# Birth Control, what do you like and why?



## Sameold (Aug 11, 2011)

Okay, so baby's due in a few weeks. He's said he'll get snipped, but hasn't actually done anything in that regards and even if he did tomorrow, we'd need something else for a while anyway. I can't blame him for not wanting to (though I wish he'd say right out if that's the case) as I'm not about to undergo any surgical procedures that aren't a matter of life and death. Tell me what you like and why?


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## COGypsy (Aug 12, 2010)

I'm a huge fan of the Mirena IUD. It's the one that releases small amounts of progesterone as well as being an IUD. I'm on my second one. No pills, no periods, no worries!
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## pidge70 (Jan 17, 2011)

My man got a vasectomy after we had our 4th child. I chickened out of the tubal.
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## dearhusband (Aug 22, 2011)

Nothing works like a properly lubed rubber.
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## Wantsmore (Sep 13, 2011)

20 years with the same woman. Sex for the past 18 or so and two planned children with no birth control. She didn't tolerate the pill too well so that was out too.

First time we had sex was spontaneous on the living room floor and not a condom in sight. I will never forget the look on her face when I pulled out and hit her in the forehead. I had to hold back from laughing it was classic first time having sex and gave my girlfriend an unexpected facial.

That night we picked some up. I honestly think we went only went through 2 maybe 3 boxes and she wouldn't use them again. She told me it is bare or nothing. Been like that ever since.


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## SepticChange (Aug 21, 2011)

I'd like to try the IUD but I was told if you're never had a child that you cannot get it. Well, that's what my mother told me LOL.

Right now I'm on the pill, norgestrel. It's not that big of a deal to me to take it at the same time everyday since I'm not a busy person so that also depends on what you do day to day. 

I was on ortho tri cyclen lo and my periods were all over the place with breakthrough bleeding, my boobs were ridiculously tender and I felt sick to my stomach. That crap had me thinking I was pregnant but I wasn't. So I switched to norgestrel and my periods are on point and I don't get them on weekends...always start on a monday. It doesn't screw with my mood and I feel great. So if you don't mind pills, try that.


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## PBear (Nov 16, 2010)

dearhusband said:


> Nothing works like a properly lubed rubber.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


The only good things about condoms are that they protect from disease (as much as possible, anyway), and if the guy's a "quick draw", they can slow things down. Oh, and they make cleanup easier during that time of the month or anal...

Other than that, they suck big time, and not in a good way. They smell, they take away sensitivity big time, and they destroy spontaneity.

C
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## that_girl (Jul 6, 2011)

Hubs got a V over 2 years ago. We were done after our daughter.

I never took BC ...just used condoms with bfs. I knew my body well and wouldn't sleep with anyone during ovulation week.

However, my hubs and I (newly dating) DID have sex during ovulation. I told him I had ovulated that morning, he said he'd pull out and voila....we made a baby because he forgot to pull out. Twice. LOL.


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## COGypsy (Aug 12, 2010)

SepticChange said:


> I'd like to try the IUD but I was told if you're never had a child that you cannot get it. Well, that's what my mother told me LOL.


Nope, I'm on my second IUD and I've never had a kid, never will. I figure I'll finish this IUD out, get one more and then most likely be able to confirm menopause or close enough with a hormone panel since I won't have had to be bothered with a period since....I was 30 maybe? All for the cost of a co-pay every 5 years!

I believe they say that insertion is _easier_ if you've had a child because the uterus has been stretched, and if you haven't had a child then there is a slightly higher risk for expulsion. However, the chances for expulsion are still very low, so I didn't ever see it as a concern.

Today's IUDs are very different than what your mother is probably telling you about--well worth checking out, in my opinion.


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## SepticChange (Aug 21, 2011)

COGypsy said:


> Nope, I'm on my second IUD and I've never had a kid, never will. I figure I'll finish this IUD out, get one more and then most likely be able to confirm menopause or close enough with a hormone panel since I won't have had to be bothered with a period since....I was 30 maybe? All for the cost of a co-pay every 5 years!
> 
> I believe they say that insertion is _easier_ if you've had a child because the uterus has been stretched, and if you haven't had a child then there is a slightly higher risk for expulsion. However, the chances for expulsion are still very low, so I didn't ever see it as a concern.
> 
> Today's IUDs are very different than what your mother is probably telling you about--well worth checking out, in my opinion.


Hmmm, ok thanks. She had hers taken out just 2 years ago so it's fairly recent. And all the people I know who have them have kids so I just assumed she was right. I have heard of some people being able to feel it and it's uncomfortable? Anyway, I'm not yet annoyed with taking a pill everyday so by the time I get to that point I'll ask about the IUD.


