Remember that time I talked about birth control on the blog? The time I said with certainty that I wouldn’t go back on birth control pills? Then after reading all your great feedback about different options, I didn’t act on any of it. Then I wrote an entire new post of the pros and cons of birth control options (as I see them). And theeeeen, I still didn’t move forward with any of the ideas.
Well, THEN I got nauseas. Out of the blue. And threw up.
My heart stopped. I knew I was pregnant.
Well, just like that awesome maternal instinct of mine that told me Hailey was a boy, I was wrong about this, too. Turns out it was a 24 hour bug of some sort. Seriously, maternal instinct? You suck.
Anyways, reality set in that we aren’t really ready for a second child at this point. I decided I needed to do something more certain than crossing my fingers (I kid).
So, I went back on the pill. Yup. The dreaded hormones I wanted to stay away from are now pumping through my body. Sigh.
I’m actually on the mini-pill, which is breastfeeding-friendly. It’s more fickle than the combo pill, so you must take it at the exact same time every day for it to be effective. So that’s what my 8am alarm is for.
I’ve been on it for a month and a half now and I don’t feel any different. I never was one to experience negative side effects from the pill before, so I wasn’t too worried about it. No mood swings, no skin changes and no weight gain.
I still am not in love with the idea of being on the mini-pill, but in this situation I had to choose something and this suited us best. When I’m finished nursing, maybe I’ll look at another option, and maybe not.
Being a natural living advocate, taking artificial hormones bothers me, but you have to do what’s best and right now, this is it for me.
Anyone know when that male birth control is coming out?? 
Maria @ lift love life says
Yeah I feel the san
Maria @ lift love life says
Yeah I feel the same way about birth control and now look at me haha 😉
Brittany says
😉
Susan @ Real Life Travels says
Yeah it’s called condoms 🙂 Kidding! I’m glad the BC is working out for you!
blackhuff says
I’m glad that the mini pill is not making you feel funny or anything. It’s something a woman needs to do when she does not want to have another child.
chelsey @ clean eating chelsey says
I said with all certainty that I would NEVER EVER use any sort of hormones for any reasons – yeah, life gets in the way of that sometimes huh? If you’re not ready for a second bambino, this is the most effective way I suppsoe!
Brittany says
Seriously! If there is one thing I’ve learned it’s that I should never use the word never. It always comes back to bite me in the butt!
Erin says
Is the mini pill effective if you are not fully nursing? I went on it after I had my first child. My doctor never told me about how strict to be on the time you take it. Luckily I didn’t get pregnant, probably in part because I never had my period until I was 100% done nursing. After that I went back on the regular pill until I was ready for #2. After #2 I did not go on the mini pill because by then I had heard way too many stories of women getting pregnant on it. Then again these women may not have taking it properly so who knows if it was the pill or user error. I am 7 month out from having my second child, know we are done having kids and still can’t decide on birth control. I may try an IUD, but can’t decide. Ah…decisions!
Brittany says
I was told it is still very effective without nursing, but they don’t recommend it because it’s so hard to take properly. I’m done nursing (as of this morning) and am considering whether or not I should get on the regular pill because honestly, it’s still hard for me to trust. I haven’t gotten my period back yet, though, so we’ll see how that goes.
I’m not sure what I’ll do when we are done with kids either, but I’d like a longer term option than the pill- like an IUD! If you get one, let me know what you think.
Erin says
Ah that is good to know that it still works when not nursing. I am seriously lucky I never got pregnant on it as my stupid doctor never mentioned time timing thing to me. I’ll let you know if I go for the IUD. I am scared that it will hurt so I keep debating. Silly I know. That and I have a friend who had the very rare issue with it popping out of her uterus. Not common at all but when it happens to someone you know that small statistic seems so much larger. It’s hard being a woman:)
Brianna says
I’m with you on not wanting to take the pill. I was on it for years and didn’t notice much of an effect, but once I went off to conceive A I did notice I felt a little better. I went back on earlier this year and felt pretty crappy, so instead my hubs and I started using VCF (vaginal contraceptive film). Have you ever heard of it? It’s a square of spermicidal (sp?) film you insert 15 minutes to three hours before sex. It’s 93% effective when used correctly. You should check it out!
