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!

harmony, I have just popped back to say I thought that about my chances of twins- no genetics either side for twins, not over 35, not on fertility treatment, not black ethnic origin for me or DH. Ta Da, twins!!! so you never know!!!!

Good luck all

Hello everyone, I'm joining the thread as DH and I have just started TTC DC2.

DC1 is 7 months old. I'm EBF and have had no sign of my period returning, so no idea when/if we'll hit the jackpot. Hoping it's not too long!

Since putting DD on solids, I've noticed a reduction in my milk production and joy! sex is no longer as painful, so hoping these are all promising signs.

edeluna, snap! I dropped a daytime feed suddenly at 8 months at got AF back at 9, pregnant when DD was 10 months. Good luck! My twins are due beginning of April ish, only 15+4 so ages to go, but I hope you're as lucky as me. There've been loads of BFP's on this thread, so you're in the right place.

BF is killing me now though, I'm desperate to stop and a bit sad about it, but DD 13 1/2 months, so have given it a decent shot...

Well 9 days to go until AF is due. Hoping that we have been lucky this month. Had ovulation bleeding so am confident I ovulated this month where I hadn't previously. Just have to wait and see. My best friend has just revealed she is 14 weeks pregnant and I am so happy for her, but overly jealous that it isn't me.... Fingers crossed!!! x x x

Well, I was all set to phase out DS's single feed a day in readiness for next month's cycle - but no need as I got my BFP!!!

I can't quite believe it. I really hadn't felt any symptoms at all and didn't feel at all pregnant so it was a rather slow realisation that AF didn't seem to be putting in an appearance (I'd also done two tests a few days before I was due but were BFNs). Anyway, obviously I'm very excited although a bit scared of what's to come as well. I've had terrible pregnancies in the past and will now be dealing with that while working full time and looking after a toddler as well as DD(5). Short term pain for long term gain though!

Got AF almost within days of dropping the bf'ing to twice a day and BFP the first month after dropping to once a day - seems like my body reacted quite efficiently to the changes, but equally it could have all been coincidence. Best of luck to everyone. I look forward to hearing good news from you. x

Congratulations, needinstructions. That's great news! Hope you've been feeling well and everything goes smoothly.

congratulations needinstructions. My DS is now 12 months,and for last week he has dropped to just a bedtime feed from me, as i'm now giving him cows milk twice a day. Have done this in the hope of kick starting my body, if it doesn't work then i think i am going to have to stop BF altogether, as really want another DC asap. I feel bad for thinking this, but i keep trying to remind myself that i've already fed him longer than anyone i know has fed their DC's (and my mom and partners mom both think it's odd that i have fed him as long as i have?!) but i just ignore their remarks!! i'd happily keep feeding him, but come round to the idea that i don't want to continue if it is at the expense of another DC. Going to give it a month to see if dropping the feed last weekend does any good. Don't want to get my hopes up, but think it might be doing something as seem to have lots more CM and possibly EWCM today and a pain first thing in my side but don't want to get hopes up just yet, and besides which, even if i were to ovulate today, DP has been abroad all week, so has been no SWI, but i'd be happy to have a wasted cycle, as up to now, i've not had any cycles at all lol!!! Saving a fortune in tampons though, as my last AF was start of Feb 2010!!

Hope you are doing ok dream. When is your next scan? Have you told everyone now? (presuming bump size might have given away your secret by now!)

Hello all

Can I rejoin please? Hoping not to dash group morale too much but am on second early miscarraige in 10 weeks and could do with some cheering up - lovely to hear others doing well.

Am not too disheartened as I think at least we managed to actually conceive twice with very little SWI; so at least something is working. I'm wondering about luteal phase issues and whether I should start charting - have just started looking into it though and wonder whether maybe it will just resolve itself as my hormones sort themselves out: DD is now 1 and we are feeding only 2 or 3 times a day. Any ideas/thoughts would be most welcome.

Ah well; at least there's a large glass of wine on the horizon!

Hello all, can I join in? I've got DD who is 10 months and still BF first thing, to sleep for morning nap, sometimes to sleep for afternoon nap, in the evening and then usually 3 times in the night. Am I mad to think I could conceive while on that regime? I was on cerazette so no periods, and stopped that nearly 3 weeks ago, no AF yet. I really don't want a big gap and am hoping to get pregnant reasonably soon, but do I need to try to cut a feed or two? Saying that sounds so harsh, I want to try to balance DD's needs with our desire for another baby... oh I don't know! All advice welcome!

Sorry to read your news Goldrill, I've been there too, take your time and go easy on yourself. And definitely good that you've conceived easily, hopefully it'll happen again for you soon.

