QuestionI am 46 and married late. I still have my normal periods. My husband and I are considering NFP. I have never had a child and am healthy and have never used artifical birth control. Can you give me some opinion and help. I understand the percentage of pregnancy is very low at my age too.
Thank you
AnswerYes, the older you are the less likely you will get pregnant. But without the practice of charting your cycles, you will not know if you are still fertile. I would recommend that you get a good book or talk to an experienced NFP practitioner who can get you started. I think it is a very good idea to look into it. NFP is safe, reliable and effective. You know more about your body, your health and your fertility as you become more familiar with your physical signs of fertility with NFP.
Basically, to begin with, you have to get a read on your basal body temperature, which is what your temperature is when you first wake up in the morning. You chart that number on a graph and watch the pattern. At the time of ovulation, the temperature will rise and stay up until your period begins and then it falls back to that lower level again. You learn a lot from watching the temperature pattern. If it doesn't rise, you are not ovulating; if it rises and then falls too soon your progesterone levels are too low. If it doesn't rise at all then you are probably not ovulating. Once it rises and you miss your period, and the temperature stays up, then you know you are pregnant.
You can find information at this website: http://www.nfpandmore.org/
They will have books and other resources for you to learn the method. Please feel free to ask me any other questions you might have, too.
