Having had 2 children in 4 years, I’ve spent most of my “NFP Career” breastfeeding.  Natural Family Planning, or NFP, is something I’d planned to practice for years before I did. I didn’t realize then that it might be a good idea to learn early on. I just knew it would be a big part of my life someday.

Back in college I met a new family who was very involved in promoting NFP in our community.  The wife wrote articles for a local paper and spoke to us at least once.  I remember being interested, but for whatever reason the only thing that stuck about the whole talk was the part about breastfeeding.  It seems strange, but it’s obvious now that it was exactly the part of her speech that I needed to hear.  I don’t remember if she gave details about how Lactational Amenorrhea Method or LAM works, just that it could be an important part of NFP.

I’ve thought a lot about that first NFP example I had these past few years.  It got me through the OB laughing at me for refusing artificial birth control. It got me through the 15 months spent learning a new method with no cycle to be seen.  It got me through new challenges that came from having a second child.  I knew I wasn’t alone. I knew that it could be done.

I won’t lie and tell anyone that NFP is always easy, especially while breastfeeding.  It isn’t.  That has not been my experience.  But I wouldn’t change anything either.  Charting through no cycles gave me a boost of confidence, not only could it be done but I did it.  Charting with cycles was a breeze after that.  This time around I’ve found I have grown in ways. I’m more trusting and less focused on the technicalities of what I’m doing.  That may not be the best thing for us at this moment, but it’s where I am in this journey and if not now, then someday I will appreciate that fact.

Image used under Creative Commons by vetilden