Dear Laura and others,

Congratulations on your newest blessing. We are expecting our 4th child in
July. Although we are not Catholic, we do share the belief that children
are a blessing from the Lord and we want to be obedient to Him in regards
to the size of our family. Because of this, we felt NFP was the best way to
go.
We prayed for a specific amount of time in between our third and fourth.
He did grant us that time. Which increased our faith in Him and makes us
appreciate this baby even more.

I have inserted some info on breastfeeding and NFP. There is a great web
site
at www.fertilityuk.org that I lived at while I was learning. I also have a
breastfeeding
fertility chart that I will send as an attachment. (I didn't now if you
could open it with Juno or not)

Hope this helps!
Pam


Breastfeeding

A mother will be naturally infertile for some time after giving birth, while
her baby eats and drinks nothing except the mother's own milk. When the
baby sucks on the breast, the woman's Prolactin hormone is released.
Prolactin stimulates milk production and generally inhibits ovulation.

Ovulation resumes-sometimes very quickly- when the baby sucks less often,
sleeps through the night, or demands less breast milk. Some women ovulated
even while the baby is still totally breastfeeding. Heavier and better
nourished women generally resume ovulating sooner than women who are
thinner.

Breastfeeding and the fertility signals

Fertility awareness is especially valuable for nursing mothers because
regular cycles are not necessary. The mucus will signal whether or not a
breastfeeding woman is fertile each day.

Fertile may be delayed for months or years while breastfeeding. As
fertility returns, wet slippery mucus or spotting will signal possible
fertility. The mucus may start and stop a few times before a woman finally
ovulates.

If she wishes, a woman may take her temperature each morning when the mucus
patches begin. Temperature can signal that ovulation actually did take
place at the end of on of the mucus build-ups. After ovulation,
menstruation will begin within about two weeks.

Sometimes menstruation begins less than two weeks after ovulation during the
first few cycles of renewed fertility. After a while, cycles return to
their normal length.

When does fertility return without breastfeeding?

A woman will usually be fertile within four to six weeks after a
miscarriage, or birth if she does not breastfeed.

Where to start

Begin charting as soon as the baby is born

Once your bleeding subsides after the birth, take two weeks to chart your
breastfeeding pattern carefully. Follow the instruction for observing and
using the mucus. Refrain from intercourse during these two weeks so that
the slippery fluids from intercourse will not confuse your observations.

You will identify your "infertile breastfeeding pattern". This is the
pattern, which, for two weeks in a row, remains exactly the same in texture,
moisture, color, amount and sensation at the vaginal opening (vulva). Any
CHANGE form this pattern, for example, more mucus, more wetness or
lubrication, stretchiness, clarity, spotting or bleeding, is considered
FERTILE. After fertile signs end, wait until the evening of the fourth day
in a row of your infertile pattern. Then continue intercourse on alternate
evenings. Intercourse in the morning should be avoided, because you do not
know if fertile signs will begin again later that day.

The usual breastfeeding patterns

DRY EVERY DAY. Anything else, such as creamy, sticky mucus, stretchiness,
clarity, dampness, lubrication, spotting or bleeding, signals possible
fertility. Wait until the evening of the fourth dry day in a row, and then
resume intercourse on alternate evenings.

PASTY, DRY, STICKY MUCUS EVERY DAY. Any change - more dampness,
lubrication, clarity, stretchiness, and spotting or bleeding, signals
potential fertility. On the evening of the fourth day in a row of the usual
pasty mucus, intercourse can resume on alternate evenings.

CONTINUOUS WET MILKY DISCHARGE. It is not slippery, not stretchy, has no
substance, and dries to nothing. Any change from this signals fertility.

Stretchy
F
Slippery
F
Creamy
M
Sticky
M
Dry -D


MOSTLY DRY DAYS, with a few days of discharge. The days of discharge are
considered fertile. Wait until the evening of the fourth dry day in a row
to resume intercourse on alternate dry evenings.

