[TerriLF]

Hi. I'm Terri. I have a 3 yr old boy and 20 month old girl. My husband and I can't agree on having more children and I had a bad experience with the last BC pill I tried, so we have now agreed to do the NTP or FAM (not sure the difference). I will be tracting my temps and cm using fertility friend and then we will use back up protection during my fertile time. I think my cycles have been pretty regular since stopping the pill so I'm hoping my charts are somewhat normal..especially since I'm not totally sure what I'm doing yet. I am going to get my thermometer tonight and will start charting once I start my period..around October 9th. I would love to start trying in January to have an October baby..but we will see what DH says about that..

[ShawnaCAN]

Welcome! The difference between NFP and FAM is pretty simple. Both require tracking your signs of fertility. With NFP, a couple abstains from genital contact on days of fertiltiy to eliminate the possibility of conception. It's 96-99% effective for avoiding pregnancy, depending on which type of NFP it is. With FAM, barriers are used on days of fertility to reduce the chance of conception. Effectiveness for avoiding pregnancy is the same as the barrier of choice.

Be aware that Fertility Friend is not really designed for avoiding pregnancy and is prone to interpretation errors, so I would definitely recommend learning more about charting from another source so you'll know when FF is messing things up. Taking Charge of Your Fertility is a good book to learn FAM from!

[TerriLF]

Thank you so much! I will pick that book up the next time I'm close to the book store. Is there another website you recommend, even if I have to pay a small fee for the service?

[ShawnaCAN]

If you're going to use Taking Charge of Your Fertility, then I'd suggest Ovusoft.com. The kind of charting you'll do there is compatible with what you'll read in TCOYF - they go together! And it's designed for avoiding or achieving, whichever is your intention!

[HeartHelloKitty]

I also recommend the ovusoft software but I find the attainfertilityplanner.com website to work more reliably for me. It's the same software though.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

[geogeek]

Well, welcome! I started my journey with Taking Charge of Your Fertility. It was a very good tool for both TTA and TTC for me. For some reason, attainfertilityplanner.com has not been good with my non standard charts. The ovusoft software on my computer seems to be lots more reliable with irregular cycles.

Good luck with everything! October babies are awesome. My October baby is turning 1 soon

[mrsb1029]

Welcome!