2011 Natural Family Planning Week

I know this post comes as NFP awareness week is actually wrapped up, but better late than never!

My husband and I started practicing Natural Family Planning after the birth of our first son (he was about 7 months old and I was still nursing).  We took a course through our Roman Catholic diocese and haven't looked back!  Here are the posts I did as we went through our classes:
Class number 1
Class number 2
Final class

Marquette University (yes, a Catholic university) is actually conducting federally (not religiously) funded scientific research on the effectiveness of Natural Family Planning.  You can read things like definitions, different methods, instructions/guidelines and read more about their research here and here.  The reason I emphasize that their research was federally funded is because so often NFP is looked upon as something for people with faith-based reasons, but this is something that is based on the natural biorhythms of a woman's reproductive system.

Also, the Couple to Couple League has many resources for every stage in life, as well as a home course!  Their bookstore is an excellent resource to reference throughout the different stages of life (postpartum, menopausal, etc.).



Some other entries I've really enjoyed reading from other bloggers about NFP are:
Part of a Conversion to Catholicism Story (she's linked Part 1 and 2 in this entry if you're in her conversion to Catholicism)
Interesting Correlations between Breast Cancer and Contraception (with references)
Trust & NFP (last year's theme of NFP awareness week was Trust: God has a Plan for Your Marriage)
NFP from a Husband's Perspective (a Top Ten list)

Thank you to these writers for eloquently expressing their NFP experience and perspectives!

Whether for religious or other personal convictions, NFP really is something for everyone.  While it is something that has helped us postpone pregnancy for reasons my husband and I decided with God's guidance, when the time was right we have also been blessed to conceive our 2nd child easily!

Jack's New T-shirt!

With spring and summer starting, my son is out-growing all of his clothes!  I may have had one or two items in 2T or 3T, but I seriously need to go shopping.  He's officially out of all 18 month clothes (which he could barely pull of shirts) and his 24 month clothes are getting snug.  Great... I love shopping for his clothes most of the time, but I was most excited to make this purchase:

Forgive the blurriness of the picture but he's quite difficult to catch in pictures these days...

And in case you can't read what his t-shirt says... it says "BIG BRO"!!!!

We're proud to announce that Jack is going to be a big brother this fall.  Our due date is approximately October 26, 2011 (just in time for one of my favorite holidays).  Baby is looking healthy and growing right on track.  Here are some adorable pictures of our 8 week ultrasound:

Pumpkin's head is down in this photo, and the longer & thinner part up at the top is the umbilical cord!



Another picture of how big baby is these days!

For some reason these pictures, from approximately the same time we had an ultrasound with Jack, baby looks bigger or we could see more in these pictures compared to his ultrasound.  Just an interesting observation, but baby's measurements confirmed our due date and a couple of days at this stage are a big deal for baby's development.

As far as me, being about 10 weeks along I am dealing with standard 1st trimester sleepies and nausea.  Nausea isn't too bad most of the time, but I am wearing Sea-Bands [almost] around the clock that have helped to take the edge off.  Other than that, I'm feeling great and already outgrowing normal clothes... supposedly pretty typical with 2nd (or subsequent) pregnancies.  I am still kind of in regular clothes, but those days are certainly numbered as I'm using my belly band to keep my unbuttoned pants up!

And with all of my posts I've had in the past on NFP... yes, it does work :-)  We're so excited to be adding to our family and look forward to the excitement yet to come.

Headcovering in the Catholic Church

I honestly don't know how this got on my radar screen... probably reading a blog on another (Catholic) topic and stumbled across another post.  I don't remember where it was though so I can't credit that person with the inspiration for my intrigue... (so to anyone out who there has written a post on this topic, thank you!)

The mantilla, or lace veil, or other head covering worn by most Catholic women and girls was previously required under Canon law from 1917.  When Canon law was revised in 1983, the topic was left out and since 1983 law essentially repealed the 1917 law the requirement no longer exists.  You can find an excellent summary of this topic on the EWTN website.  To sum up their summary, it basically points out that the requirement for women to cover their head while in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament was left out, not that it is no longer appropriate.

This is an interesting topic to me, because to wear a head covering in Church these days is usually pretty rare... at least in my diocese and the parishes at which I've attended Mass.  Head covering is still a sign of modesty in most cultures around the world and I don't think the US is that different.  If you were to see a Muslim woman walking down the street wearing her hijab, most people are aware that it is an outward sign of modesty, this belief in being modest comes from their faith.  If you see an Amish family (common in my area), the women and girls are wearing a head covering over their hair pulled into a bun.  It is said to be tradition that when a woman has a meeting with the Pope, she is to wear black with a head covering (except if she is a reigning Catholic monarch).  To clarify, the Vatican does not require women to cover their head.

The Catholic faith has never stopped teaching modesty, but in the US and most of Europe it has been, in my experience, less prominent of topics.  Some might argue that there are "bigger issues" plaguing our culture (i.e. culture of death, etc.) or that covering your head is demeaning to women.  I believe that if people start treating themselves with more respect physically, mentally and emotionally then it will translate directly into respect for all life.  For example, the more I learned about my body through NFP, the more respect I gained for it and all which it is capable.

Others say that head covering in general is demeaning to women, and I honestly am not sure why this assumption could be.  I think, there has to be some requirement by another person or organization for a woman to wear a head covering (or do anything) against her will, now that is demeaning.  But for a woman to cover her head because she chooses it to be an outward sign of modesty, can not be demeaning as it is her choice to do so.

