Birth Control - Kingston, PA

Hello L.,

I took seasonale http://www.seasonale.com/ but if you go to that site they have another one to choice from also. I never had any problems I took it for a year right after my second child was born but i WASN"T breast feeding so you will have to read about that.

Good Luck
H. F

Have you considered a diaphragm?

I was in the same position, I took OrthoNovum Lo

L.,

Me myself couldn't do the pills either, well that is how i got pregnant with my beautiful intelligent little girl, But anyway i use the nuva ring and personally it works great I have been on it for almost 2 years now and no problems. You leave it in for 3 weeks take it out have your period then put a new one back in. Very easy and convienient to use, especially if you are always busy and can't remember to take the pill.

C.

I have the Mirena IDC and love it-- and I am a bfing mom too. It has a little bit of hormone in it, but less than the pill-- and the Nuva ring has hormones too. Good luck picking a method!

The pill that they give you while you are breastfeeding has a different hormone then when you are not a breastfeeding mom, I think it is a progesterone only but I could be wrong, the one I used was Camila until I was finished breastfeeding. Make sure you talk to your doctor about your conciderations before you have your heart set on another method being that you are only 4 month post because you may have to wait until you use an IUD or ring until your uterus finishes all it contracting back to normal size, also some of the new IUDs on the market are hormone based and some are copperbased, if you are sensitive to hormones you may still be getting them in your system depending on your choice. Also you may want to check with your insuarnce company too because not all cover the cost of an IUD.

my son is now almost 5months old and i got the depo shot before leaving the hospital with him. I am also breastfeeding. Hasn't effected milk at all. I do get a slight headache for about a week after i get the shot but it is worth not having a period.

You may want to check into a low dose birth control. There are several kinds of BC out there and I do know there are at least a few that come in low dose. In reference to the IUD, I don't recommend them to anyone. I tried them once and it did not go well. I bleed very heavy for several days and was cramping very badly. I ended up having it taken out and found out it had given me an infection as well. I had to take anitbiotics for several days. I have been taking the Seasonal BC and I love it. I only get a period once every 3 months. I can't tell you anything about the ring, as I have never tried it. I can tell you that the shot oftens has been side effects for people. Heavy bleeding, cramping, and I had a friend who got pregnant on it and she had been getting the shot for several years. Hope this helps :-)

I was on the nuva ring. My docotor told me that i was not able to be on the nuva and breast feed. The IUD's not sure about. Just like with any form of birth control it is a pain for us women while men get to run around not haveing to deal with any of the time of the mnth stuff. LOL

L.,
First of all, congrats on your baby AND especially your wonderful decision to breastfeed!!!!

I have heard the best things about the new IUD's. In particular Mirena and ParaGuard (which is hormone-free!!!). The hormones kind of scare me, so personally, if I was going that route, that's what I would choose. (We're done w/ kids, so DH is going to be "fixed" instead!) :-)

Good luck!!!

Depo shot. I loved it! You get one every 3 months and no period. Some women have trouble with erratic bleeding, weight gain and hot flashes though. It really depends on what you tolerate. If you have trouble with the pill, maybe injections would work better. It also "wears off" better than the pill once you're ready to get pregnant again. If not that, then the Nuva Ring seems OK. I never used it though and I'm now done having babies.

try looking into the inplanon. It's a new birthctol they inplant into your skin. It doesnt hurt at all. I barely even kno its there.

I am like you with hormornal products. I loved the ease of the nuva ring but the hormones still messed me up. My husbnad is allergic to spermicide so our only options left are an IUD (which I"m not going to do becuae I dont know when we'll want another kid and its for long term use) and a condom. We have manged to work around the common complaint of the hassle plus we are highly motivated to be consistent with it by the the fact that we do not wnat a baby right now. Plus our attitude about sex is that it is only as good as your emotional relationship not technique! Hope this helps.

If you don't want hormones, I would use Paragard. It's a hormone-free IUD. It's what I use. After Paragard was inserted, I had some stronger than usual cramping for about the first 4 months when I got my period. But that subsided. And my periods occasionally last 1 day longer than normal (7 days instead of my usual 6).
But I feel it is well worth it to not have to deal with the hormone issues. Good luck to you.

Hi L.,
I would recommend an IUD. I had one placed 3 years ago and it has been great! No worries of getting pregnant and I don't have to remember to take a pill or put a patch on or find a condom. Periods are shorter too (about 3-4 days).
Good luck!

