I first heard about Natural Family Planning Methods in college. I was in a group that read Christopher West’s Theology of the Body for Beginners. Our Campus Minister came to the group to talk to us about different options of Family Planning. At that time I was on the pill because my doctor had diagnosed me with endometriosis. Fortunately, she was honest with me when she told me that the pill wouldn’t actually heal my endometriosis but she told me it was my only good chance of having a child in the future.
When I heard about Natural Family Planning Methods for the first time, I was so thankful that we had a wonderful Campus Minister who didn’t judge me for being on the pill but instead taught me about different options.
I couldn’t believe that there was a place (Pope Paul VI Institute and now any NaProTechnology Doctor) that actually treated endometriosis instead of using the “band aide” approach of being on the pill.
I knew that I didn’t want to be on the pill when I got married because of my morals (knowing that ovulation can occur when on the pill and abortion can occur etc) but I had no idea there was another option for someone who had endometriosis. I was constantly fed the lie that the pill was a necessity. What a relief to find out that wasn’t true!
Why the Creighton Model? When I got engaged I knew that I wanted to learn a method of Natural Family Planning with my fiancé and that is what I wanted for our relationship as our means of planning our family. (My husband had also read Theology of the Body for Beginners and we felt the same way about using a natural method) There’s a lot of information out there about how using a Natural Method improves marriage. Statistics show that couples using a Natural Method have lower divorce rates than those who use contraception, so that was also a factor in our decision. Marriage can be hard, why not try to make things a little easier? ;)
There are a handful of different Natural Methods to choose from (they are all great!). I personally picked the Creighton Model because I knew that it was a method based on solid scientific evidence and that it is effective. I also wanted to learn the Creighton Model because I had heard stories of women who struggled with infertility and how this method had helped them achieve pregnancy.
When I first started using the Creighton Model System, I fell into the category of Regular Cycles. I wasn’t considered post-pill because I had been off of birth control for over a year. One of the great things about the Creighton Model is that ANY woman in her procreative life can use it. Even if she has irregular cycles, anovulatory states, is breastfeeding, pre-menopause or post-pill.
I didn’t want to have to learn multiple methods for the different reproductive categories that I would fall into during my life. I was glad that there was a method where I only had to learn the basics once!
I started learning the Creighton Model System after I got engaged. At that time I used the System to Monitor my Fertility. What I wish I would have known, is that I could use this system just to monitor my health. I didn’t have to be in a situation where I was wanting to avoid or achieve pregnancy. If I knew what I know now, I would have started charting in High School. Doing that would have allowed me to get the care I needed at 14 years old instead of 24.
When we did start charting, our FertiltiyCare Practitioner noticed that things did not look like they should and I was referred to a doctor. I was then diagnosed with PCOS.
My husband and I were able to learn how PCOS affects fertility before trying to conceive was even a thought! Charting allowed us to (try to) prepare for what could potentially be a rocky path in our relationship if we struggled to conceive because of PCOS.
We used the Creighton Model to monitor my health while engaged. Once we got married, my husband and I discerned that having a child at that moment was not what we were to do.
We effectively used the Creighton Model System to avoid pregnancy until we felt called to conceive
When choosing a method of family planning we knew there would be times in our lives where we would need to use the Creighton Model System to avoid pregnancy. That is why it was so important to us to find a method that had done the research and knew the statistics for its effectiveness to avoid pregnancy.
The Creighton Model System’s method effectiveness for avoiding pregnancy is 99.5% and it’s use effectiveness is 96.8%
Method effectiveness simply means if the method is being used 100% correctly and use effectiveness takes into account human error.
When comparing what we knew about the Creighton Model to all other methods of family planning, the Creighton Model stood out for many reasons. One of the biggest is the side effects. There are absolutely no side effects when using this method. When looking at other methods some side effects include the possibility of cancer! Most importantly however, I could not wrap my head around why we would treat my fertility as if it were a disease that needed to be stopped. It just didn’t make any sense to me to stop something that is supposed to be happening, something that is natural and healthy!
Other reasons we chose the Creighton Model are; we are pro-life, it aligns with our morals, the responsibility of family planning isn’t just on the woman or man, it’s medically sound, the teachers (FertiltiyCare Pracititoners) are allied health professionals that go through extensive training to become certified, and if there are issues in our fertility we had the comfort of knowing that the doctors would listen and try to find out the root cause of the problem.
Figuring out what method of family planning we wanted to use was a big deal to us. It wasn’t a decision we made lightly. We wanted to make sure we did research on ALL methods to insure we were making the best decision.
The time came when my husband and I wanted to use the Creighton Model System to try to achieve pregnancy.
As stated earlier when highlighting using the system to monitor my fertility, we knew that when the time came to try to achieve pregnancy we might face difficulties because I had been diagnosed with PCOS.
Just by looking at our chart, our FertilityCare Practitioner was able to give us some suggestions to try; to see if we could become pregnant on our own, before seeking medical intervention.
After discerning that we were going to use the Creighton Model to achieve pregnancy, we knew that couples with normal fertility (when using a day of fertility) had a 76% chance of achieving the first cycle. It was comforting to have the knowledge of what our chances were and to know that even if I was in the category of “normal fertility” there was a 24% chance that we would not achieve on our first cycle. It really helped to put things into perspective and to not be disappointed if it didn’t happen right away.
