Ttc and still breastfeeding? Thread #3: Pull up a chair for some support from others on the journey!

Pear if it were me I'd buy the sticks otherwise you'll always be wondering ...

Thanks ladies DH thinks I should just buy the CB OPks for my monitor and be done with it. What to do what to do! The thing is, now that I've stopped bf I could ov early and I wouldn't know if I wasn't POAS. I suppose I'm temping but still ??

Forgot to say, welcome to the fold Leamice

I found the opks useful for giving a rough idea of my fertile time, rather than pinpointing ovulation exactly. For eg, my cycles are (were?!) usually around 27 days and I would get an almost positive opk on days 12 and 13, which I took to mean I ov'd around day 13/14 and therefore made sure we dtd around these dates.

Pear I hope sod's law will have the last laugh at the stupid cb woman!

So annoying about your CB sticks Pear! You'll show her, won't even have another cycle, you'll get knocked up this cycle!! Pear, how many times a day will you test with OPKs? If you're getting the really cheap amazon ones you can get 60 for under £10 and 90 for £13ish

Mary - So Sorry for your loss. Thanks for posting about OPKs, I've been wondering about them as mine never beat the control, you've given me a slither of hope that i did ov.

Glad to hear you're ok Mary. Sorry dd is going through a rough patch, teething can be awful. Hope she feels much better soon

Pear that's so annoying of CB! Hope you've ordered your sticks now I would recommend the ones I used but they are around £20 for a month I think (on offer in boots though).

So maybe buy 50 then

Fwiw about OPKs . The best advice I got is to test twice a day. Late morning around 11-12 and early evening around 7-8. You're more likely to be sure to catch it.

Arrgggghhh major mess up with cb! They rang me with more questions and then told me I can't start using product until next cycle as they like to collect samples from the start of the cycle which is just sooooo annoying since they didn't tell me this before!!! I would have sent my contract a lot sooner if I had only known this!!! Grrrrrrr! The lady on the phone goes "don't worry they will arrive in time for your next cycle"!!! Can't tell you how much I was biting my tongue.

New plan needed. Do I buy 30 or 50 cheap OPKs? I really can't face spending another £24 on cb sticks. I just can't.

Aw, thanks Mumo. I'm doing a lot better now thank you. The bleeding stopped after about a week and I'm feeling much less tired too. Still a bit sad but looking forwards not backwards.

I've been lurking on here but haven't really had much to post about. Dd has been going through a rough patch (teething?) and no longer naps so that's taken away my mid-afternoon mn time! On the upside she is now only feeding once or twice a day. I'm keen to wean her as soon as I can. I know that the jury's very much still out there re bf and mc but, for my own peace of mind, I would rather know that I'm giving myself the best chance of conceiving successfully.

I can't remember who was asking about opks not getting dark. I used ic opks and they never got quite as dark as the control line. Obviously I did still ovulate so I'm just assuming that I missed the actually surge (which I'm told only lasts a few hours), but still caught the higher levels of LH that indicate the fertile time.

Did I miss any bfps?

Morning. Dc didn't have a 4am feed this morning. Managed to fob off with a bottle and then playing for two hours until dh got up yawn
Not sure how I feel about it.

Mumofone - I don't know. Hopefully before I need it!

Thanks Rosie. I've bought some of the Hipp organic powder & will try some in a beaker when dd is better

When do they start sending you stuff pear? That's such a good idea. I suppose if you're temping as well then at least you can keep track of your cycle that way.

Hope Mary is ok... Haven't seen her on here for a while. Thinking of her

Mumofone - yes I've been temping for 3 days. In regards to OPKs, I'm waiting to see what Clearblue send me I have 5 sticks for my cbfm. Not enough to get me through the month.

Ava: really? I feel like everyday is going sooooo slowly already

mum I started giving ds a bottle of formula for his night time feed because he wasnt sleeping through the night. I don't love the idea of formula but it has worked wonders. So we supplement with it in his cereal in the am & a bottle before bed. The rest of the time he nurses.

Can't believe it's been a week already, Pear, we'll be back in the 2ww again before we know it...

Well, after AF left abruptly yesterday afternoon, she decided to reappear without warning this afternoon while I was out with DD awful timing...

Thanks lea that's really helpful.

I've got everything crossed for you pear Are you temping and opk-ing this month?

Ruth, thanks for that pic of your opks makes me quite sure I didn't ovulate, mine never got darker than control, just very nearly as dark... I Wonder if this cycle will ever end?!

Mumo- my DS doesn't normally feed at night (though he has been this last week) I cut out pm feed first and give him tommeetippee beaker of formula, I give him approx (I use ready made from big bottle as can keep in fridge for 48hrs) 200ml but he doesn't always finish it, I let him come back to it over the hour.

I think I'm going to drop another feed next week as DS is finally getting over his cold, I'll wait until he's back sleeping through though.

Thanks Mumo. Maybe this is my month. Let's hope

Thanks aux & pear, that's really helpful. I think dc is coming down with something so I'll wait til she's better then start cutting down.

Good luck this cycle, pear. Glad af is on her way out

mumo I decided that since the night feeds mattered most because of prolactin levels being higher i'd cut those out first. It worked well but dh had to give dc the bedtime and midnight and three am feeds so dc wouldn't have the option of boob. Tried to get dc quite tired the first night for bedtime feed and did it in bed then transferred to cot once asleep. By third night DC totally got the new routine so no problem for night bottle feeds. Fwiw we used cartons of readymade formula so we didn't actually have to get up properly to go make some and it worked very well.

Mumof1 - don't worry about your LP I ended up have a 10 day LP which made a very long cycle and as you've ovulated sooner then me I think you will do better.

Cd6 for me. AF is on her way out. Not much going on. It's nearly been a week since I stopped bf now. Hopefully my hormones will be in a better place this month.

Mumofone - when I cut down i introduced a Tomee Tipee beaker of cows milk at 11am and 2:30/3pm. That meant I was only bf at 7am and 7pm from 12 months up until 22 months. Snacks worked well as distractions...especially bright and interesting things like slices of mango, peeling a banana, colourful peppers and peanut butter on rice cakes.

Thank you ladies Can't wait for DH to get home from work so we can dtd (after being so sick of doing it before!)

Ruth I didn't ov til cd20 so good luck. My last cycle was only 24 days (first since af came back) so I'm a bit worried I'll have a v short luteal phase too

Fx for you duchess.

Please can someone give me some advice on introducing formula in the day/cutting back on bf-ing? Dc is 11 mo & currently I bf at 7, 10.30, 2.30 & 6.30. Want to replace the 2 daytime feeds with formula (or should I look at dropping morning one completely??) but NO idea how to go about it. Dc & I both love bf-ing so I have mixed feelings & not sure how she'd take it. I would like to feed her with a beaker not a bottle as she's good at drinking from that by herself. Any advice would be great please! Sorry this is so long.

Ruth, that's what mine looked like - I couldn't believe it! I took a pic too

Duchess, I mentioned the measuring to 2 decimal places. I don't think you necessarily need one that does, it's just my preference x