As a Catholic woman, I try to be modest in the way that I dress out of respect to myself and to my husband, not because I am subservient to him, but because I respect our marriage.  (Who am I trying to impress?  Ha ha!)  For me, that doesn't mean floor length skirts and long sleeves.  For one, I can not wear dresses or skirts to work for safety concerns (loose clothing is a no-no in a lab).  One reason I love winter time is because fashion and weather makes it very easy to not show too much skin.  Honestly, I don't know what I think about head covering during Mass.  On one hand, I find it a beautiful way to show respect for ourselves in the presence of Jesus Christ.  On the other hand, I could see these things being distracting to others in Mass (not that I expect it, but it could be an unintended side effect).  

What are your thoughts or experiences with head covering in either the Catholic Church or any other situation?

Natural Family Planning Awareness Week!

This week is Natural Family Planning awareness week! This year's theme is "Trust: God has a Plan for Your Marriage".... and I must say that I love the theme! Natural Family Planning week always happens the week surrounding Sts. Joachim and Anne, the parents of Mary. What saints are more fitting to celebrate, but those who gave us Mary... who then had the ultimate trust in God for his plan for her marriage to Joseph.

Trust, while I hope that all couples preparing for marriage have trust in each other, I know that sometimes that is not the case. Unfortunately, many more do not allow room for trusting God in their marriage! I know couples out there who have conceived while "actively contracepting" and other couples who have struggled to conceive with such longing to be blessed with a child. (I am by no means making light of anyone who struggles with fertility challenges, that is a terrible burden to bear and I would feel it to be one of the worst.) These situations out there are evidence to me that children are truly a gift from God. Although, I sometimes feel as though people are more comfortable with the secular saying "Everything happens for the reason."

Our relatively brief experience of NFP thus far really does allow for trust in God's plan for us. We are truly his instruments through our actions in our time here. We must:

• Trust, that He will give us judgement on knowing his will in our life. Not only in procreation, but in all aspects of our life.
• Trust, that He will bless us with a child when the time is right. It is after all amazing that any of us are here, since there is such a narrow time frame in a woman's cycle in which it is possible to conceive (approximately 24 hours every +/-28 days)

Matt and I are very open in discussing this aspect of our marriage, especially with couples around our age. This is another way we have experienced trust in our marriage... we must trust that we can find the right words to explain NFP and also trust that others will be at least be accepting of our choice and why we feel so passionate about sharing our story.

Final NFP class!

I can honestly say that I am sad that our classes are now over! I will never turn down the opportunity to learn and grow in our faith and gain any tools that help us live in accordance with God's will in our life.

Overall, we are very satisfied in understanding the technical aspects of charting and the guidelines. We have learned a lot and it is definitely logical (it has taken months to learn and we continue to learn, so it is hard to describe in a blog post). Anyone who would like to discuss the technical and scientific side of things feel free to let me know! I'd love to share that knowledge... I am a scientist after all, so I love marrying my faith to science!

Tonight's final class was teaching on the theology of Natural Family Planning and the reasoning behind the Church's teachings on contraception, etc. We had an excellent speaker who is a professor of theology at the Pontifical College Josephinum here in Columbus. He was also a theology professor at ODU when we were there, and actually recognized Matt tonight! His knowledge of the theology was so inspiring and reaffirming. It was also very beneficial to listen to his philosophical discussion the topic, as well as arm us with the tools to support our beliefs if we are challenged about our practice. Which we kind of expect due to this is typically "against the grain" of society!

He and our instructors kept referring to NFP as the best kept secret of the Catholic Church... we really enjoyed that because it really is rarely discussed! In fact when we were going through marriage preparation it was barely brought up by our priest or at our Pre-Cana day.

Halfway Through the [Work] Week!

I'm so glad we're halfway through the work week! The first couple of days have seemed VERY long for some unknown reason.

Update on baby food... Jack hated it. And we're not talking about him not liking but swallowing it anyway, it was full fledged disgust, spitting it out & practically saying "eww"! I am pretty sure it was the texture, which of the food I made was pretty thick and not a smooth puree like store bought baby food. I will definitely be trying again, but probably using the blender to get the food to a finer texture.

Today was our 2nd NFP class. We went over the charting we had been doing and the symptom side of the sympto-thermal method. Its very interesting to see the way different things affect what you may be seeing in charting but still being able to interpret them correctly. I feel that we are learning a lot, but that a lot of what is explained is pretty intuitive. I think its also very interesting learning about it from this end after going through pregnancy & having Jack.

Well, this is a short post but I hope to post more tomorrow or Friday for sure!

NFP Class #1

The content of this post is my opinions, observations, etc. As you are reading, regardless of personal belief, please keep an open mind and do not comment anything disrespectful. Also, "learnings" I may mention should be taken considering I have not been trained in NFP and am only a pupil in the current session.

Matt and I are finally taking the diocesan Natural Family Planning class(es). I am extremely excited because I have always wanted to better understand the ideas & science behind it. While I've always personally believed in the theology behind it after hearing many different sides to the issue of family planning. Here are a few things that we have learned thus far from our instructors:

1. The very different charting "results" you can have (i.e. what your graph looks like).
2. That if you are charting your temperature even after you have found you are pregnant you can detect issues that may be caused by a drop in progesterone. If you suspect a drop you can notify your doctor to possibly take supplemental hormones to minimize risk of a miscarriage.
3. Towards the end of your pregnancy you can chart your temperature to help give you another sign that labor is soon to come. A drop in your temperature can signal that labor is going to happen [often within 24 hrs as observed from women in the classes they've taught].

We've learned many other things already, but most of them are more on the biology & basics of the temperature side of the sympto-thermal method.

One observation of NFP that I found extremely useful that I read from Michelle at Musings of a Catholic Lady is about family size. I will try to sum up the point without stealing it:

Families that practice NFP are typically bigger, not because NFP doesn't work but because those who practice NFP tend to be more open to children.

Of course, this is not to say people that use other methods to plan their families aren't just as open, but the tendency of openness is there.