“So are you done having kids? Is this your last pregnancy?” I’ve been asked this after each one of my pregnancies. And until this one (my 4th), I have always responded with a resounding “no!” (with the caveat that none of us are entitled to a baby and we can’t always predict secondary infertility). But keep the babies coming! No plans to stop! Enough for a quidditch team! But this time my … [Read more...]
It’s NFP Awareness Week!
It's NFP Awareness Week! And the week is wrapping up so I thought I'd round up a few of the NFP-related posts around here to share with you from the archives. Our recent podcast episode about NFP: Uncharted Territory: Getting Real About Natural Family Planning with Jenny Uebbing NFP Should Be a Part of Parish Life What NFP Looks Like for Our Family Right Now Why I Felt … [Read more...]
NFP Should Be a Part of Parish Life
I have a proposal. It’s about bringing NFP out of the shadows and into parish life. Because as young Catholic married folk, we need help. We love and embrace the teachings of the Church on marriage, fertility, and openness to life. We desire to be faithful to these teachings by choosing not to contracept and acknowledging the truth that sex and babies are designed to go together. And we are … [Read more...]
NFP Post Extravaganza
We're one week into our crazy 6 week family road trip, folks! And it's going great. We hit Atlanta, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and Grandfather Mountain, NC, and Beech Mountain, NC. But I haven't had much time with an internet connection so I didn't realize it was NFP Awareness Week this week. There's been a good many posts about NFP at Carrots over the years, so I thought I'd link … [Read more...]
What NFP Looks Like for Our Family Right Now
I get frequent questions about and requests for updates on how we do Natural Family Planning. It’s ok, I really don’t mind. That’s what I get for running a long series on NFP. Because while you can read about statistics and methods all day, sometimes it helps just to hear about a real person’s experience. Does our experience look like everyone else’s? No. There’s definitely a spectrum and we fall … [Read more...]
Why I Felt Guilty About My Last Pregnancy (and Why I Don’t Anymore)
On a recent December afternoon, the “big kids” (age 2 and 4) went to grandma’s house and I got to spend a couple hours with just my baby girl (7 months). She took a cat nap in her crib and then promptly woke and I sat on the couch next to our twinkling Christmas tree and nursed her. She typically doesn’t fall asleep while nursing anymore, but this time she did. Her precious little body relaxed and … [Read more...]
Sex, Tomatoes, and High Fructose Corn Syrup
(Guest post by Daniel) I can no longer eat that little tomato wedge that comes with side salads at restaurants. You know, the little half moon that sits to the right of the iceberg mix with the texture of styrofoam and a taste vaguely reminiscent of watery ketchup. I used to be able to eat them but then I had a real, fresh tomato with soft, meaty flesh and vibrant tomato flavor. Now, I could … [Read more...]
Women Speak on NFP: I Wish I’d Known About NFP Sooner
This post first appeared at Kathleen's blog, Becoming Peculiar. She graciously gave permission to include it in the Women Speak on NFP series. In this series you will hear from women using various methods of NFP, some to avoid pregnancy, some trying to conceive, and their experiences. Disclaimer: This series is not meant to be a substitute for any method of training in NFP! If you are … [Read more...]
Women Speak on NFP: The Cross
This is a guest post by Bonnie of A Knotted Life in the Women Speak on NFP series. In this series you will hear from women using various methods of NFP, some to avoid pregnancy, some trying to conceive, and their experiences. Disclaimer: This series is not meant to be a substitute for any method of training in NFP! If you are interested in one of the methods introduced in this series, please … [Read more...]
Women Speak on NFP Series Wrap-Up: What I Learned and My NFP Plans
Over the summer 17 women shared about their experiences using various methods of Natural Family Planning. I was so pleased from the feedback I received about the series and how it has been informing, encouraging, and helping women. I'd like to share some reflections about what I learned from the wonderful contributors and how it's affecting my life. Because we’ve never been trained in NFP (we’ve … [Read more...]
