Hi all, new here but have occasionally been reading some posts 😊
I'm currently 36 and just found out 2 weeks ago that I'm pregnant with our 4th baby -- a surprise! My husband and I have always said we wanted 3-5 but 4 always seemed like the ideal number. I really do think this will likely be my last pregnancy. Of course anything can happen as we practice NFP, but I can just tell mentally and physically I don't have the stamina for a lot more (have a history of OCD and anxiety since childhood and it tends to worsen postpartum, though I have a lot of good tools and a great PMHNP). This pregnancy is already hitting me fairly hard (as they all do), but when you're getting older and have other kids, it definitely seems more so.
I guess my question is, how many of you age 35+ noticed a general decline in your fertility and didn't have to practice NFP maybe as strictly to avoid as you got older (maybe as compared to when you were younger)? I'm one of those women that I'm sure other women hate because my period and fertility don't return until I am completely done with breastfeeding so that has helped us space our kids a lot. I've also had an ectopic pregnancy (between my 2nd and 3rd) and now have no left fallopian tube. For our 3rd baby we had to try for about 6 months as I kept having chemical pregnancies, partially due to a short luteal phase. With this 4th baby, I thought I wasn't getting pregnant because of short luteal phases again (which is likely true) HOWEVER my third child was also my longest breastfeeding baby until 2.5 years (very sparse there at the end) and I suspect that not weaning her was keeping my luteal phases short-- even though my period had returned and I was ovulating. I was also totally fine with that-- we weren't really avoiding and I just let my body do what it wanted to do. I fully stopped breastfeeding in February and in March I had an anovulatory cycle and then in April I ovulated super early (day 8!) to apparently make up for that cycle and that's how I ended up pregnant this time. So I've been sort of "lucky" that out of the 10 years of our marriage we've only really had to adhere to NFP/TTA for about 2 years because I've otherwise been pregnant, breastfeeding, or actively trying.
I guess I'm trying to gauge after having this baby at age 37 and then breastfeeding for at least a year (maybe more) and then being age 38, how much longer I'm going to need to use NFP to avoid pregnancy. I get that everyone is so different and perimenopause/menopause hits everyone at a different age. I know I got pregnant easily in my 20s (27 and 29 for my first two, got pregnant right away), but I have definitely seen things change as I've gotten older. I guess to be safe I'll have to be following NFP until my 40s, but I'm just sort of curious about people's experiences. I feel like there is a potential I could still get one more surprise pregnancy after this one 😄 But I'm kind of hoping there could be a natural decline to my fertility after this baby.
TLDR: Did you have to follow NFP as strictly to TTA as you got closer to 40? Did you notice a natural decline in your fertility as you got older? Curious about your experiences!