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## 827Aug (Apr 27, 2008)

If you are going to be breast feeding, some options won't be available to you. Best thing to do is to discuss this with your OB/GYN. I'm all for tubal ligation. I had that procedure done 17 years ago. It was a piece of cake. I was only "incapacitated" on the day of the surgery. Although I was on pain medication for a couple of days, I was up and about as before by the next day.


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## COGypsy (Aug 12, 2010)

SepticChange said:


> I have heard of some people being able to feel it and it's uncomfortable? Anyway, I'm not yet annoyed with taking a pill everyday so by the time I get to that point I'll ask about the IUD.


Yeah, the IUD became one of the few choices left to me once I started taking a daily med to prevent migraines that interacted with the pill. The only time I've ever thought I felt mine was once or twice when I had terrible stomach flu going on and basically everything in that area hurt from a couple of days of erm...gastric distress. Who knows if it was actually the IUD or what, you know? Never problems with hubby feeling the strings or anything either.
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## SimplyAmorous (Nov 25, 2009)

Sameold said:


> Okay, so baby's due in a few weeks. He's said he'll get snipped, but hasn't actually done anything in that regards and even if he did tomorrow, we'd need something else for a while anyway. I can't blame him for not wanting to (though I wish he'd say right out if that's the case) as I'm not about to undergo any surgical procedures that aren't a matter of life and death. Tell me what you like and why?


I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE my copper paragard IUD, got it on the way home from having our last baby -- I wasted no time . It is hormone free -can stay in up to 12 yrs, NO Surgery, only takes 5 minutes or less to insert (yes, some cramping) no pills, no NOTHING, they told me I don't even have to worry about the string .

I remember feeling a sudden sexual "FREEDOM" once I got this in -no more worries about getting a Rubber , or what day my cycle was on (Rhythm method). 

I did Not want my husband to get a vasectomy, this is what I choose after research , and couldn't be happier with it, has been in 4 yrs now. Never one issue. MY aunt also had one in for near 9 yrs - then taken out when she married, had a daughter, then got another one. SO it worked wonderfully for her also. 

ParaGard IUD Contraceptive - Birth Control Options using Intrauterine Conception - ParaGard.


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## Sameold (Aug 11, 2011)

I'll be breast-feeding--but that is so not birth control. Hah! (Every one of mine has nursed up until sometime in the first trimester with the next.)
Don't have an OB/GYN, have a midwife and a family physician, whom I'll be talking to about different options. But, in my experience, doctors don't always know why people pick one option or another--they often just know what the company advertising the item says, and companies don't have the motivation to say, well, some of our customers don't like this product because XYZ.
SepticChange--you're lucky: we found out the hard way with our first that if your cycle isn't syncing with the pill it's not working. Not sure if I can use a pill anyway--I recently saw a study that they increase risk for type II diabetes and I've got a couple risk factors for that already. This baby, #5, is a failure to put the condom on baby. #2 was a failure to put the diaphragm in baby, #3 and #4 were planned.


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## SepticChange (Aug 21, 2011)

Incease risk for type II diabetes? That runs in my family but oh well, ha. For most of this summer up until last week H and I have just been using the "pull out" method which we also did for a couple months when we were dating. It's not advised and I know someone who was conceived this way but it works for some, not for others.


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## Sameold (Aug 11, 2011)

This isn't the study I saw, but it's the first one that Google found: Mini-Pill Increases Risk Of Chronic Diabetes In Women With History Of Diabetes During Pregnancy The one that alarmed me was something that turned up fairly recently--why I didn't bookmark it I don't know.


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## FirstYearDown (Sep 15, 2011)

Most women aren't aware of how bad hormonal methods are for us. That said, they are usually the most effective _if used properly._

I have been on the pill on and off since I was 18. I like it, because it also helps to keep my face clear. 

I was also on Depo Provera and while I enjoyed not having a period and the convienience of a quartely injections, the side effects were too much.

So the Pill it is, until my husband gets his vasectomy this winter. Neither of us want children, so I do not anticipate any procrastination on his part. I can't wait until the semen test comes back clear and I can throw away my pill pack, hopefully forever.


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## Madbunny (Aug 9, 2011)

All I am going to say is stay away from Depo Provera.I seem to have no issues with it except for random spotting,which is annoying and more headaches , but I am in the minority of women who do well on it.You can get an IUD even if you haven't had children and they are effective and as safe if not safer than the pill and other hormonal contraceptives.That was my first choice,but could not having had a molar pregnancy,as soon as I am able I am opting for the copper T,I know at least 10 women who have this and it gets rave reviews


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## FirstYearDown (Sep 15, 2011)

IUD is much easier to insert, once a woman has had babies. Also, a woman that is prone to infections in the pelvic region should not use an IUD.


