By Jessi Arias-Cooper
A woman’s choice of contraception is a personal, intimate decision. I, personally, use charting and temperatures to prevent pregnancy. Before 2003, when I found out I was pregnant with my son, Aiden, I used the pill, but being a mom has changed my preference, forever.
I’ve shared before that I had trouble with infertility and lost a son. These experiences changed me, from my soul on out. I found a new appreciation for the awesome power a woman’s body possesses and the miracle of life.
While my husband and I aren’t planning on having any more children, we’re only about 99% sure that we’re done. That one, tiny percentage point makes a HUGE difference, when it comes to such an important decision, that any sort of permanent birth control is absolutely out of the question.
As for short term contraception, like birth control pills, I feel that the three boys I have now, one adopted and two biological, are nothing short of heaven-sent blessings. Feeling the loss of Aiden, and another little one I miscarried shortly afterward, has given me a soulful perspective on the miracle of life.
It’s true that we are using a form of protection, but we feel that, should we be meant to have another, it will happen, and we’ll be blessed once again, without the worry of any effects or complications from oral contraceptives or IUD’s.
Others in my life, don’t see these things the way that we do. They say we’re asking for trouble. Flirting with disaster, yada, yada, yada.
Pish. Posh.
First of all, no part of me will ever look at an unplanned pregnancy as “trouble” or disastrous. Secondly, it’s nobody’s choice but mine, with, of course, the input of my husband.
We can provide for our family. We’re responsible adults. This is our decision. MY decision. It’s the choice that is right for me. All of me. From the soul on out.
Editor’s Note: For more information on the effectiveness of the Sympto-Thermal Method, here are the results of a study showing a failure rate of 0.4 pregnancies per 100 women – which is comparable to The Pill. This is when the user abstains during her fertile phase. For couples who opted to remain sexually active during the woman’s fertile phase (using a barrier method), the effectiveness fell to 0.6 pregnancies per 100 women. For more information on how to use the Sympto-Thermal Method for contraceptive purposes, see The Sympto-Thermal Method for Birth Control.
Jessi Arias-Cooper is a thirty-something, Midwestern mom of three boys. Her mission is simple: help women find confidence in who they are and make themselves a priority in their own lives. When she’s not typing away for the benefit of the blogosphere, you’ll probably find her wrestling with her boys and watching really rotten B-movie horror flicks with her husband. If you’d like more insights into who Jessi really is, check out her site Mama’s Got Flair. She’d love to see ya there!
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It’s great to see people using this method for contraception. I think it’s really been pigeon-holed as a method for achieving a pregnancy only – when, in fact, when you think about it – it really does work both ways.
While it’s true that all methods of contraception (apart from sterilization) have some sort of failure rate the fact of the matter is that when temps and symptoms (e.g., cervical fluid, cervical position, etc) are carefully monitored and intercourse is avoided during the fertile phase of your cycle, the sympto-thermal method has a failure rate comparable to a condom – without foreign objects being placed inside your body and chemicals/artificial hormones coursing through your veins. It’s an elegant and natural way to engage in family planning.
I have used this method for 2.5 years since my daughter was born in 2008. I love not only being able to avoid pregnancy without hormones and side effects, but to know when to expect my cycle to start as I get a telltale drop the day before.
It works for me and I love it. Charting is a part of my daily routine and even the hubz knows how to read my data now. At first, he felt thought it made our romantic life seem too clinical, but he grew to really like it and he loves that I don’t feel sick from pills or am worried that if I should get pregnant, whatever method of BC I’m using will hurt our baby.