The use of NFP embraces God's design for the marital act, fosters self-mastery, mutual respect, deeper intimacy, and openness to life.

The unity in marriage is a foretaste of heaven, where we will all be totally united with God forever. 

How VRPM can wreak havoc on charts and what you can do about it.

I really am not a fan of pain. Like not at all. I like to think I have a decent pain tolerance, but I still despise it all together. I think that’s why when pain comes along in any aspect of life- physical, mental, emotional, spiritual- I prefer to try to ignore it (horrible nursing advice!) or even fight it. After years of walking around in this broken world, I tell myself these gray hairs must come with some sort of insight or wisdom…or at least an idea closer to the Truth

No matter where it comes from, these voices can be loud, overwhelming, and deeply unsettling.

I work mostly with clients walking the path of infertility. I am not really sure how this started, but these are the clients God consistently sends my way, and I am happy to participate in His work for me this way. While each one of their experiences is unique, there are sometimes certain phases that emerge along the journey through infertility. These phases or moments can occur at various times depending on the client’s own experience, whether it be going full steam ahead wi

“All the baptized are called to chastity” (Catechism 2348). Of course, growth in chastity looks different for people in different stages in

A priest gave a talk during my Fertility Care Practitioner education on supporting Catholic marriages. As part of that talk, he read to us something called the "Exhortation before marriage". This beautiful reflection was part of the Catholic marriage liturgy in the pre-Vatican II era and some priests today still choose to incorporate it into wedding Masses because it's wisdom is inspiring, enduring and needed now as much as ever before. At the time of my training I had been

Deciding which form of Natural Family Planning (NFP) to use can be a daunting task. With so many options available, it’s important to find t

if you are wavering on your resolve to avoid pregnancy during ovulation and the fertile window of your cycle, I would pause and take time to

We have talked about the important of SPICE , all the different forms of intimacy . Intimacy and connection can be as simple as a hug or a note slipped into a lunch box or work bag or as complicated as a fancy dinner out. Speaking of date nights , they can be really expensive! Factor in babysitting costs if you have kids, and the total cost is up even higher. But date nights don't have to be fancy, and they don't have to be at night. If you have children that nap, you can hav

I'm really excited about all the holiday-related posts we have so far about double peaks, self gift, and charting while traveling. In the...

"Can we have sex" on such-and-such day? This question pops up in follow ups all the time. Spoiler alert: if you're married and you're both interested in intercourse on a particular day YES you are perfectly capable and you don't have to ask my permission. (Phew!) Our role as Fertility Care Practitioners is not to tell you when you are or are not "allowed" to have sex with your spouse. Our role is to help you gain a full understanding of your fertility so that you know which

Last year during the holiday season, I wrote about how to handle nosy relatives that butt into your sex life . And last week, Jessica talked about how holiday stress can affect your chart . So what else is there left to discuss about the charting and the holiday season? Alcohol! I'm kidding. Gifts, actually. Specifically, spousal self-gift. In the past, Karoline, has discussed the meaning of sexual intercourse on a natural level . I'd like to dive a bit deeper into her discus

As a young lady, I believed that having a period meant that I must be ovulating and was able to get pregnant. Many women have had "the...

It was a typical Monday night bedtime routine. I was attempting to lead the kids through their bedtime prayers while my husband was retrieving our oldest from her Monday night activity. Per usual, I was wiped out from a day that became busier than it needed to be and was consequently short on patience, thinking of all the things I still needed to finish before the day was over. So while my other three littles were busy with their typical bedtime antics, I was hustling throu

Have you ever had a profound calling from God you could not ignore? I have been blessed enough, this has happened to me many times in my...

It's no secret that when using any type of NFP, a period of abstinence is used during the fertile time of a woman’s cycle if the couple...

Using natural methods of fertility regulation (aka, "NFP", e.g., "Creighton") makes marriages stronger. You've probably even heard some people go so far as to say it's one way to "divorce proof" your marriage. That's a pretty extreme statement but statistically couples that use NFP do have a significantly lower divorce rate than the general population . It should follow then, that if you're using NFP, your marriage should be thriving, right? Dandy? Amazing? Passionate? Bette

As a practitioner I have been asked many times, "is this a good reason to avoid?" And for a long time I did not know if I could really give a great answer. I know for myself it took me discerning and praying with my husband to make our decision to avoid, but that process may not be as clear cut for everyone. Fo awhile my simple answer was "that is between you (the couple) and God". Honestly I did not feel this was a good enough answer nor was I qualified enough to answer it.