By Natalie Blackford
It was ten years ago; I distinctly remember entering my first Natural Family Planning (NFP) class in the Sympothermal Method and feeling like I was the outsider because everyone else had a spouse and I was single at that time. I joined the class because I wanted to learn more about my cycle. I desired to understand why I had painful periods and mid-cycle spotting.
I am forever grateful I was invited to join the NFP class. It gave me so much insight to my health and I was able to address my health issues before entering into marriage. After charting and chatting with my instructor, I was diagnosed with low progesterone and so I started supplementing to help address the deficiency. When I got married, my husband and I were extremely excited to chart together. He was completely onboard with it!
We were able to achieve a pregnancy with our first daughter, Gianna, within three months of getting married, which was such a joy. We were always open to more kids even after my daughter was born. Following her birth, we switched to the Creighton Model because it was the right method for us at that time. By the time that Gianna was three, we still had not conceived again, so we started chatting more with our Creighton Practitioner as to why this might be the case. It was really helpful to have our teacher to walk us through this very difficult season. We never thought we would walk through season of infertility but here we were!
The next step for us was finding a NaPro (Natural Procreative Technology) doctor to look further into and find root cause of our infertility. Thankfully, I had already been charting with Creighton for many years, so all my charts were extremely helpful and necessary at those NaPro appointments. We finally found the answers to our infertility and were working toward it a solution. Charting when trying to conceive (TTC) is so important. We use the days of fertility to try to achieve a pregnancy. Additionally, by keeping an accurate chart, I am able to gain important information about the health of my body, making sure I have the right amount of post-peak days, fertile days, no breakthrough bleeding and etc.
Many couples who are trying to achieve a pregnancy start late with charting or put it aside. It is so unfortunate because this is such a huge vital and necessary piece to successfully achieving a pregnancy. Charting via an app without a trained instructor or detailed medical knowledge of the cycle is not wise because you do not always know what small biomarkers need to be tracked. Thus, in my experience finding a knowledgeable instructor is so important to success with this method.
Even though this journey is taking longer that’s we thought to conceive a second child, we are thankful we have answers to our infertility. It is no longer mystery. As a family we have chosen that we will not pursue certain mainstream infertility treatments because they are against our Catholic Faith. We find ways to be fruitful in the waiting. I also have used this season to share my fertility journey to encourage others and let them know they are not alone.
Natalie Blackford and her family serve in the military and live in Southern Illinois. They have one daughter and enjoy cooking, time spent outdoors, and visiting new places. Natalie is a Clean Beauty & Wellness Advocate and has helped over 100 families in the past year make safe switches to their personal and household products. She empowers couples going through infertility to find the root cause(s) from a restorative reproductive medical professional and to chart using one of the Natural Family Planning methods available in your diocese and a good instructor. Be sure to find and connect with Natalie Blackford on Instagram.