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## SoHO (Sep 19, 2011)

I am at my second Mirena. 5 years no headache. works perfectly...I recommend it....does not matter if you had kids or not. period is basicaly not there....skin face is clear and sex is wonderful knowing that something is protecting the door


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## Locard (May 26, 2011)

My wife did not do well on the pill. We used the pull and pray method for 2 years knowing she might get pregers, if it happened great. It never did. When we chose to have a child she was pregnant 2 weeks later.

Our second child is a condom baby. Yeah, they work great.......


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## FirstYearDown (Sep 15, 2011)

Condoms can work well, if they are used properly. They worked well for us until I went on the pill. I used Plan B on the two occasions that the condom broke.

I wrote that an IUD is _easier to insert _if the woman has had a child. I made no comments about it working better for mothers.


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## omega (Aug 2, 2011)

I had the Paragard copper IUD for 4 years. I absolutely LOVED it, the fact that sex was so spontaneous, there was absolutely nothing to remember, I wanted to keep it for the full 10 years that I was told it would be effective, then get another one. (Incidentally, about the mother vs. not a mother issue: I got mine in the USA, and I had a hard time finding someone to give it to me because I wasn't married at the time and didn't already have children. I was even turned down by one doctor because she said that my husband had to sign that it was okay with him (I wasn't married). I ended up going to Planned Parenthood where I should have gone in the first place and it was easy.) 

However, I had to have it removed after 4 years because I get chronic urinary tract infections and my doctor thought it might be contributing to that, plus I was losing so much blood every month that I was starting to feel lifeless and have no energy.

I had severe pain for several days each month and had to take prescription painkillers but I still thought it was worth it. I really miss it - now we use condoms and I hate them and wish I could have the IUD again. The pain 3-4 days/month was totally worth it, but I had to do as the Dr. said...


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## FirstYearDown (Sep 15, 2011)

I have UTI and vaginal infection sensitivities, so an IUD is not appropriate. It is rather dangerous for me to have a UTI, because I am asymptomatic. So the infection would have to get very serious before I would feel anything.

I wish that I could use an IUD though. It would sure beat taking a pill every night. Come ooooooooonnnnnnn vasectomy appointment!

What does marital status have to do with wanting to keep babies away for a time? Doctors have way too much power when it comes to making reproductive decisions for a woman.


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## Locard (May 26, 2011)

Umm yeah, they work great......they work so well I have an unplanned child. No problem in a happy M. I can read directions, even a college grad. Anyone who relies on condoms is just asking for it.


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## FirstYearDown (Sep 15, 2011)

*Experiences are not facts.*

Nobody has written that you cannot read directions.

Just because condoms failed you, it doesn't mean that they will fail everyone. Except for the times that the condom broke, I used them for YEARS with no issues. I know many others who were successful at preventing pregnancy with condoms. 

If a couple does not want to have children, an unplanned pregnancy will certainly be an issue. My husband and I are very happy with just each other; so we have agreed not to have babies. If I became pregnant, I would be upset. 

Your experiences are not facts. They are merely what you have gone through as an *individual*. If you have finished college, surely you can understand that everyone is different.


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## omega (Aug 2, 2011)

Yeah, that's a strange thing to say, Locard. I'm happily married and we use condoms exclusively, but if the condom failed and I got pregnant, I would have an abortion. Of course I keep "morning after" (Plan B) pills on hand, but if it were to happen without the condom breaking or coming off (neither of which has ever happened in my lifetime), and I didn't know to take the pills, then it would be time to get the abortion. People who don't want children, DON'T want children!


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## Locard (May 26, 2011)

Honest studies suggest that condoms are only in the 80% range for efficacy. Them some great odds.....


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## FirstYearDown (Sep 15, 2011)

No birth control method is foolproof, except of course abstinence.

I maintain my belief that any BC method is only as good as the diligence of the user. This means making sure condoms are not defective or expired. It means making sure that it is on correctly and having Plan B on hand if a failure occurs. 

When my husband has his vasectomy, I will still need to be on the pill until the semen tests come back clear. Otherwise, I could end up with an unwanted pregnancy.

Many parents have narrowminded views about having children. Some of them assume that since they wanted kids, anyone else who does not must be very unhappy with their choice. Locard's comment about an unplanned pregnancy in a happy marriage exemplifies the limited worldview I am speaking of.


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## Enchantment (May 11, 2011)

True that the only fool-proof method is abstinence - but what fun would that be? 

Comparison of birth control methods - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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