Well it looks like cutting down to just BF DS at bedtime has done the trick. Earlier this month i switched his morning and afternoon feeds to cow's milk, and yesterday i finally got my AF back. So fingers crossed my body is now fully functioning, ovulating and ready to grow me another DC!

Hello and welcome to goldrill and toomuchteaching.

Sorry to hear about your MC's goldrill, and hope that you get a sticky bean soon.

toomuchteaching everyones body is different, but based on my story, there is no way i would conceive if i was feeding my DS as much as you are feeding your DD. It has taken me dropping him down to one feed per 24 hours for my periods to return this week. My main question would be, why are you feeding her 3 times in the night? By 10 months she really shouldn't need feeding in the night, we were given advice by our hv's over this, and they told us if DS woke in the night, to not feed him, but for my DP to give him some water, and within a week he stopped waking up, as he must have figured out there was no point as wasn't going to get mommy or her milk. Also, we stopped the first thing in the morning feed months back, our routine is that as soon as DS wakes, he gets a solid breakfast, then milk before morning nap, milk before afternoon nap, and milk at bedtime. However for me, even getting down to 3 feeds a day wasn't enough for my AF to return, hence switching 2 of the 3 feeds to cow's milk as an experiment which has thankfully worked.

Goldrill I too had an early miscarriage, earlier this month :(

As you say though, at least it means we can get pregnant, even though it didn't stick. FX for this cycle....

Good luck to everyone else!! x x x

Hello all, can I join you please? I am in a very similar position to a few of you on here. My DD is 7 months and she has recently started sleeping through the night (I can't quite believe it and am expecting it to stop!). She was EBF until 6 months and I started giving her solids then.

I am 42 and really do want another baby before I get too old (I already have a dodgy hip and bad back from my last pregnancy...!). No AF and no sign of ovulating according to some kits I got off Amazon.

We are trying to have regular sex (sorry if TMI) but it's very difficult to get the energy or the desire for such shenanigans. DH of course has no such problem and is ready for action at a moment's notice

Wanted to wish everyone on here good luck too, hope some of it comes my way eventually!

Is this thread still going?

Am not really allowed to join (had to wean DD off the boob a few months back for medical reasons after 12m BF) but am yet to get my cycles back properly (and until I do, no TTC..).

I think I o'd exactly two weeks after my last BF (all the signs plus a temp rise: although my temping techniques are anything but reliable...) and got some light spotting two weeks after that (although nothing remotely like a proper period...). So got vv excited.

This month no thermal shift as yet, although I have been sick three times which I think messed things up. I've had two patches of EWCM though, so hopefully body is trying to o... Last week I was sure I was getting AF - pains, cramps, emotional etc, but then nothing...

Reading the thread through is very heartening - am quite an impatient person, so knowing I could have a wait ahead of me for regular cycles is tough but reassuring (that it will eventually happen!!).

Hi

Can I join? DD1 is 7 months and EBF then babyled weaning, but AF arrived at 3ms!

It took us 2.5 years and one round of unstimulated IUI to conceive DD1 but I hope now my cervix, womb etc done it all once we'll be flying. I'm 36, BTW, so not planning a big gap.

I just read zita west says period does not mean ov :( however I am getting (tmi alert!) Loads of EWCM so feel pretty confident I am. Anyone any experience of period without ov? I'm keen not to get into charting and temps, at least for a while, as it all got so stressful last time.

Hi soandso

You can definitely get periods without ovulating. However if you're having o signs, and fairly regular cycles, I think you can be fairly confident that you are o-ing.

I guess the other thing to watch is the length of your LP (can be a problem I think whilst BF) - just note the time between your O-signs and AF and make sure it's long enough (10/11 days+ ish).

I understand not wanting to temp though - am currently temping in secret after DH got fed up of me stressing over it all and it dictating my mood (plus me not really believing it always works: we conceived DD on a cycle which was apparently anovulatory according to my temps...). As an example - woke up this morning to a super low temp after three days of high temps following a steep fall in temps, O pain and EWCM which I'm desperately hoping was O. Really hoping it's just a blip - already on CD 30 and fed up of waiting for things to kick back in properly: never thought I'd be jealous of the teenagers I saw in the supermarket the other day buying tampons...

Good news here after EMC in November got pregnant again straight after. Have had scan which confirmed pregnancy and gave Due Date of 22/08/12. Am super excited but tired/nauseous. Definitely think that the only thing that was stopping me conceiving was the BF'ing. Goid luck everyone!

Congratulations harmonyb23. I hope everything goes well for you this time and that the nausea settles soon.