Brittany says
I haven’t heard of that- interesting! Google, here I come! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Madeline @ Food Fitness and Family says
I SO SO SO feel you on this. It’s something I have really battled with. I am on full birth control mainly because we are SO not ready for #2. I am looking more into natural family planning which when done correctly is almost as effective as BC. But I am not ready to start messing with that until I would be ok if we got pregnant from trial and error haha.
Brittany says
Exactly how I felt! I really wanted to try natural family planning, but I haven’t gotten my period back yet to be able to start counting days and we’re really not ready for #2 at this point, so I wasn’t willing to gamble with it. Gotta do what you gotta do!
Nicole says
Saw above that you are done nursing…Amelia turns 1 this Sat and I plan to start cutting out nursing sessions so we are just doing morning and night but the problem is she knows the sign for milk and asks to nurse all the time! Did Hailey do that? Its very difficult! (I know this is off topic but I need help! LOL)
On topic…I got Mirena 10 weeks PP and I HATE IT and I am getting it removed Friday. I bled for probably 2 months when I got it in and my sex drive has been very negativley affected. We don’t want to get pregnant with number 2 for another year so we are going to use condoms until my cycle is back (wasn’t back when I got the Mirena so I have no idea if its back now) and then do NFP. Hopefully it will work…at least for a year, lol! Taking Charge of Your Fertility is a great book to read to educate yourself about your period even if you don’t want to use NFP. Hope that helps!
Paulina says
Chiming in to say that I too am (almost) done nursing. My girl is now 13 months old and I was down to morning and evening, but recently she is constantly trying to nurse. Now my supply is increasing which is the opposite of what I want. This morning, after she tried to nurse for a second time, I gave her a cup of milk instead and some toys to distract her. (She gets a full breakfast at daycare every morning). It sorta worked, she was whiny, but she drank the milk. I read somewhere that telling your toddler “no” is just another way of telling them “I have the confidence in your ability to get by without nursing”. or something like that.
Its nice to know that I’m not the only mom having trouble with weaning.
Brittany says
I got lucky in that I think weaning was harder for me that for Hailey. Of course, this morning was our last nursing session, so we’ll see how she does tomorrow. I’ve been dragging it out because for some reason, it’s emotional for me to be done with this chapter, but all signs point to it being the right time for us. Since today is her 14th month “birthday” I decided to make it the last time. Sniffle.
I really wanted to do NFP and am definitely interested in learning more about it. Since my period hasn’t come back yet, I didn’t have any way to start tracking it and the fear of being pregnant before we’re ready got the best of me. We’ll see how it goes!
Thanks for your comments ladies! I think I’m going to write a whole post on the weaning process because it certainly has it’s challenges!
Tanya @ Vegan Faith says
This question is already weighing on my mind. You are brave my friend. I do not want to take any chances of going through that again anytime soon! I have never been on birth control so I have no idea what to do!
Jess@atasteofconfidence says
I just went to the doc today and they were asking me about this! I went off the pill about a year and a half ago because it was making me crazy emotional. I have had some issues with going off it, but it seems like I am much happier now (and my current method ..ahem…is working well). I wish there was an easy answer!
Lauren B says
I am practicing abstinence- it is always the most effective method! (just kidding!!!)
But seriously, I am also one of those who doesn’t want to take hormones, because I believe birth control contributed to my 3 1/2 year ammenorhea and fear that I wouldn’t be able to get pregnant at all. So, until we are ready for a little bro or sis for Jackson, we are using condoms.
I read in an above comment that you have weaned completely now- how are you feeling about that? A future post maybe?
Brittany says
Haha! It IS the most effective method 😉
It took me about a year to get my period back after being on birth control, so it certainly makes me really nervous, too. It’s the path I’ve chosen, though, so now we’ll see how it goes :/
Yes, I think I’m going to write a whole post on weaning and the emotions I didn’t fully expect to come with it. The last time was this morning, so the true test will be to see how I feel tomorrow!
