it was not super urgent as I had pretty much not had any issue with charting for several years).
Thanks for all of your help.
I'm kind of new to this community. I was a member years ago (2007ish) under a different name. So a bit of a background... I've used FAM since January 2007 as a method of birth control. During my travels in Europe with my husband, I conceived. It should be said that this was no fault of FAM (which worked effectively for nearly 4 years!), but instead of a condom that broke the day I ovulated. I would probably have gotten a morning after pill had I been in Canada, but in rural Croatia on Christmas Day this was just not possible.
Luckily, we wanted to have a baby anyway, it was just a couple years early! Now we have a very healthy baby boy, and have gotten the go ahead from my doctor that I can have sex again (which is fantastic, because even a week after childbirth I was emotionally ready for sex again, even though I was still healing physically).
Anyway, finally to my point (I see that there has been some discussion of FAM while breastfeeding in the tags, but none exactly what I am about to ask)...
...I understand that under certain circumstances breastfeeding and the infertility created thereof is extremely effective at preventing pregnancy. However, I am unsure about it as I have never used it before. Have other people found it effective with diligent use?
I breastfeed exclusively and my baby (almost two months old) feeds 8-12 times per day. He uses a pacifier somewhat, and will probably have a bottle or two a couple times a week from my husband. I practice babywearing, and we spend pretty much at least 20 hours a day side by side, as I understand that makes a difference in effectiveness.
I don't wabt to be on hormonal birth control again and condoms failed us last time. I have considered a non-hormonal IUD but my periods were already quite painful and it is less effective than lactational induced fertility and just as effective as FAM, it seems.
Mostly what I want to know is will I have "dry" days until I begin to be fertile again? Is it worth it to chart my cervical fluids or temps, or should I only bother checking my temps once I no longer have dry days? It seems so far I have only had dry days since my lochia stopped. I want to know about this as I feel slightly nervous about the lactational amenorrhea on it's own (though I imagine after a couple of months of use I will feel more comfortable).
I don't recall what was said in TCOYF, and at this time I cannot reference it (my copy is currently with a friend across the country and I am yet to get a new one--it was not super urgent as I had pretty much not had any issue with charting for several years).
Thanks for all of your help.