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!

Queen Fee... how did you 'night wean to 1 feed???!!!!' that sounds amazing. I am feeding constantly thru the night, it is a nightmare. She screams for an hour plus if i dont feed her...
Had some pink opaque CM ( sorry,,,, way tmi) what do you think that could be?

Just wanted to say hi to everyone on the new thread - I can't believe that the little old thread that I started got to nearly 1000 posts!

I'm just about 35 weeks pg now, still bf DD (22months) when she asks, which is sometimes not for 3 or 4 days, but has been every day for the last few as she has chickenpox :( I expect she'll be in 7th heaven when I have proper milk again though!

I'm not sure if it is what tipped the balance for me, but I read 'The Infertility Cure' and followed the advice given re herbal supplements and massage of accupressure points and was pregnant within the month after 7 months of trying.

Good luck to you all for 2011 - fingers crossed that you'll all have the news that you are looking for really soon!

Well small steps here but some progress. We're trying to night wean DS so while DH is off on his xmas hols he's been settling him at night, am hoping it might give me the hormonal boost I need! Gauntlet I've had this pink CM too, no idea what it could mean. I've also noticed an increase in the clear stuff too.
What odd things we can discuss on Mumsnet :)

Queenfee 7 years of pregnancy and BF!
You should feel very proud, that's an amazing effort and I think it illustrates just how unselfish you are. I also don't think that giving so much love and energy to your babies is a 'rod', helps turn them into loving, happy little humans surely?
Well, it certainly puts my 8 months into perspective. I should get my DH to read mumsnet a bit more so he realises that our DS is completely normal and doesn't have 'sleep issues'.
On that, I think my DS is too young for any kind of weaning apart from the feeds he drops naturally. I'm very keen for him to be comfortable enough to be apart from me (so I can go out during the day from time to time)and I want him to be ok when he goes to nursery in the mornings from Feb. I think he is going to be fine.
Of course I'd LOVE him to drop night feeds but it's nothing I want to encourage right now. I'd love to get preg though...
gauntlet and Poppet no idea what pink CM could mean, hopefully good things? Implantation? hmmmm....
yes we do ponder odd things on mumsnet.

Happy NY!

Soooo am not announcing this in real life as it's tempting fate but the Jay Gordon style night weaning is going incredibly well!! We've gone from 11 night wakings on the first night, to seven, then five, then three then last night nothing til 5.50 when he had his morning feed then slept in til 8.40!! We've had no more than 40 seconds of him crying at one time, my hubby's never even had to pick him up, just rolled him onto his side and shush patted! Really think DS was ready for it and his ability to self settle has improved so much since he turned one that it was well worth waiting for him! Am amazed we've come so far from a wee one who was king of colic and wouldn't go into his cot awake without utter hysterics. Am so proud of him. I haven't BF'd during the night since Xmas night and am really feeling more like my old self. DS is also now eating us out of house and home. Literally every hour and a half or so he demands more food. I'm wondering just how many calories he was stealing under cover of darkness :) Anyway fingers crossed both the increased sleep and hormonal boost will give us a happy new year. And wishing you all a very happy and baby bellied new year too!

poppet - how fantastic! What a wonderful thing to happen for NY's. Very good to hear that the method works. xxxxx

Yesterday I had brown CM, just a little bit of it. Looks like the start of AF....8dpo. Feel bloated, cranky, clumsy and over emotional too so all points to the end of the month for me. No more bleeding this morning though.
I am still hoping, although it feels a bit silly.

Happy New Year, everyone.

thegauntlet Has your DD just started daycare? My RL friends said their DCs had been sleeping badly since starting kindergarten, lasting a couple of months, I'm afraid Having said that my DD has also had a bad couple of months sleep-wise, just a bit later than her nursery-going friends, which I blame on my depo-withdrawal one day and the 18 month growth spurt the next.

