Should I bother with contraception?

[Chloe55]

I am wondering whether or not to bother going back on the pill - I'll give you some background first:

I found out I had endometriosis 4 years ago and went straight in for surgery to burn away the lesions but was warned that the endometriosis could return and there was a possibility it may spread to my fallopian tubes which would make conception very difficult. DH and I decided to try for a family and luckily, 12 months later I found out I was pg. My ds is now 7weeks old.

I went for my 6week checkup the other day and discussed contraception. I explained that if I could have a choice I wouldn't want more than 3yrs between this child and (all being well) my next child. My gp warned me that often it takes longer to get pg second time round so I could be looking at trying for 2 years or more and that it was something to think about. Now I am well aware that nobody can know when I will or if I will fall pg again but I would like to know of anyone else who has endometriosis and 2 or more kids and how long it took for them to conceive 2nd time round. Part of me thinks not to bother with the pill but if I fell pg straight away I wouldn't feel like I had given my body enough time to recover. I also hated being pg and am nervous about going through it all again.

If your ds is only 7 weeks old, and you say you wouldn't feel that you'd given your body enough time to recover if you got pg now, then I would use contraception at the moment. It doesn't sound as if mentally you are ready to be pg again yet.

I don't have any experience of endemetriosis, although I have a similar condition (fibroids) which means I may have problems conceiving. I've taken the view that until I would be really pleased if I found I was pg, I'm not going to take that risk. My ds is now 11 months and in about a month's time we're going to go for it. It's a difficult decision because you just don't know if getting pregnant will take years or 15 minutes.

Could you use condoms?? :) I can't face going back on the pill after it took a year of ttc after coming off it first time round.

tricky. I needed IVF to conceive ds1 and afterwards I decided I wouldn't bother with contraception, since I knew I very much wanted a second child - more than I was worried about a small age gap. As it happened I didn't conceive naturally so needed IVF again. You are in a different position since you have already conceived naturally without too long a delay, so hopefully that is a good indication that you will manage a second pregnancy without too much difficulty.
You should ask yourself honestly how you'd feel if you got pg very quickly, and that should give you your answer!

Could you use the hormone-free coil (t-safe I think it's called) as this does not interfere with fertility in any way? Once removed you are fertile immediately. Very effective as a contraceptive and you can have it removed whenever you want and start trying for a baby straight away and it doesn't mess up your hormones.

i do have endometris but i wold go for a barrier method for a little while and then give your bosy a break and then ditch them and start trying. It could takes ages but it might not.

I would be tempted to stick with condoms for a few months and then when you feel ready start trying.

i personally wouldnt go on the pill, i would rather use condoms or coil or something that you can take away from your body the moment you decide to try for your 2nd.

i suppose you have to ask yourself which would upset you the most..

having 2 babies so close together or

coping with the possibility have finding it hard to try to conceive your 2nd

i just couldnt take the risk of the 2nd happening, but like i say, that my personal opinion, it depends how you would feel.