Stretchy
F
Slippery
F
Creamy
M
Sticky
M
Dry -D


UNCHANGING DISCHARGE ON MOST DAYS, with a few dry days here and there.
Whenever the discharge is present it is exactly the same. If not bleeding
starts within two weeks of the unchanging discharge, it did not signal
fertility. So the dry days and the days unvarying discharge are infertile
in the evening. Any change signals fertility.

Stretchy
F
Slippery
F
Creamy
M
Sticky
M
Dry -D


What is happening?

Sucking on the breast stimulates the hormone Prolactin that serves to keep
estrogen levels low. An unchanging infertile pattern results. When there
is less suckling, estrogen levels increase, and the mucus pattern naturally
changes to something else - increasing in quantity, lubrication,
stretchiness, and clarity, spotting or bleeding. The mucus changes signal
greater fertility.

During breastfeeding, estrogen levels may rise and fall many times before
triggering ovulation. Each time, slippery mucus will let you know you are
potentially fertile. The mucus which signal ovulation may be less abundant
or less stretchy than during your usual cycles, but it will still have the
obviously lubricating feeling of the real thing.

Once menstruation begins

When you finally ovulate, true menstruation will start about two weeks
later. Then take two weeks to watch for your new infertile pattern.
Remember that although a discharge may have been considered infertile during
breastfeeding, during your regular cycles a similar discharge will signal
fertility.

Hints

Please call or write to a teacher if you are confused, have continuos wet
slippery discharge, or mucus that varies from day to day. Pay special
attention to the feeling of dryness, wetness or lubrication at your vulva
(as a blind woman would) to more surely sense changes of similarities from
day to day.

Part of the breast feeding response is the production of arousal fluid. You
will notice continual wetness or dampness. Be sure to check mucus about a
half-hour before anticipated nursing, and if possible a few hours later.
You will probably have the "continuous wet milky discharge" pattern.
At about three months a new infertile breastfeeding pattern may develop.
Identify it by watching for two weeks just as you did at the start of
breastfeeding.

Giving birth can irritate or damage the cervix, and constant discharges are
the result. Have your doctor check your cervix..

Prolonging natural infertility

At six or nine months, your baby may have a growth spurt and seem to nurse
less, or need more milk than you can supply. If you can, take a day or two
to rest, drink extra liquids (non-caffeinated) and nurse frequently whenever
the baby wishes, especially at night. Frequent breastfeeding usually helps
increase the milk supply, and natural infertility often continues. Ask your
family for cooperation that will enable you to take the needed rest.
As fertility returns, cooperation and communication are essential

Your mucus may start and stop many times during the weeks before you finally
ovulate. Regular, frequent mucus observations, plus cooperation and good
communication with your partner are invaluable in controlling the timing of
another pregnancy.


Sexual desire suddenly increases

Many women report that their sex drive increases dramatically as their
estrogen level rises before ovulation. Sexual desire while fertile could be
thought of as nature's way of helping couples conceive another baby at the
first available opportunity.

In order to use natural methods to avoid another pregnancy, both partners
may list of discuss some romantic and creative alternatives to intercourse,
so that they will be prepared when the fertile phase begins.

Some couples temporarily stop using natural methods, and turn to barrier
methods if the woman is unsure of her fertility while breastfeeding. They
understand that pregnancies occasionally occur while couples use
contraceptive barriers during the fertile time, since the mucus can aid
sperm survival. Other couples who feel suddenly more sexual than they have
in months, may "hope" they are not fertile, and have intercourse without
barriers. Naturally, pregnancy often results.

Weaning

Once the baby is weaned, your mucus pattern will return to normal within a
few weeks. If your breastfeeding pattern was of continuous unchanging
mucus, you may have a new pattern after breastfeeding ends. Any wet,
smooth, slippery and/or stretchy mucus, or spotting, signals possible
fertility.

Avoid oral contraceptives

Taking the regular of the progesterone-only Pill while nursing is totally
inadvisable. Your baby should not be ingesting adult female hormones from
the Pill, which will be secreted into your breast milk. Moreover, why take
a fertility-suppressing drug every day when breastfeeding stimulates
nature's own infertility hormone - Prolactin - and the mucus signal will
predict when your fertility is returning?



Information on Breastfeeding from the book "Your Fertility Signals"