No, this is not "the talk". Neither am I going to explain how babies are made. No, today I will be sharing my experience about the Fertility Awareness Method, also known as the natural family planning method.



Today I will share a little about my experience and what I have learned about using the Fertility Awareness Method, I will be referring to as FAM, as a contraceptive method. *I have to give a disclosure that I am NOT a medical professional. I cannot answer specific questions because I am NOT trained or certified to do this. I am just sharing my experience and what I have learned. I will however try to give you websites and resources where you can find more information.

The decision about what my husband and I were going to do about contraception began a couple of months before we got married. Every couple at a certain point has to answer the question of, "Do we want to start a family right away, or do we want to wait?". A lot of comments are made before a couple gets married, and the constant comment that resounded from the vast majority was, "Don't have kids right away. Enjoy your marriage before that happens." So obviously as a couple we began to discuss what we were going to do. Taking the pill was the obvious solution and the most encouraged by medical professionals. However, I had heard a lot about the side effects of hormone producing contraceptives from friends that had or were using it, and since I had never had any problems with my menstrual cycle, both my husband and I started to look for a different solution, hopefully a natural solution. And in that search was when we found out about FAM (the Fertility Awareness Method).

In a basic explanation, the Fertility Awareness Method, is the understanding and learning when a woman is ovulating and avoiding sexual relations during that time or using a non-hormonal contraceptive to avoid pregnancy. And you can do this by reading three important factors: Basal body temperature, cervical fluid, and position of the cervix. Ovulation is, the phase of the female monthly cycle when a developed egg is released from the ovary into the fallopian tube for possible fertilization. This method is also helpful and also highly used by women who want to get pregnant at some point, by using in the reverse way. Which means that instead of avoiding sexual relations during ovulation time, it is encouraged, to become pregnant.

Both my husband and I were very intrigued by this method and decided to learn more about it to see if this would be something we wanted to do. Through this search we found the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility. From which we started studying, learning from, and finally making the decision of practicing once we were married. The great thing about this book is that is separated in two main sections, Avoiding Pregnancy & Becoming Pregnant. For either side that you are most interested in.

Once we decided that this was the method that we were going to try and I made it known to people, the jokes and comments poured in. "You are going to be pregnant right away!" "You are going to end up with 15 kids" "You are so naive, this isn't going to work". All of these comments really started to make me question my decision. Was I going to end up with 15 kids? Maybe I was too naive to believe this would actually work. And of course, with the pressure then came my break downs to my soon to be husband. And, thank God, he is my voice of reason and we had to be realistic with our expectations. Could I become pregnant if this didn't work for us? Yes. Were we going to be okay if this was the case? After thinking and talking about it we came to the conclusion that yes, we both wanted to have a family, we were both going to trust God that He ultimately had the perfect timing for me to get pregnant, and we were both going to be okay with the outcome. We were both, also, going to be accountable, study and follow the method together as a couple in one accord.

We practiced it for the first two years of our marriage, and it worked for us. I learned how to read my body, as well as my fertile times, and because of it we also learned about when it was a possible time for me to become pregnant so after three months of both of us making the decision of "not following the FAM rules" and see what happens, which we were both fully aware of what could happen, I became pregnant.

With this post I wanted to share that there is an option out there for women who are in a position to have a family and are looking for a natural way to plan a family. Down below I added some resources that helped me get started with my decision to natural family planning.

Resources:
Video: Natural Birth Control for Health Conscious Women This video gives great summarized information about FAM and what it entails for contraception.
Book: Taking Charge of Your Fertility This book explains FAM thoroughly for contraception as well as for becoming pregnant. You can find this book at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and even some local libraries, if you would like to browse it before you buy.
Website: www.fertaware.com/awareness.html This website has a very informative FAQ page
App: Kindara After you've learned about FAM. This is an app you can have on your phone or tablet that helps you chart.

All of the information mentioned above is also a great tool for those of you who are trying to get pregnant as well.