It was also reassuring to know that since we were using the Creighton Model System, if we had not achieved by 6 months, we were considered infertile and could begin to look into finding the underlying issue causing infertility. If we were not using the Creighton Model System, the definition of infertility would have been, one year of random acts of in*******se without being able to achieve.
If you struggle with infertility or know someone who does, you understand the difference between trying for 6 months compared to 1 year. We were grateful that we knew prior to trying to achieve what our timeline was.
As I stated before, having that road map so to speak, the knowledge of what steps would happen if we were not able to achieve took a lot of pressure off of the situation. We understood that if we were placed in the category of infertility that it would be a setback but it wouldn’t mean our journey would be over.
We knew that if we had the cross to bear of infertility that by just charting alone we had up to a 40% chance of being able to achieve pregnancy. It was great to know that even though we began charting to monitor my fertility, then later to avoid pregnancy; (if we ended up being in the category of infertility) we didn’t have to change anything to have a higher chance of achieving pregnancy once we wanted to. (And remember this is for couples with infertility, those without have a 98% chance of achieving pregnancy by their 6th cycle!)
What we love about this method is that we make the decision every single day on how we are going to use the method, to do what’s best for us and our family. All it takes is changing our mind and actions on how we want to use the method.
We were fortunate to not have to be in this reproductive category but since we had been told before we got married there was a good chance we would have trouble getting pregnant, the knowledge of our next steps was invaluable.
For couples that are placed in the infertility category, up to 80% achieve pregnancy by charting and seeing a NaPro doctor. Those statistics are incredibly higher than using IVF. Why? Because NaPro doctors are interested in learning the cause of infertility and treating it. Unfortunately we just don’t see that level of care in most clinics; they are so quick to turn women to IVF.
We are grateful to use a method that seeks to fix any problems within my body instead of trying to find a way to go around them in order to achieve pregnancy.
I talked about how the Creighton Model can be used to Avoid Pregnancy, Achieve Pregnancy or Monitor Fertility. It also can help a couple have a smooth healthy pregnancy as well. Once we got pregnant the Creighton Model allowed us to have a healthy pregnancy!
During a woman’s ovulation cycle after the egg is released from the o***y the same tissue which was the mature follicle now becomes the corpus luteum. The corpus luteum produces the hormone progesterone. Progesterone is essential to the support of the lining cells of the uterus in preparing for pregnancy. Infertility or frequent miscarriages may be caused by an inadequate corpus luteum, when it doesn’t produce enough progesterone.
As a FertilityCare Practitioner, I am trained to be able to look at a women’s chart and see the signs for low progesterone. After looking at my chart and seeing the signs, I knew I needed to get to my NaPro doctor right away to get my progesterone levels tested after I had a positive pregnancy test.
My progesterone level did end up being very low and I had progesterone shots twice a week until about week 29 in my pregnancy.
My progesterone level was so low I most likely would not have carried our baby to term without progesterone support. I will forever be grateful for the Creighton Model and NaProtechnology for giving us a healthy baby boy!
A huge concern that I had when pregnant was that I would suffer from post partum depression. I knew I had a higher chance of having post partum depression since depression runs through my family, my mother and grandmother both suffered from post partum depression and statistically women who have low progesterone during their pregnancy will then have post partum depression.
To know how I would be treated if I were to encounter post partum depression and to have the knowledge that it is more effective than any drug on the market, without any unwanted side-effects, I was thrilled.
So far I haven’t had to utilize the NaPro protocol for Post Partum Depression but I am very glad it is an option!
Being in the postpartum reproductive category, where my body is going crazy with hormones, it is a huge relief to be able to use a system that allows my husband and I to still be able to plan our family. When I am offered to take chemicals to plan our family I simply say No Thank You, but when I am offered to take chemicals to plan our family while breastfeeding, that is a HUGE No Thank You.
As women we are all different, including our fertility. This has been my journey so far with using the system and how it has helped me and my family. Your journey will be different. That is why as FertilityCare Practitioners we teach you specifically for your situation. If I were to only teach you the aspects of the model that I have needed to use, it would not work for you! And if I were to teach you every aspect of the whole system, that would be incredibly overwhelming and not necessary. We teach you exactly how to navigate and learn the system according to your body and your needs.
*We are currently (as of the Summer of 2018) struggling with secondary infertility. It’s an interesting experience but oddly enough I am thankful for it because it’s allowing me to truly be able to connect with my clients who struggle with infertility. I see it as a blessing that has given me the opportunity to provide better care to my clients and have complete trust in my NaPro doctors that we will be able to conceive. All in God’s timing :)
We are excited to announce we are expecting baby #2!
This pregnancy is definitely a miracle through the intercession of St Anne (Mary's mother). As some of you know we had been trying to get pregnant for about a year or so and I was getting pretty frustrated with my body. I wasn't producing any fertile signs for three months in a row and nothing seemed to help. We decided to pray a novena asking St Anne to intercede for us. When we finished the novena, on her feast day, it should have been the end of my cycle and instead we saw fertile signs for the first time in 3 months and were blessed enough to conceive. Our due date is Easter.