When we nightweaned, I found that the only way DD wouldn't cry was if I held her upright on my shoulder. It took a long time to get her back to sleep the first night, but she woke later the next night and took less time to fall asleep. Within a week she was sleeping from 7 to 5, which was when it got light at the time. I guess the trick was to get her back to sleep without feeding. I would say, though, like poppet that she was ready to sleep through and just needed to break the habit of feeding back to sleep.

I'm on cd forty- something, loads of cm, but left my thermometer in Germany so haven't been updating ff and don't know if I might finally ov. Fingers crossed.

can i join you
smilingserenely 43 bf dd 9(nearly 10)months ttc#9 1st af this month

i know i'm mad but trying to conceive #9 first af returned 16 days ago never been so glad to see it as we can now really start trying to conceive .

been contemplating whether to take fenugreek or agnus -castus but decided against it as would not take any risks with dd4

would love an under 2 year gap (nov/dec 2011wou;d be lovely) between dc8 and dc9 but as i'm geriatric we'll just see what happens

Wow smilingserenely, you must be a busy lady!

I hope you don't mind me asking, have you managed to conceive previously whilst BF? Any words of wisdom????

Do you think an under 2 age gap is good (that's what I am hoping for)?

Best of luck!

martha yes most conceived while
breastfeeding (number2 to number 6 at between 9 months and year after previous dcs birth (but i was young). also fell pregnant when dc6 was 11 months and bf but m/c and then fell ill so long gap that is 5 years to dc7 (our little miracle). so it can happen .

dc8 breast feeding dc7 (who was a gannet took considerably longer . af didn't return till 15 /16 months post birth 6 months to conceive then m/c and a further 6 months post m/c to get a bfp with dc8 . a very frustrating and upsetting 6 months having previously just having to look at dh to fall pg.

no words of wisdom other than to try and relax and not stress too much( i really should take my own advice) as it probably will happen in it's own good time . please remind me i said this a year from now when i'm still ttc and stressing etc

dc8 has always been a light feeder sleeping through the night from birth so hoping that might help with ttc

martha should have added all mine bar dc7 an dc8 have an under 2 year gap that is beteen 17 and 21 months .personally i loved it although it is hard work tiring being pg with a litle one and managing 2 very little ones but is vey rewarding easier imho to have 2 in a double buggy than a 2.5 /3 year old walking and a single buggy . also they are great friends (most of the time ) and very little jealousy and you haven't forgotten the upheaval of a little one rather than having to readjust back to having a baby if there is a bigger gap iyswim

Happy New Year! May 2011 bring pregnancy and babies to our thread!

wow smilingserenely I have respect!!

marthamay could it be implantation spotting at 8DPO? Its a hope! We are close in our cycles, as I am around 6-8DPO (still not entirely sure when ovulation was!!)

Poppet45 great news about sleeping in the night! It feels so nice to get an almost full nights sleep!! I agree with you, when they are ready night weaning can be easy (well not easy, but you know what I mean hopefully - like silkenladder says its just about breaking the habit!), I've found this with my DD. Once she hit around 13 months she'd accept no milk at night. Its different for every babe though.

So, I don't know if I mentioned I was spending christmas in New York? Maybe on the old thread. We flew morning of 22nd and were due back evening of 27th but a certain blizzard that even made the news here I believe scuppered that! Stranded in NY for two days could be worse but I was literally stuck in the hotel room (for which we probably won't be reimbursed by the insurance as their 'delays dues to inclement weather' doesn't cover such costs Apparently all we need is £20 each every 12 hours ) as it was impossible to take a buggy on to the streets. Still, got home night of the 29th.

I'm 10 dpo today and tested this morning...

A very faint line on an ic made me crack open a first response early result, which also shows a very faint line. I'll keep testing over the following days as it's obviously so early. Talk about starting the new year as I mean to go on!

Manda, so excited for you!

Oh that is wonderful news.... and what a wonderful story of a New York adventure to tell the potential little bean. Fingers crossed!

wow manda thats great fingers crossed its sticky :)
Smiling hello you make me look more sane :) welcome and thanks for sharing your story it gives hope.
Night weaning ds has always just had 1 feed except when ill so no real input on my behalf. He is very attached to feeding to sleep so think it will be a hard habit to break. Have just bought him a bed so will get him used to that 1st before going down the dr jay route I think. He is next to his brother in a matching little bed and he seems really pleased with it :)
I prefered the 2year gap to 3 but my sister swears by 2.5!