My LO will be 10 months old next week. Still BFing, about 2 or 3 times a day but much shorter feeds now (especially the afternoon feed, which she sometimes skips completely). Have been TTC for just over two months but no luck yet. Period still hasn't returned, but I think I had some significant CM over the past week, so maybe we're finally getting back into gear.

I hope everyone else is doing alright, having fun trying and not getting too frustrated by slow progress.

Hi I found this group via google and thought I'd pop in to say hi.
I'm still BFing and we want 2 close in age so have started NTNP/TTC.

My DD is nearly 8 months and no AF as yet. She's been mainly STTN since about 2 months old and, since starting solids at 5.5 months, has been LOVING her food. She quickly dropped to 4 boob feeds a day and seems to be dropping to 3 feeds a day as, in the last 4 days, she's had 3 days of 3 feeds.
I start back at work in 4 weeks. I'll be doing 3 days a week and, on those days, I'll only be feeding twice a day, though pumping one boob. I'm hoping that might help things along

I started using OPKs on 31/12/11 and had a positive a few days ago. Also had a bit of EWCM. I've only been temping for 2 days so have no idea if I did actually ovulate. We DTD a couple of times just in case
My skin isn't too great, which is what happened when I came off the pill shortly before conceiving DD.

Anyway good luck to everyone else in the same position and hope we all get a BFP soon!

x

Hello everyone and congratulations harmony!

Can't believe how quickly your little ones slept through the night (or how easily they're dropping breastfeeds). DD's only just started sleeping through now and was on 3/4 feeds/day before I had to stop!!

Update from me. Am now 13dpo. Had some bright red spotting yesterday (about half an hour's worth) and a tiny amount this morning but temp is still up, so am hoping that wasn't my attempt at a period... Hoping that my temp will drop over the next few days and I'll get a proper bleed.. Fingers crossed. In any event, am seeing my gynae on Friday to talk to him about it - am concerned I've got some sort of progesterone issue...

Well, hello AF! Just arrived this morning, a week short of DD turning 10 months. I don't think I've ever been so excited about it. Really hoping this means some success in the very near future. :)

Can I crash? DS is one at the end of the month, and we will be trying to conceive no 2 from march-ish. I had a brown ... Mess for want of a better word for a day or so last week, and a lot of cramping, so hoping my body is starting to work again. It's the first sign I've had of anything since I became pregnant with ds, and have had to cut down to 2 feeds a day to get to where I am now.

Desperately awaiting af now and hoping she turns up this month. Keep meaning to temp, but generally woken by ds and all thoughts go out the window. Do have cm, though, which is also encouraging. Have a cbfm to use when af shows; we will be trying shettles to try for a girl, would love a baby of either sex, but found myself buying a little pink babygro the other day ... Pma or what?!

congrats again harmony looks like we might be having DC's very close in age again, i got a BFP last week, now 6+5 with DC2, so think due 2-3 weeks after you! managed to conceive first month of trying, first cycle after AF finally returned in Nov (which for the newbies was nearly 13 months after DS was born, and think it was kick started into action by me swopping 2 of DS's 3 milk feeds a day from me to cows milk at the start of Nov - AF appeared 28th Nov)

I wish you all luck!

Well I've had spotting last night and today. I guess it could be AF or, as it's a week since a positive OPK, implantation?
Time will tell I guess.....

Congratulations on the BFP's! x

Anyone still around? I've been a longtime lurker on this thread and was hoping to see more good news! Congrats to all who got their BFPs! :)

DH and I would love to TTC but still no AF. DD just turned one on Friday and BFs first thing in the morning, last thing before bedtime and usually before her afternoon nap. She has slept from through the night from 7:30pm to 7:30am since she was 6mo, so it's clearly not the night feeds that are keeping AF away. I really don't want to stop BF because it's so lovely to have the cuddles with her, especially just after she's woken up in the morning.

Out of curiousity, does anyone else still feel a strong letdown each time you BF? Mine is still in full force but some of my other friends with DC of the same age don't feel the letdown anymore and AF has come back for them months ago. I wonder if it's related?

Hi anyone still about on this thread? Can I join you?
Ds3 is 8 months and after a lot of thought we've decided to try for no.4. I'm 33 so don't want to wait too long, though we're not officially trying yet iyswim!
Still feeding 3 times a day and a few times overnight as we're co-sleeping, so first task will be to get baby into own cot, then own room!! No AF yet, I did have a mirena put in at postnatal as we thought we were done but taken out just before Christmas as it was making me a bit mental!
I've had some more cm this week poss even ewcm so hopefully my ovaries are waking up again!
I still get strong let down too, funnily enough I never had this when feeding ds1 or 2.
I did also manage TTC when still feeding ds2 so I know it can be done!!