irregular cycle (breastfeeding) and ovulation. Sort of.

[CaliforniaStars]

Hi there,

I need to know how my body works! Wonder if anyone can explain!

I am breastfeeding and my period returned a few cycles ago. Since then I've had a cycle of 38 days, and this cycle i'm on day 31.

Stupidly (as we are TTC and I have the willpower of a lump of wood) I have tested 4 times already! And thoroughly annoyed myself in the process. I was so strong, resisting, resisting, resisting, then managed to pee on 4 of the damn things in no time at all.

Anyway - all tests negative.

What I would like to know is, I guess I assumed I'm out of the game for this month, but maybe I'm not? I'm obviously not asking you all if I'm pregnant. I'm wondering how it works with random cycle lengths. It only occured to me today that I must have ovulated later (If I ovulated at all?) Day 14 had been stubbornly lodged in my head as ovulation day, but I suppose not.

Anyway - hope someone can make sense of this and help? Is it alot harder to get pregnant with irregular cycles?

Also, when my period comes, do I count back 14 days to find the day of ovulation?

Thanks

Hi there. the notion of mid-cycle (day 14) ovulation is a total myth. It varies from woman to woman and from cycle to cycle. Some people are very regular (and ov on day 12) some (myself included are not) and may have longer cycles.

For example, I tend to have a 35 day cycle and ovulate on day 21 or 22. I know this because I chart my temperature and otehr fertile signs and have used ovulation tests.

Yoiur cycle is split into two bits - follicular, before ovulation and Luteal, after ovulation. Luteal phase tends to remain constant (between 10 and 14 days is normal), but the follicular phase length may vary hence differing cycle lengths.

If you've recently had a cycle length of 38 days you potentially ovulated around day 24-28 so even if you were pregnant this cycle it is unlikely a test would be positive yet. In other words you are not "late".

I've found charting really helpful to work out where I am with this!

Thanks very much LadyGoneGaga. I'm allowing myself to be ever so slightly excited again as we did the deed on day 17 so potentially still possible (particularly if the little swimmers live for 3 days or so as I think they're supposed to?)

And now I'll know for next month to keep up the action for longer! DH will be thrilled (or exhausted!)

How long have you been TTC?

Ha ha that was the most short lived excitement as literally finished typing and period here!! Never mind - at least I know where I am now and cycle a little more normal for me at 31 days. Yippee looking forwards to this month now!!

However, it is quite possible to have periods without ovulation so charting itself is not infallible.

Please put out of your mind completely this idea that you ovulate 14 days before the start of your next period, it is completely false. Ovulation is not an exact science and a woman can ovulate earlier, later or not at all in any given cycle. So no, you do not count back 14 days to find the date of ovulation. Even normally fertile women have the occasional anovulatory cycle.

Consistently irregular cycles would make ovulation more problematic to detect and it is more likely that it is not happening regularly if at all.

A "normal" cycle is a cycle length of between 21 and 35 days or with less than 4 days of variation from month to month. If your cycles stay consistently at 38 days during the next 3-6 months I would then be looking at having blood tests done to see what your hormone levels are like.

Thanks Attila. Don't know if you saw my last post, but my period arrived today at 31 days. I don't think there's anything wrong. My DD is breastfeeding less and less and my period only came back 2 cycles ago, so everything just needs a little time to back to normal. Thanks for your other advice though. Shows me how little I know about my own body.