TTC whilst breastfeeding support thread - join me to share your ups and downs!

That is interesting Dita(and depressing!) Thanks for the link.

I'm trying to cut out the daytime feeds for the same reason and just stick to morning and evening. Ds has been fairly easily distracted, so we'll see what happens.

FF have told me that my chart is possibly triphasic this month and I'm pretty sure that I'm not pg, so I'm wondering whether the increased progesterone from reduced feeding has got anything to do with it. Hmm.

I've just found some Agnus Castus in the cupboard and it's triggered a vague memory that I was taking it last time I was TTC. Can't for the life of me remember why or how much though!

Congrats on the weight loss SBF. I'm finding my caffeine habit a difficult one to break. I've been doing it gradually so it's not too painful and I'm getting there finally. I'm still having the odd glass of wine but I figure that'll be the next step if nothing works. [depressed emoticon]

@ sbf

Very depressed about the egg quality declining after CD18 thing Where have you heard that? I spent hours dejectedly googling last night but didn't read anything about that. Still feeling prety down about the whole thing.

My brother phoned last night to say that he and his DW had just discovered that she was 15 weeks gone with their second I was very pleased that I was nothing but delighted for them while on the phone, but did need a hug from DH afterwards. Hate this.

Found this interesting:

"Suckling by the baby causes the mother's pituitary to release prolactin. It used to be thought that prolactin directly affected ovulation/fertility, but new research suggests that there is another hormone intermediate between prolactin and the ovaries. So that high levels of prolactin lead to either high or low levels of this other factor, which then affects fertility. Fertility is not an "either/or" sort of phenomenon. Post-partum, a woman does not ovulation for a while, even if she isn't breastfeeding. If she is breastfeeding frequently enough to keep her prolactin levels above her individual critical threshhold for fertility (and women vary in this threshhold) then her fertility is suppressed.

The greatest level of suppression is not ovulating, but as your prolactin levels go up, your fertility will gradually return. First you will ovulate, but not have the proper hormone levels for fertilization; then you will ovulate and fertilization may occur, but you still may not have the proper hormone levels for implantation; finally, you may ovulate, be fertilized, and implant, but not have the proper hormone levels for continuing the pregnancy, so you have a very early miscarriage, probably along the lines of minutes or hours after implantation, so you wouldn't know you had been pregnant. It is also possible to ovulate without having the right hormonal levels in the right combinations for the uterus to have been preparing for implantation, so yes, it is possible to ovulate without menstruating. For all of these stages, there seems to be incredible individual variation between women."

from here - though it is not helping my general mood any to know that it might not be possible to get pg even though I'm definitely oving!

Started making a concerted effort to cut down on feeds today, so hope that will make a difference.

Good luck to everyone else.

Congratulations LP's mum! Fantstic news!

SBF - Sounds like you're single handedly keeping Holland and Barrett in business! I remember hearing good things about that book while TTC ds. I might try and get a copy from the library. Interesting about the slow temp rise. It was you who was using the progesterone cream wasn't it? I'm going to see whether I have the same pattern next month and if so, I might consider trying it.

You mentioned EPO too. Are you taking that to help with the, ahem, lubrication?

Out of interest, is anyone making and major dietary changes? I think that could be my next port of call.

I keep thinking about getting hold of a copy of Taking Charge of Your Fertility, but I'm waiting for pay day. Does anyone know if it's got a reasonable dietary section in it (with info apart from the obvious in it)?

Have a good day eveyone!

Oh lpsmum huge congrats!

Right well it looks like made a baby
Did 2 tests yesterday an eBay cheapy and a cb digi and both agree.
We're still numb to be honest. But thrilled too obviously.
Oh girls fingers crossed you'll be celebrating your own news with me very soon x

Right, I've finally caught up with the thread. Sorry to hear about early miscarriages and chemical pregnancies, Miss Jackson and lilysma. It's horrible having your hopes dashed like that.

So, what supplements are you taking SBF?

Have you tested LPsmum?

Was anyone on here charting before? I've noticed a couple of things compared to when I charted previously. The first is that, although I'm ovulating, the range of temps isn't as wide. The pre-ovulation temps aren't as low and the post ovulation temps aren't as high. I also noticed that previously when I ovulated my temperature shot up, whereas this time round the increase was very gradual. I don't know if this means that my progesterone levels are lower. LP is OK though.

