TTC while breastfeeding - Part 2

[silkenladder]

This is the place to come to share the frustrations of ttc while still nursing.

Many of us are sleep-deprived, some of us don't even know if we're ovulating and none of us know whether taking agnus castus is a good idea or not. We all just want to do the best by the children we already have, but would really like to be pregnant again. Quickly.

Part 1 had plenty of graduates . Here's hoping Part 2 will be equally successful and supportive!

oh Isla, sorry to hear that.

And yes, being told what's going to happen-how much easier would it make things?! 'Oh, so it'll take a year to conceive? -I think I might look into changing jobs then', 'next month? Marvellous, don't have to stress about the feeding, maybe I'll postpone our holiday til after the nauseous period'...

Same as you I think whatever age gap it ends up being will have it's advantages but the waiting and not knowing and hoping and waiting some more is really tough stuff.

Hello bird! we are in similar positions - dd is 10.5mo,no af and on 5-7 feeds a day, including 2 or 3 at night.

Well af due today by my cycles from 8 yrs ago...
So fmu and I am off to poas...

waiting with baited breath!!!!

Well there is a very faint line!
Dh can see it so I am not imagining it..
However I wont be convinced till I get a darker line as it is very faint!
Feel very excited that finally after 18 months of trying we may have done it!

woo! fingers very crossed for it being darker v soon!

wow!! fingers crossed QueenFee!!

Good luck QueenFee! excited for you

Wooooooo!!! How exciting. Hope you get that darker line soon

They say a line is a line is a line, so congratulations!

One AF, so success 2nd (possibly 1st) cycle. You and your DH must be a pretty fertile combination .

Can I join in? I've been lurking for a while so have finally registered so I can add my tuppence worth. (Give me time while I get used to all the abbreviations!)

My DS is 10 months old and has about 3-4 BFs a day. He's sleeping through most nights but sometimes gets a night feed if he wakes, like last night because he was teething.

We stopped using Cerazette in the middle of April and I got my first period at the end of May. I've not tried checking my temperatures or using OPKs, but we've just been getting on with things every couple of days. I'm trying to be chilled about things and trying not to concentrate on getting pregnant, but I am failing a little.

Thanks everyone! Had a darker line this morning :)

Can anyone remember if there was a thread for graduates of this thread?

Hi Bartlet and good luck. I don't know how anyone really manages to stay chilled whilst ttc - there's so much bloody waiting involved!

That's great Queen; really pleased for you. And somehow helps to feel things are happening on the thread even if nothing much happening for me yet!

Anyone else waiting for reappearance of AF and managing to symptom-spot possible hormonal changes in everything?! I notice anything I attribute it to hormones - snappiness, cheerfulness, increased libido, decreased libido, headaches, stomachaches, completely random aches, etc etc...

I need to distract myself I think...

Hi Bartlet and good luck!

QF there is a thread in Breast and Bottle Feeding I think, though I don't know how many familiar faces you'll find on there. I went snooping looking on the ante-natal clubs a while back trying to see how some of the graduates were doing, but I think second (and fourth) timers are probably less obsessed once they actually are pg and don't post as much. Hope everything goes well for you .

Mackrel I sooo do that, too.

Knee pain -must be hormonal.
Greasy hair - def a good sign.
Non-greasy hair - must be other hormones!

Hi. Can I join in too? I've been lurking for a while, so feel like I know a bit about you all already!

I am breastfeeding my 5 month old DS (as we speak!).

I had my first AF 20th May. My DP works away so we DTD as much as possible when he's around!

I have no idea how long my cycles are as I was on pill/injection before DS (pregnant before 1st AF!). But think I've still got a week or so before AF due.

I'm trying not to get my hopes up as it's early days...but as you've all said, it's hard not to!

Here's hoping for lots more BFPs soon!

welcome duke and Bartlet, we need some more on the thread!! Good luck xx

QueenFee great to see a longtime poster with a BFP - def overdue. Many congrats!!

silken I'm still feeding DD once a day now. I don't think the breastfeeding is making much difference to the TTC - my cycles seem regular - so we're not going to give it up yet. Will see how it goes. How are you doing?

SOOO hear you on the symptom spotting, trying not to obsess thing. I'm going to try and chill out abit about it now as i've been at this for 6 months and each cycle is such a rollercoaster I need to step back a bit as its taking over too much. Sorry to be on a bit of a downer, i'm getting fed up with this now!!

hey duke bartlet and bird. :) good luck to you all.

cycle 9 is a long one, ov a bit delayed, i thought cd19, FF reckons 18 making me 3dpo. i was a bit nervous about SWI while visiting my parents, didn't realise it was stressful enough to delay ov!

we're still on about 2-3 feeds a day. DS has a cold again though so might increase a bit.

good to hear about dark line queen :)

Isla it seems impossible not to get down about ttc, doesn't it?

