Natural Family Planning Update

Well, I have been tracking my basal body temperature and cervical fluid for almost 3 months now, with the help of fertilityfriend.com. And so far, we haven't goofed and made a baby. I am surprised to learn that my cycle is 26 days long. I always had a longer cycle before the birth of the boy. But I suppose I could still be recovering from the mini-pills, and my cycle has not regulated itself.

One of the ironies of the Fertility Awareness Method of birth control is that the very time I am most interested in sex is the time of the month I should avoid it, since I am most fertile. Now the strict Natural Family Planning adherents abstain during their fertile period. Fertility Awareness offers the alternative to use a barrier method during the fertile period if you want to have sex. Without getting into details, we manage to negotiate through the fertile phase without any real challenges.

Partnership is compromise, and this method of birth control requires both diligence and flexibility. I think it is the most feminist of contraceptive measures, because it requires equal commitment from both partners; although as the female I'm the one who tracks my temperature and cervical fluid. But my partner is aware of where we are in my cycle and what our options are at any given time. I like it because I'm not the sole responsible party. We do it together or abstain together.

I'll be sure to update in a couple of months to see if I'm still in love with the method and still not knocked up.