From Two or Three to Six: Our Natural Family Planning Journey

We’re a natural family planning family. And if you can’t imagine—it hasn’t exactly worked out the way we originally thought.

When my husband and I started out, we figured we’d have maybe two, maybe three kids. We had our first, planned. Our second was planned too, but she came earlier than we expected. Our third? A complete surprise. Our fourth? Planned. Then number five and number six came along, both complete surprises. Wonderful surprises, don’t get me wrong, but still surprises.

By the time we hit six, I looked at my husband and said, “Okay. We need to do something different, because intimacy is a beautiful part of marriage, but we are TIRED. Six kids tired.”

So I went looking for answers and found natural family planning counseling through mycatholicdoctor.com.

Here’s the deal with NFP in the traditional sense, (there are other ways, but this is how we did it):

1. You track cervical mucus—its color, consistency, and stretchiness.

2. You track basal body temperature—the lowest temp of the night, which means waking at the exact same time every morning (not fun if you like to sleep in).

3. You track cervical position—because it shifts and opens/closes with fertility.

For me, number three was out—anatomy makes it painful and awkward. Number two was inconsistent—who wants to set a 6am alarm every single day forever, (spoiler alert, there is a cool product for this called Tempdrop)? And number one…well, turns out with PCOS, cervical mucus is all over the place. Totally unreliable. Which explained why NFP kept surprising us with babies.

Enter: the Mira monitor.

This little device has been life-changing. Technically, it’s marketed more for fertility than prevention, but it works both ways. Every morning, I pee on a stick, pop it into the monitor, and it shows me what my hormones are doing. I can see estrogen rise before ovulation, LH spike to signal ovulation is nearly here, and progesterone climb afterward to confirm it happened.

The egg itself only lives about 24 hours, (but sperm can live for 3-5 days), so we have two main rules. We abstain for a few days pre-ovulation based on the day of my cycle, and then we abstain for about 5 days post-rise, then we’re good to go again.

And I can’t tell you the peace of mind this has brought. We joke about being celibate until menopause—but now, we don’t have to be. We can still be close, still enjoy intimacy, without constantly wondering if we’re about to add baby 7.

And for those of you who are reading this with your mouth open thinking about a two week pause in intimacy - just think about when one of you travels for work and how great it is to be together again after. Waiting is not all bad.

God gave us fertility, but He also gave us tools and wisdom to manage it. And thank goodness for that—because I’m not 40 yet. Which means, biologically, I’ve got another decade or more of fertility ahead of me. Even at every three years, that’s three or more kids. And let me tell you, half a dozen is plenty.

---

 Being a mom is hard—you’re never on your own schedule and always doing something for someone else. I get it, because I’m living it too. That’s why I love offering “Back to You” sessions at Kristian Hutchings Portraits. Just half a day where you’re pampered, posed in the most flattering ways, and cared for like you deserve. You’ll walk away with portraits your kids will treasure forever—and an experience that feels every bit as renewing as a spa day.

_______________________

Kristian is a mom of six, Program Manager by day, active Professional Photographer by trade, and a big believer in finding beauty in the everyday chaos.

Life in our house is loud, messy and full of literally everything. Love, noise, laundry, laughter, and definitely could use a bit more grace. I'm happily married to my best friend, grounded in my Catholic faith, and fueled by five to six hours of sleep per night and adrenaline.

I try to find joy in the everyday — even when it's wild, because without the little bit of joy, this life would be unbearable. This space is for the moms in the middle of it all: the ones juggling family, faith, work, and wonder. The ones that need someone else's messy life to make their own seem better or somewhat normal. You're not alone, and you're doing better than you think.

Welcome to Six Sweet Smiles — where we celebrate the mess, the miracles, and everything in between.