TTC but periods are messing me around!

[Kiwicath]

Hi all. After many years of trying plus endo/dye/lap/lazer we finally had a wee boy. Before getting pregnant I was as regular as clockwork (28 days). My period returned on my sons 8 month birthday but have been all over the place for the past 4 months ie 33,36,40,32 days. We have been ttc for all that time with no luck (sad). I can still feel that I ovulate?? on day 14 so why has everything gone haywire. Will it be harder to get preggers because of this? Does the fact I'm still breastfeeding have anything to do with it? How long will it take periods to get back to normal .... if ever? Any advice would be much appreciated. Cheers.

[Twiglett]

are you sure you ovulate on Day 14?

..are you charting? have you read Toni Weschler's "take charge of your fertility" .. a good book and well worth reading

.. bf can reduce your ability to conceive .. but shouldn't be relied on as a contraceptive

.. your periods are still settling down at the moment too

how do you 'feel' you ovulate .. you can go by temps + cervical mucous + position of cervix (see weschler book) but I wouldn't rely on a 'feeling' TBH

good luck and HTH

[pabla]

Something similar happened to me after the birth of my first child. Periods returned when she was 6 months, when I started weaning/went back to work but were irregular for about a year afterwards, in terms of the length of cycle. I had no trouble conceiving first time round but took ages second time, partly I'm sure because it was impossible to predict if I was ovulating. I did go for lots of blood tests to see if I was ovulating, but again when my cycle was unpredictable they were of limited use.

You can get kits in Boots to help you identify when you are ovulating. Haven't used them myself but a friend said it worked for her. I finally did get pregnant after about 20 months of trying (after I had a HPG - similar in effect to lap) and went on to have a third baby where I got pregnant on the first attempt!

I don't know if breastfeeding will have an impact on your fertility once your periods have returned. Have you seen your GP about this? Hope it all works out for you.

[Kiwicath]

Cheers Twig, when I mean "feeling" I mean pains, eggy mucous, sore boobies etc. Haven't done the tempt thing though. Conceived very quickly after my lap so must have been doing something right. Why would I suddenly stop ovulating?? Oh dear why is something so natural causing me so many bloody problems (no pun intended )

[Twiglett]

Just so you know, and its nothing to worry about .. your hormones don't settle down to the same as they were pre-pregnancy .. its like the pregnancy throws them all up in the air and then they settle back however they fall

.. I had no problems conceiving DS (2 months) but it took almost 2 years and help to get DD

I still think its very early for you to be worried ... but personally I would get some OPKs or do the whole charting thing .. although egg-white mucus is a great sign of course

[horseshoe]

I have been told that breastfeeding goes some way in acting as a natural contraception.