Advice on Birth Control?

Question

Help!! I need some birth control advice!

I have 2 boys, 3 yrs old and 5.5 months old and while I would like one more child, I would like to wait at least a few years.

Up until yesterday, I had an IUD but it FELL OUT!! aagghh!
So now I'm looking for something else in case the doc (who I see next week) says I can't use an IUD.

After my first child I used the Depo shot which I HATED!

Before that we used luck!
We were planning on having and wanted kids, so bc wasn't very important. And we had both been checked out and given a clean bill of health before having sex with each other, so std prevention/protection wasn't needed.

Years ago I had used the bc pill but had what was suspected to be a blood clot in the leg which travels to the lung. Since then, my dr has kept me off the bc pill.

I would like to know what birth control you use and your experiences with it.

Please and thank you!!

ps
I am also bipolar and take lithium and celexa. I need something that isn't going to cause any increases in my depression or mania. Right now I am pretty stable and would like to stay that way.
I would just like to be able to enjoy sex without the worry of becoming pregnant. And any help in clearing up my skin would be welcome too. lol

For those of you familiar w/ Bipolar/lithium -Yes, both my boys were planned and I switched to a safer med (not lithium) months before they were conceived and was lucky enough to be stable enough to go off all meds throughout the pregnancies!
If and when we have a third, we would like to plan him/her in much the same way.

Answer 1

I take Seasonale, which is a birth control pill that gives you a period only every three months. Nice, but might not be for you.

As another bipolar patient, I must remind you that you absolutely cannot be on lithium during the first trimester. You can risk a potentially fatal heart condition on your child, where the chambers are not the correct relative sizes. My pregnancy was not planned, and by the time the stick was pink, I don't know how many weeks I had been on the lithium! Could have been as many as 4 weeks! I had to have regular ultrasounds to check the little guy's heart, and it was scary.

So, that's great that your children will be planned, but if there's any unanticipated chance, go off the lithium right away.

Answer 2

After being on bc pill (Yasmin) for years, hubby and I use condoms most of the time and the sponge sometimes. He isn't a fan of condoms, but they've always worked well for us. We love the sponge, though. Can't tell it's there, no hormonal side effects or risks, can be used up to 24 hrs through multiple uses. Its effectiveness isn't as high as the pill/Depo/Norplant/NuvaRing/the patch, etc., though, so if you're dead set against having kids at this point, you probably wouldn't want to use it.

If you don't want or can't use hormonal methods, I would say condoms and/or the sponge would be a good way to go... if you can't use an IUD anymore. Best of luck finding something that works for you!

Answer 3

Ask for a low dose birth control pill,just as effective much less riskier.Also take your temperature for a 1 degree rise in temperature during ovulation and avoid sex then .That should be between 7 and 21 days after your last period started.