The following article appeared in the May/June 2010 issue of Family Foundations, of the Couple to Couple League.

"We're going to have ten kids."

Jennifer: Matt and I met at a retreat for Catholic college students. Each one of us came from slightly different backgrounds, but we were convinced that our common faith was all that really mattered.

Matthew: Once Jennifer and I were engaged, eventually the subject of what we were going to use for family planning came up. I had grown up hearing about NFP since my parents were volunteer teachers for the Couple to Couple League (CCL).

Jennifer: I had this vague notion that the Church was against contraception, but since that was really unrealistic these days, and everybody used it anyway, I was fully prepared to start my pill regime, when Matt told me that there was another way.

Matthew: I shocked my bride-to-be by stating we will use NFP or nothing. I heard a gulp and a response of “well, let’s see how this NFP thing works.”

Jennifer: To say that I was shocked is perhaps an understatement. All I kept thinking was, “We are going to have ten kids, we’re going to have ten kids.” Matt and his parents, who are also Natural Family Planning teachers, patiently taught me the ins and outs, and I was convinced that this was actually going to work. Everything went smoothly all the way through our wedding night.

Matthew: My uncle’s firm rented the Presidential Suite in the Waldorf-Astoria in New   York City and after the event the room was paid for the night. I knew we were a couple of days into the fertile time of our cycle. But come on, romantic evening in a loaded hotel room? Some things are just too good to pass up!

Wedding Night Mixup

Jennifer: With my newly acquired knowledge and less than one month you could say practical experience… I had no idea where I really was in my cycle, except that I was infertile right now, and the fertile time should come next. I was really just waiting on my husband to tell me when that time was. Needless to say we had some major miscommunication here. Matt honestly believed that I knew as well as he did that we were in the fertile time and acting in a way that might gift us with a child even though we had previously agreed to wait for the time being. Our hiccup’s name is Jude and he truly is a wonderful gift from God.

Matthew: We have come to appreciate God’s timing on all things concerning children. After an extended infertility due to breastfeeding, we felt that we were ready to conceive again. After no success for five months after Jenn’s fertility returned, I received orders to deploy to Iraq. Now we had a harder decision to make.

Jennifer: Initially, I did not want to be pregnant when Matt was deployed, but at the same time I really felt that our children should be relatively close in age. If we waited until Matt returned that would put almost five years between our children. We threw up our hands on this one and lifted our hearts, praying for God’s guidance.

Matthew: We conceived on our farewell night before I left to pre-deployment training. Even though the separation was difficult on all of us, God was good to us. I was able to call home often from Iraq. We were blessed with perfect timing of the baby’s arrival even after some early pre-term labor. I was able to be home for R&R when John Paul was born.

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(The above is the first part of the article.) To receive Family Foundations, sign up for a membership at Couple to Couple League International.

Natural Family Planning Classes Taught

The next series of classes in Natural Family Planning in northeast Illinois will begin Sun., May 23, 2010 at 1:30 p.m. at Holy Trinity Church in Westmont, and will be taught by Chris & Debbie Lillig, at 630-428-3046. To register, and for a list of classes throughout the U.S., go to the CCL Central class locator. Or go to the Chicago CCL’s Classes by Location and Maplinks.