If you got pregnant using the withdrawal method...

[peppapighastakenovermylife]

Do you think it was because your DP/H got carried away and didnt withdraw in time...or did you get pregnant even though he did in plenty of time?

Not that this has any relevance to my life

Ahem.

[skihorse]

lissy I'm absolutely aghast. Didn't you ever learn ANYTHING about contraception? Read Just Seventeen? Seriously, how can you NOT know this?

[LissyGlitter]

lol, I would be shocked if one of my friends said it, I just somehow thought that things like that wouldn't happen to me...I have no idea how I thought I was different to everyone else, but I did!

Also, I shout at my mates for having any kind of unprotected sex anyway, because of the risks of STDs, so god knows what I thought I was doing.

And now I have the result of being daft climbing all over me and pouring juice in my hair

[peppapighastakenovermylife]

It is strange isnt it. I *know& how conception works (in a lot of detail - I even lecture on it) but there is always that thought it wont happen to you. Sometimes I think deep down it is natures way of getting us to have more babies lol.

I think we are bombarded with stories these days about women having such a hard time conceieving that 'just this once' wont hurt.

I think as well (for me at least) that deep down I would love another baby but know I shouldnt really

[forehead]

Yes twice

[skihorse]

peppa they do say that the subconscious makes women "sloppy" with contraception - either i) they want a baby or ii) they want to find out how much their partner loves them...

I just think it's really embarassing and I'd never admit to it. It also makes me more of a hardlined disbeliever when someone says "oooh but I did use contraception" and I just roll my eyes...

[mumcah]

Pre cum still has sperm in it so that's how it happens even if they pull out in time.Also men vary as to how much they dribble beforehand

Peppapig Yes DD was a really happy surprise.I didn't even tell DP I was doing a test that's how sure I was that my period was just a bit late

Like someone said...these things are meant to happen.

[emmarussell]

Yes. We did use it and yes I did get pregnant. Only 4 months after having first son too! So my life is quite busy now. Was breast feeding too so don't ever believe that you are safe if you breast feed whatever the NCT say! Only belt and braces for me now! Not that I have time for a shag these days with 2 boys aged 2 and 3!

[skihorse]

emma again, how can you possibly NOT know that it's possible to get pregnant when breastfeeding?

[FourArms]

I think the protection against pg that bfing provides is only valid whilst you are still exclusively bfing, including during the night. There also needs to be an amount of attachment parenting going on, so baby def in same room, ideally co-sleeping.

For me, DS1 slept through very early, so although I exclusively bf until 6m (and bf until he was 22m), my periods came back when DS1 was only about 10w old.

My knowledge of biology was that although pre-ejaculatory fluids did contain some sperm, that it takes quite a number of sperm to penetrate the egg. Therefore it is unlikely to happen if you practise the withdrawal method 'properly'.

I do know it's not safe though, and we really should stop doing it. We're not so much using the withdrawal method as PeppaPig's "had a bit of a go then stopped to put a condom on"

[peppapighastakenovermylife]

Fourarms - a fab method I feel

I also know its not safe so dont know why we do this sometimes. Its not exactly as if its that much more enjoyable

[skihorse]

fourarms Your ovum are penetrated by multiple sperm?

The only thing correct about any of your statements is that you'll not get pregnant if you and your partner stay in seperate rooms 100% of the time.

The rest is just gibberish. Tell me, do you believe you can't get pregnant if you do it standing up?

[peppapighastakenovermylife]

Skihorse - I think what she meant was that millions of sperm usually attack the egg all at once dont they - but only one fertilises it as such. So perhaps by that logic if there were only 'a few' sperm maybe they couldnt get in....

I guess this is most likely not the case though. I wonder if they have done experiments with just one sperm, two sperm etc - or whether it would be scientifically impossible to reduce them to this few.

I am really overthinking this now lol

[FourArms]

I think scientifically it is the case that it takes quite a number of sperm for one to fertilise the egg.. will google now... should know really... have a degree in this sort of thing!

I think my statements about when bfing offers some protection against pg have some standing actually, so not gibberish. But of course there are always exceptions!

[FourArms]

The reason it takes so many sperm is that the egg is surrounded by a thick wall called the Zona Pelucida. The tip of the sperm contains an enzyme packet called the Acrosome. When a sperm hits the Zona Pelucida, the Acrosome releases the enzymes which breaks down the wall. It's estimated that on average 400 sperm are required to hit the egg to allow one to penetrate. In order to get that many to find the egg statistically speaking you need 10's of millions.
In some IVF procedures where few sperm are available a hole is punched through the Zona Pelucida and a single sperm is injected next to the thin cell membrane which one sperm can easily penetrate.

[TanyaBranning]

Got pregnant once when he had completely withdrawn in good time...



ah well...