Ali says
The worst thing with dropping that last feedig (for me) was when the next day she didn’t even bat an eye lash that we didn’t nurse at all!! Definitely seems to be harder on us moms many times!!
Chantal says
I’m not on anything and yeah, it kinda sucks sometimes. But we are going to try for a second sometime in the spring, so there’s no point now.
Maria says
To be honest, after reading your posts on the subject and a few others about natural birth control options, I was seriously considering going off the pill and trying a copper IUD. But, it scared me and I thought of something inside me all the time freaked me out. So I didn’t. The pill works for me and I LOVE knowing exactly when my period will start and a whole lot of other benefits that go along with it (like delaying my period for beach vacations for instance). Ultimately, we can do our best to be natural living advocates, but you have pick and choose what’s best for you and your lifestyle!
char eats greens says
After we have this baby (hopefully tomorrow haha), I really don’t know what we’re going to do about #2 prevention lol. It’s bad, but I’ve kinda been pushing it to the back burner until we need to actually deal with it. I don’t wanna say never either, because I feel like you – I don’t wanna go on it, but if it means not having to worry about getting pregnant again when you’re not ready, then it might make sense.
Brittany says
Happy due date!!! 😉 I hope he or she doesn’t torture you by waiting you wait too much longer!
Danica @ It's Progression says
Ugh I’ve been on the pill for years now and want to get off of it, BUT my husband and I are nowhere near ready to start a family. Like you said too, I really don’t like all the added hormones, but I just cannot find another method that I trust as much!
Laura says
Believe it or not, my hubby and I recently started using condoms! I got tired of the expensiveness of the birth control pill, and all of the scary commercials about them, so we started the old wrap-it-up routine. Does it put a mood kill having to stop to put one on? Not really. Once you have a child (or two), you get used to interruptions. At least this kind is planned. 😉 Hehe. Good for you for making a choice that you’re comfortable with and taking so much consideration with it too!
Lee says
I was on birth control for years and when I went off of it, I got my period back almost immediately. I know that it has negative effects on some people, but I think it was okay for me. After I got off it, we used condoms for a while and I MUCH preferred the pill, though oddly enough my husband didn’t seem to mind the condom.
Amanda @ Sistas of Strength says
Funny…I loved your original BC post because I was going through the same thing. And guess what? I ended up back on the pill too. I had no problem on the mini pill, but then I tried a regular one and got bad night sweats and mood swings. I took a few months off and then gave it one last shot. I was on it for 6 weeks maybe and realized that I was a raging jerk and just didn’t feel good. So I’m back off and back to square one. HA!
Erin S says
Neat blog! I just happened to stumble here from pinterest lol…Anyway I’m glad the mini-pill isn’t making you feel like the regular pill did! I know what you mean, added hormones suck. My husband and I are doing natural family planning, and I can say that it works for us…and it’s 100% natural! 😀
Karen Marley says
I got pregnant on the mini pill. What can I say…I’m human and wasn’t always precise about taking it at the exact same time. No biggie at the time because we were thinking of having a second anyways. After he was born I switched to the IUD. I didn’t want extra hormones in my body (after two pregnancies in 3 years…had my share of hormones). I choose the hormone-free IUD. I loved it. This year it’s been 10 years and I replaced it. Good luck–BC is a personal choice. Hope it works out for you!
Michelle says
If you end up not being happy on the BC, I would definitely look into an IUD! I had one for almost 4 years before we decided that we wanted a 3rd. I went the ParaGard route because I am seriously nutso on hormones and I have to say it was pretty damn awesome! I also got pregnant right away after I got it out (I waited 2 months at the Dr’s suggestion), which was nice.
(PS -I think this is the first time I’m posting here – so I guess this is my coming out of lurkdom – ha ha).
Mom of 2 says
I have tried a few be options. Pills, vcf, nuva ring, and mini pill. Son 1 was conceived on the pill.. lucky me, no really he is the greatest joy to our lives. But our kids are 7 years apart. We used vcf strips, which totally intensified our experience