My birth control choices

Over the years, I have tried most forms of birth control. Like many, my first type of birth control was the condom, simply because it was easily available and relatively inexpensive. Once my mom found out that I was sexually active, she had me put on the pill. At the time, I liked the pill as it allowed for increased spontaneity and it was nice to both know when my period would come and the ability to change the start date was a nice bonus. Unfortunately I found out what playing with hormones does to your body when I discontinued the pill in preparation for my first child. My periods were screwed up for along time.

After the birth of my first daughter, I had an IUD inserted. Although it was nice to not have to worry about taking a pill or ruining the moment by getting a condom out, it did cause my already very heavy periods to be a flood. After about a year, I had the IUD removed and I was fitted for a diaphragm. Although I no longer had the spontaneity of the pill or the IUD, it was something that I was willing to accept. I will admit that the diaphragm is a bit messy to use, but it was nothing that my husband and I could not incorporate into our lovemaking. It also had a bonus in that I learnt that I could use the diaphragm during my period to make for ?clean? sex during the special time of my month.

After the birth of our last child, we decided that I would have my tubes tied. Finally I was able to really enjoy sex with no worry about protection or unwanted pregnancy. I still do use the diaphragm during my period if we are going to have sex as I have such a heavy flow that it would otherwise be very impractical.