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I want to start this post by saying, this is no way to bash other methods of Natural Family Planning. I am simply relating to you all what worked best for me and my family. And that is exactly what we want you to do when is comes to using any form of NFP, figure out what is best for you and your family.
When I got married 9 years ago, I would not have described myself as naive, but looking back I feel I may have been...a little bit. My husband and I knew we wanted to practice NFP but we had no idea there were so many different methods we could learn. Through our marriage prep in the diocese we got married in they gave us a resource for an online class to do the Symptothermal Method of NFP. And off we went, really we did not look back or do any other research. We just went with what we were given.
*May I add I do not recommend watching a recording to learn a method of Natural Family Planning, you can't ask questions and it can get really confusing really fast.*
This method worked really great for us. I knew what was happening to my body. I understood the ups and downs of my temperatures and it really did help us feel confident and ready to be married. After our first child this is where it got confusing for me. There are so many reasons why, but what it really came down to I did not know what was happening to my body. Postpartum depression hit me hard, I was demoted from my job and had to take up a second one to keep us afloat, needless to say it was a stressful time. With all these factors I knew we needed to wait for baby number two...but oh how God laughs at our plans. When my first was 6 months old, I got pregnant.
I do not in anyway blame the method I was using at the time for my "surprise" second child. I think it was really a mix of a a lot of things and the fact I truly did not have a grasp on what was happening to my body. Once, our second was born and I had my second c-section we knew we needed to space some things out. All of my friends at the time used the Creighton Model and I wanted to know what all the hype was about.
So we took the Intro Class and I was immediately overwhelmed. There was a lot of information given to us in one evening and now I had to go off and just start charting? The one piece, which brought me great calm, was knowing I had my practitioner along the way to answer any questions (I had so many!!!) and to guide me through all of it. In using the system I got what I had really been wanting, a clear view of what was happening to my body postpartum and beyond.
Once we were comfortable with the system, had a better grasp of what was going on with my body, and I had fully healed from my c-section, we were ready to start for baby number three. Sadly, baby number three took a lot of tears, many negative pregnancy tests, and even three devastating losses (see my post on secondary infertility). The thing is, I do not know if we would have seen the signs of the hormonal issues I was experiencing and gotten the tests done that were so crucial to understanding what was happening, if we weren't using the Creighton Model. This is just how the system works, it is so medically based but also so detailed. Many of the issues I was having, my practitioner could see them right on my chart.
I fully believe our prayers for another baby were answered through using the CrMs and seeing a NaPro trained doctor. Not only has my experience with using the Creighton Model brought so much joy to our family, but it is has brought me to this amazing ministry. I feel truly blessed each and every day to get to serve the women and couples I work with. I truly love being a partitioner. God very much, took my experiences of tragedy and loss, and turned it into something life giving.
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