I'm trying to cut out daytime feeds and stick to morning and evening only and will see if that has an effect on my charts. Of course, it could all be age related and have nothing to do with BFing.

Welcome coconutfeet. Nice to see new faces.
It's defo worth reading through the thread if you have the time as there's lots of really useful info.
Most important thing is keep in mind you shouldn't have to wean to conceive and some of the ladies here have given lots of helpful tips. As with anything though we need patience
well I'm hoping to test some time from Tuesday but just don't feel positive at all this month

Evening ladies, Can I join you all? FannyLogan kindly pointed me in this direction.

I'm still BFing my 19 mo ds. Been TTC for about 3 months now and have recently started charting. I know it's early days but it all happened very quickly before so I think I could be in for a bit of a shock.

Plus, I'm getting on a bit (42) and was worrying that BFing might be also hindering my efforts, making the whole thing even more difficult. But I don't feel ready to wean either, especially if ds turns out to be my only child. Arggh!

I'll keep this brief for now but I'll go back now and try to catch up with the rest of the thread.

Have a good evening everyone.

Oooh good luck with that sbf! I must admit that I did enjoy sharing the early starts with dh when I stopped the morning bf. I found that taking up a beaker of cows milk did the trick for us - a new distraction and something to fill his tummy a bit. Ask dh to do the first week perhaps and fingers crossed you'll not look back

alibaba fingers crossed for you here too.

dita was totally the same as you and enjoyed a bottle few glasses of wine once I realised I wasn't pg!

sbf pass me an amaretto - reminds me of being a teenager and raiding the parents drink cabinet! Remind me, were you experimenting with progesterone creams? I am convinced that I have a short LP, but am basing this on just one cycle following my mc. It's probably way too soon to start self-medicating. But like you, I find it hard to sit back and let things take their natural course!

Hello everyone Sorry I've been AWOL, my cycles were just too weird and it was depressing me thinking about it.

DS is sleeping through the night, woohoo! So big improvement in cycle length last month and I had a proper period - 4 days of heavy-ish bleeding, had to change tampons in the middle of the night even so I feel more positive that things are working more normally!
Today is CD16 and I think I'm OVing. DH and I managed to sneak in a quick SWIing last night even though we had my parents and my brother and his GF staying (was my birthday).

Dita - I completely know what you mean about the milestones. It is my brother's wedding in 2 months and I really thought I would be 4/5 months pg and able to tell all the extended family. As it is the 'best' I can hope for is to be vomiting inbetween the speeches!

Lilysma - cutting the BFing is so hard, so emotional

So I'm on a 2WW now, although longest LP has been 11 days which was last month so we will see.

Thanks for the commiserations I am feeling a bit better after a hot bath, several glasses of wine and quite a lot of chocolate - figure I might as well while I still can. Loving the random liquers! I would be pissed on Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's rhubarb syrup mules right now if I'd had the foresight to have ginger ale in the house

Good luck on cutting down sbf It's bloody hard work sometimes isn't it? DD has been so stroppy at times today that DH asked whether she was getting my PMT hormones via breastmilk (that can't happen, right? )

Un-Mumsnetty hugs all round.

dita really sorry, came on to check whether you had good news... I know exactly what you mean about plans and dates etc... our original plan was to have 2 DCS in subsequent school years! At least you have a good luteal phase so hopefully next month will be the month...

lilysma sounds like it is really hard cutting down on the bf-ing but you are hardly feeding at all now - hopefully it will make a difference soon. I am sure given the choice later in life DD will appreciate a sibling over more bf-ing but that doesn't help right now, does it? ...

We are going to see how this cycle goes, go for it, but if it doesn't happen again this month, I think we will just forget about it for the summer, and then try to at least night wean DS! He has had an awful cold these past 2 days and has hardly eaten any solids, just fed from me, and all night too, and at times like this I really don't see how I could give up or cut back even.

Thanks Dita and sorry about AF arrival. It's so hard to let go of our well laid plans about pregnancy, isn't it? In my plan I would also be heavily pregnant by now (sigh). Hope the weepiness passes soon. Sometimes I think I can't do another cycle at this point . But then I'm always insanely hopeful at the point I'm at now .