Asking for a friend --- being pregnant whilst breasfeeding ... and getting so far without knowing she is feeling kicks?!

[Litterbug]

Really am asking for a friend Im already up the duff

She is breastfeeding her son who is 18 months old now.

His feeds HAVE cut down, he doesn't always wake for his night feeds now and has replaced a few of his daily feeds with food completely.

She is on no other contraception.

She says she keeps feeling what she thinks COULD be a baby!

First was bubbly flutters about 3 weeks ago but in the last few days have become more 'kicky'

I have a test here for her, and she will do it when she visits on sunday.

But is it possible??

I know that after DS1 I felt what I convinced myself to be a baby because i was sooo broody, im thinking this could be whats happening here maybe?

But then again if shes been using breastfeeding for contraception for 18 months with no other then she could be PG!

I asked if her tummy felt different physically but she says it feels swollen but she is quite thin and says this happens every so often anyways.

I know no-one can give me an answer but I just was wondering if anyone knows of anything similar happening?

[lulumama]

oh it is so completely and utterly possible

breastfeeding is contraception and quite reliable whilst baby is exclusively breastfed and not getting any other food or drink and breastfeeding every couple of hours IIRC

it is possible to get pregnant before you even have a period and to be relatively sympton free. if this is her second baby, she could be feeling baby move around 12 - 14 weeks, so earlier than with a first. why is she not testing and does she want a baby? and if not, why not using other contraception??

[Litterbug]

She does want a baby but I think her DH is pretty convinced that she can't get pregnant whilst breastfeeding!

Shes not testing because she knows I always have tests and is waiting to visit to do one! Money saving tip in my family ... everyone always asks me for a test

[thehouseofmirth]

Totally possible. I am pregnant and breastfeed though admittedly my periods did return a while back. DS still does feed at night but generally once night feeds are dropped then normal fertility can return. And you can ovulate without having a period.

I can't believe she is so off-hand about it. How can she wait until Sunday to find out?!

[Litterbug]

I know!

If i think there is ever even the slightest chance of me being pregnant Im testing a week before Im due!

She is a very chilled person though!

[lulumama]

i;d go to the pound shop and buy a test.

[cazzybabs]

I am sure I have felt those butterfly movements and I am not pregnant - there was a thread on it a year or so ago and it was quite common. You are just more senstive to your gastric nerve or something like that.

And the other thing is a pregnant test may not work because doesn't your HCG level drop after 12 weeks?

I may be talking crap though...

[Tangle]

I was going to say the same as cazzybabs - I'm pretty sure that after a certain point in the pregnancy an HCG test will show as -ve regardless. If she is pregnant enough to feel kicks wouldn't the baby be big enough to palpate? If the test is -ve but she's still not sure she might want to get her GP to have a feel...

[Litterbug]

Hmmm,

I just find it amazing people don't realise they are pregnant,

I probably am just because I vomit so much that I could never miss it!

[notcitrus]

Cazzy - no, the level of HCG stays pretty constant after 3 weeks of it (ie 5 weeks of pregnancy counting from typical last period). I saw my GP after being told by him that a blood test showed I was pregnant - my levels were 100,000 units and anything over 60,000 meant more than 3 weeks pregnant. Not pregnant means less than 3 units!

GP palpated me and turned out I was 14 weeks (confirmed by scan a couple days later).

[Tangle]

Just doing some digging - the following quote comes from www.mums.me.uk/docs/BHCG.pdf

"The HCG hormone peaks to its highest levels between 8 and 11 weeks of the
pregnancy. Then the level slowly decreases, lowering at 12 weeks and again at
about 16 weeks of the pregnancy. The HCG level remains lower until several
weeks after the birth of the baby. As the HCG levels lower, the maturing placenta
takes over the role of producing other hormones to support the pregnancy (at
around 12 weeks). HCG levels that are higher than expected may indicate a
multiple pregnancy or the woman being more advanced in her pregnancy than
calculated, or a molar pregnancy."

That said, the figures in the accompanying table show that although levels of HCG drop off dramatically after 12 weeks, you have to get out to about 4 weeks post partum before they return to pre-pregancy levels, and that they'd remain detectable by HCG pregnancy tests.

[Litterbug]

Shall I do a test? to see?

Am 16 weeks on Saturday.

(Will have to wait for DH to get home .. hes getting them for my friend whilst he is in town)

[mydisguise]

im interested to see if the test is pos or neg litterbug

[Litterbug]

Hiya!

Sorry, I did one and it WAS + but very faint, only about 1/5 as dark as the control line.

May do another in a few weeks to see if its neg or even lighter!

[cazzybabs]

am looking forward to sunday...does she want anohter one?

[RachelBailey]

Omg I can't wait for tomorrow, the suspense is killing me

[belgo]

I have a friend who didn't realise she was 19 weeks pregnant with her third baby as she was still breastfeeding her second. It's very possible!

I was bfing dd1 every 2/3 hours day and night and my periods still returned just 8 weeks after giving birth.

HCG levels will remain high enough to give a positive result throughout pregnancy, especially as tests are so sensitive now. First wee of the morning will give the best result.

But it is possible that she's not pregnant, and that she's feeling phantom kicking, which I've had, and that many women feel after giving birth due to changes in the circulation and nervous system after pregnancy and birth.

[dan39]

Come on, come on, what was the result of the test???