DO NOT use deprovera shot. It is known to cause miscarriages & trouble getting pregnant, even after you are off it for a long period of time.

Before i got pregnant with my last we used condoms and i personally don't think it interfered with anything.The worst thing was,finding one that worked for of us.........(because of different styles)
But good luck.

the nuva ring was great for me, but it does have hormones so you might wanna research a little...HATED the patch. I never used an IUD, but that was going to be my next choice had I not decided to be done....I heard mostly good things about them...

Please remember that the Nuva Ring, although it is low dose, is still a hormonal BC. If you have not tolerated pills well, I am not sure that it would be much different. The IUD may be a good choice for you, just make sure that it is NOT Mirena which also has hormones. Any hormonal BC will affect your milk supply.

Hi L.:
I became pregnant using the IUD. L. you mentioned your experience with the pill, the nuva ring and the pill share the same hormonal properties. Check with your doctor since he/she will have knowledge of your medical background and would suggest the best alternative for you. Additional, you can still get pregnant during the breast-feeding stage if you are not using any form of birth control. Best wishes.

I was in the same boat--tried lots of different pills (mini-pill, etc.), and had adverse effects every time. I got an IUD shortly after my 6-week checkup after my daughter was born, and I was still breastfeeding. I didn't have to wait or anything. I got a traditional IUD, not Mirena or anything that contained hormones, and my insurance did cover it. Even if it didn't, I would have paid for it, believe me. I loved it when I got it, and nearly 9 years later, I still love it. It's reversible, my husband can't feel it, and I don't have to think about it. Good luck finding the right solution for you.

Dear L.,

I decided against IUDs because a girlfriend had hers taken out after the strings were hurting her husband - and if you look online, this is a common problem! I've had a few friends get pregnant while using the Nuva Ring and I wouldn't recommend it.

I, too, cannot be on the pill for health reasons.

BUT... what you can do is become very in tune with your body and learn when you are fertile. You can choose to abstain, use a barrier method, or climax by other means during the fertile times - but this is only a few days out of the month.

An awesome book to teach you about the Fertility Awareness Method is Taking Charge of Your Fertility: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health by Toni Weschler . Toni has created computer program to help you track your fertility signs that is easy to use and very accurate. More information about this can be found at http://www.ovusoft.com/ .

I am not Catholic, but I have also found the information at the Couple to Couple League on this topic to be very helpful: http://www.ccli.org/

Hope this helps!
SJA

PS: From my profile, you may see the I have five children - don't be alarmed, it's not because of the Fertility Awareness Method, but rather from personal choice :) FAM has helped me to space my latter pregnancies so that I'm not pregnant and trying to care for a newborn at the same time!! (Been there!)

I would do an IUD. You may still want to have children. there is a new one that they adverstise on tv. it is good for up to five years but can be removed if you want more children. sorry, i can not think of its name but i know a few people with iud's and they like them.

Both the Nuva Ring and one type of IUD have hormones. While you are breastfeeding you don't want the hormones. I used the progesterone only pill while I nursed, and it worked well. I then had an IUD put in... BIG mistake for me. I got the copper one, up to 10 years with no hormones. The first year was great, but after that, my periods turned from about 5 days to 2 weeks long, extremely heavy, and it was painful when I was intimate with my husband. I finally had it removed, and now we decided on #2 which is good for us.
I wish you luck in your decision. There are many women that the IUD works great for, but it definitely wasn't for ME!

First you should know that the Nuva Ring and most IUD's contain hormones. My doctor gave me a mini pill, it contains no estrogen. The estrogen was probably what caused the problems. Talk it over with your doctor.

L.,
HI! Whatever you do, DO NOT USE DEPO PROVERA. IT WAS A HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE FOR ME!!!!!
If you have any specific questions, feel free to e me directly.
smiles,
L., 39
Brianna 21m & yes! still bf'ing!
and baby
in Evansburg/Skippack/Collegeville
butterflylindamarie at yahoo dot com

I was in your same situation, except I just stopped brestfeeding, I am using the nuva ring. Some girlfriends of mine suggested I try it and so far i like it. I have had no problems with it in during intercourse, my hubby says he doesn't notice it. I liked the idea that I can decide when to stop using it without having to have the Dr remove it. I also like that I don't have to worry about taking a pill everyday. I would never remeber that with 3 kids under 3 I have enough things to do everyday!
~M.