I'm also down to one feed a day, though I didn't feed at all three days this week due to working in the evening. I think I may have ov'd last Sunday, had ewcm and high cervix, plus a temp spike the next day. My temps since then have been high-ish, but FF isn't convinced, maybe because I didn't record many temps before ov this cycle. In any case, I think I may have started spotting today, which wouldn't make for a great luteal phase.

Welcome, duke. It's good to see the thread filling up again. You mention the injection, were you on depo? Did you go straight onto the pill after? I'd love to hear a positive experience!

Seem to have missed bird. Sorry!

Hello and good luck!

Hi Silken.

I meant the implant, the one that stays in your arm. I was on the pill, then had implant. Had it out, had partial line on OPK then two weeks later got BFP! I guess the timing was right! Are you/were you on depo then? Does it work the same as implant?

So I've never charted before. Which makes any kind of predictions hard! I have BBT thermometer, but as I am up every 3/4 hours in the night not sure if it will work. Can anyone advise?

I've been looking at this:

www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/fertility.html

Sorry I can't do proper link on phone.

It's quite interesting to see some proper facts, but not too positive news!

Thanks for making me feel welcome!

Oh, don't get me started on depo. Except if you have any friends on it, tell them to come off it now if they ever want kids.

With the implant, they take it out and the hormones are gone very quickly, like with the pill. With depo, they inject you with a huge dose of fake progesterone which has to last for at least 12 weeks. Some women get pregnant after 14 weeks (but some women get pg on the pill), afaik depo is 100% effective during the first 12 weeks. I now know that it's normal for it to take up to 2 years to get pg after coming off depo, what I don't know is whether the hormones stay in some women's systems for that long, or whether it is just a hormonal imbalance which causes infertility after the depo is out. Some drs recommend going on the pill for a couple of months to kick-start things, that would back up the latter theory.

Sorry, this isn't really the place for that, but I'm still very angry that depo was recommended to me. The dr who gave it to me was diagnosed with bowel cancer and stopped working, so I wasn't able to discuss it further with her. She was wonderful throughout my pregnancy and I really trusted her judgement .

I just wish I had been told the basics of FAM instead. I know now I wasn't anywhere near fertile at the time. Aargh!

How shit is that? You're right, all we want are the facts!

I have a friend who has just come off the injection to the pill in readiness for TTC in June 2012, after their wedding. Seems that even that might not be long enough!

Who knows 2 years in advance that they will want children?

Grr!

How long have you been TTC this time? I'm sure one of those little blighters will get through and do the business! I keep telling myself we only need one!

Keep your chin up.

Hi duke - and thanks for that link; the stats are interesting. Although as you say not particularly positive - I seem to be accidentally doing everything possible to delay fertility returning!

silken - I never knew that about the injection and can't believe they don't explain that clearly before letting you accept it. I actually think the advice is pretty shit with contraception in general. I've only ever been on the pill but no dr has ever suggested any alternative or really discussed side effects - I'm sure microgynon contributed to depression in my early 20s but I only twigged because after 18mo on it I came off and suddenly my moods felt so much more balanced and I stopped crying all the bloody time. My sister had a similar reaction but thankfully picked it up abit quicker.

I think because contraception is so commonplace it's just an easy no-thought thing for drs to hand out, but hormones are so powerful and can affect you in so many ways it really does deserve a bit more care.

We're having a funny week sleepwise - dd suddenly not sleepy at bedtime, and after some epic bedtime sessions she's ended up staying awake til 9/10/11. Not great, but she did do 8hrs straight once finally down last night so that was pretty exciting. I know I shouldn't get my hopes up but starting to wonder if night feeds might be on their way out...

Remember me, anyone? Oh, wait, I was still wearing my halloween name of mandahugnkill for some of the time, I think...

Anyway, got my bfp n new years day after first cycle trying. Unfortunately, that ended quite traumatically as a MMC at 16+5. Was induced april 1st (if only it were an april fools) and had an emerency erpc after delivery when things didn't go to, uh, plan.

This month, we've decided to try again. Absolutely shitting it that it'll happen quickly again - also shitting it that it'll never happen again! Talk about your lose-lose

So, I'm still bf'ing DS2. Currently CD12 with no sign of O yet!