Hey all -
manda Great news! Hope it is a sticky one. And yes, great story to tell in the future...

I'm now 11dpo - third day of faint brown spotting and a little pink when I wipe (sorry TMI). I still feel like AF is imminent but it is dragging it out a bit.

Pre baby this would never have happened, was always quite heavy to start BUT nothing has been quite 'normal' since baby, so who knows - could just be another wierdo cycle.

I'm trying not to get excited.
xxxx

was sensible not to get excited. AF has arrived. properly.

I'm out for this month and back to CD2 and 2nd month TTC(may as well start day 1 on the 1st of the year!)

I guess my LP is still quite short, only 11dpo. Could be worse and hopefully next month will be a little better and longer.

Oh well, more fun and games to come.
good luck everyonexxxx

Hi everyone, sorry I've been quiet over the last few days. Manda fingers crossed for you!
I did 3 more tests on Christmas eve and got a strong positive on all of them, so I think my BFP is for certain now. Phewee!
Now waiting until the doctors opens on Tuesday to make an appointment. It all seems a bit unreal still!
Will pop in from time to time to see how you're all getting on.

Well I'm in an utterly foul mood despite geting more sleep than I've had for about 16 months, and had a little streak of blood mixed in with mucus when I wiped two days ago, but nothing since, so maybe AF is wondering about making a reappearance? Am in a fugly mood anyway.

oh poppet, sounds bad, hope you cheer up soon.... foul mood here too, 'd' h is napping, as he has lots to do, and that is how he deals... hummm annoying, especially when i was up with pickle 4 times in the night. no af here, after a few days of pinky cm last week... now... to test or not to test?

That does sound annoying Gauntlet. Most of our 'discussions' are to do with tiredness.
Don't worry about me. Am taking my vile mood as a pretty good sign AF wise. Haven't seen or heard from her since October 2008 so when she does return i think I'll be pretty scary!

Hello, a graduate here, there have been so many new people, I hope someone will remember me!

Congratulations Pookamoo and Manda, great news :o Any ideas on EDDs?

I got my BFP a little over a month ago, so should be about 8ish weeks now. Had a bit of a worrying time yesterday, had a little bleed, but stopped very quickly and no pain or clots so am still trying to hope that everything is ok. For those who don't know me, I had some spotting just before BFP too which I then assumed was implantation bleed, so I guess it could follow that I would bleed again when AF would normally be due . GP is not worried but is organising for me to have an early scan so I can know for sure either way, so fingers crossed I won't be joining you again in the near future (in the nicest way possible! ).

As for tips, I'm not really sure, except to say that my AF came back at around 9 months when weaning really took off for DS and he started sleeping through on a more regular basis. I can't help with nightweaning I'm afraid as DS took that entirely into his own hands and just stopped waking, sorry .

Hope you are all well, had a good festive season and hope 2011 brings you all your much wanted BFPs :o

Sorry, just thought I should clarify from last post! By weaning, I meant the introduction of solids, rather than the reduction of milk! I did no reduction of feeds myself, just responded to what DS wanted and he chose food as the more appealing option at around 9 months. We still feed twice a day now, but I have had no part to play in that, that has been DS's choice. Just realised that my last post sounded like I started weaning him off bfing at 9 months when I did nothing of the sort! Hope I have clarified a bit! :o

congrats lifeofkate, brill- hope that early scan is very exciting, little wiggly jellybean...

We had the worst night ever- I am trying not to feed her in the night, gave up at 330 after 6 wakeups since 10.

she's at the childminder for a practice today, and im working at home

now... my question is...
SWI, the husband has taken it on board as a task, quite demeaning actually. I feel like a project...but of course I would rather this than no bonking. How does everyone else manage this?