Don't rely on the breastfeeding thing...has turned out to be complete tosh for several ppl I know

[FourArms]

This question always comes up in regard to human fertility. If it takes only one sperm to fertilize and egg, why does a low sperm count make a man infertile? A fertile male human ejaculates between 2 and 5 ml of semen (on average about a teaspoon). In each ml there are normally about 100 million sperm. If the concentration falls below 20 million sperm/ml there is usually some trouble with fertility. Twenty million still seems to be a lot, so why the problem? Part of the problem may have to do with attrition, since only a small fraction of the sperm deposited in the woman's vagina end up in the uterus. From those that make it to the uterus, only a small fraction of the sperm find their way to the oviducts. Usually the egg is all the way up at the other end of the oviduct. Of those that are in the oviduct only a small fraction make their way from the lower to the upper oviduct. So, in fact, the number of sperm successfully arriving at where the egg is located is actually very small. The second problem is that the egg is not just waiting to be fertilized by the first sperm to come along. The egg is usually covered by a thick layer of cells called the cumulus oophoricus that serve as a blockade to restrict sperm from getting into the egg. It may actually require an assault of many sperm to break down the cumulus sufficiently to let one sperm get through to the egg. So the whole process is somewhat like a marathon run in a maze filled with mucus followed by an obstacle course. That one sperm that finally makes it is the champion of Mother Nature's triathlon. If you don't have enough competitors to start, none are left at the finish. We don't know for sure but this may be a way of selecting for a healthy sperm to do the job of passing genes to the next generation. Modern in-vitro fertilization techniques can by-pass this selection process and achieve fertilization with much fewer sperm. Successful fertilization is now even accomplished with sperm that can't swim. This is accomplished by directly injecting sperm into the egg with a tiny glass pipette (tube). Only time will tell what bypassing nature's triathlon will do to the human gene pool.

[FourArms]

The Exclusive Breastfeeding method of birth control is also called the Lactational Amenorrhea Method of birth control, or LAM. Lactational amenorrhea refers to the natural postpartum infertility that occurs when a woman is not menstruating due to breastfeeding. Many mothers receive conflicting information on the subject of breastfeeding and fertility.

Exclusive breastfeeding has in fact been shown to be an excellent form of birth control, but there are certain criteria that must be met for breastfeeding to be used effectively.

Exclusive breastfeeding (by itself) is 98-99.5% effective in preventing pregnancy as long as all of the following conditions are met:

Your baby is less than six months old
Your menstrual periods have not yet returned
Baby is breastfeeding on cue (both day & night), and gets nothing but breastmilk or only token amounts of other foods.

How can I maximize my natural period of infertility?
Timing for the return to fertility varies greatly from woman to woman and depends upon baby's nursing pattern and how sensitive mom's body is to the hormones involved in lactation.

Breastfeeding frequency and total amount of time spent breastfeeding per 24 hours are the strongest factors leading to the return of fertility: a mother is more likely to see the return of fertility if baby's nursing frequency and/or duration is reduced, particularly if the change is abrupt.
In some populations, research has shown that night nursing slows the return to fertility.
One study showed that mothers who were separated from their infants (but expressed milk to provide 100% breastmilk for baby) had a higher pregnancy risk (5.2%) during the first 6 months (Valdes 2000).
The introduction of solid food can also be a factor in the return of fertility. Once baby starts solids (if mom's cycles have not returned), the natural period of infertility may be prolonged by breastfeeding before offering solids, starting solids gradually, and not restricting nursing.
You can achieve higher effectiveness by practicing ecological breastfeeding:

keeping baby close
breastfeeding on cue (day and night)
using breastfeeding to comfort your baby
breastfeeding in a lying-down position for naps and at night
using no bottles or pacifiers
If you practice ecological breastfeeding:

Chance of pregnancy is practically zero during the first three months, less than 2% between 3 and 6 months, and about 6% after 6 months (assuming mom's menstrual periods have not yet returned).
The average time for the return of menstrual periods is 14.6 months.
Moms whose cycles return early tend to be infertile for the first few cycles. Moms whose cycles return later are more likely to ovulate before their first period.

There are links to the research to back all of this up on the Kellymom website.

[peppapighastakenovermylife]

That is fascinating Fourarms - I had never thought of the low sperm count in that way before.

I also know lots of people who cant concieve whilst still breastfeeding - although obviously the threads talking about breastfeeding in pregnancy prove otherwise.

[peppapighastakenovermylife]

TanyaBranning - shhh now lol

Determined sperm!

[ArghhhhmazingBouncingSpider]

When I was at school (A RC one) my RE teacher would strongly recommend the withdrawal method as a form of contraception, only after marriage of course (before marriage the pound coin form of contraception was to be practised) Several short years later I think he has 6 children!!

[ArghhhhmazingBouncingSpider]

Could be more now because it has been almost 10 years.

[peppapighastakenovermylife]

[Divvy]

So....are you pregnant then?

[peppapighastakenovermylife]

Divvy - I dont know. I started to suspect as boobs have suddenly grown massive and sore, very thirsty, hot, feeling sick, peeing all the time....exactly how I felt with DD and DS really. Unfortunately I am sick for the whole 40 weeks and it starts before I get a positive result...

Not due til Friday. I am blatantly ignoring the very faint line I had on a test this morning and insisting its an evap line.

Ho hum

[Divvy]

CONGRATULATIONS! ...?