The All New TTC whilst Breastfeeding Support Thread

[haloflo]

Have a breastfed baby or toddler? Why not try for another one?! Who needs sleep anyway?

Come join us whether you are waiting for your first period in months or are are a few months into trying.

Hi all, my lb is a boobmonster, feeds all night long and lots during the day. he is 16 months old. On Saturday I got my first pp AF! I am so excited, now I just need to send her away again. With the amount of feeds I thought it would never happen. Let project baby begin. who knows when AF will turn up next though. I have inherited a CBFM, anyone else used one?
tizzy - I am so sorry to read your update, u are being incredible positive. sending hugs and love. xxx

Oh no tizzy that's awful. Hope you are ok!
Welcome to all the new faces this ttc whist bf is a mine field and I think we've all learnt that anything can happen!
I'm now on cd 17. Been dtd loads. Not sure if I've ov!d. Have had ewcm for a week now and today and yesterday I've got spots and awfully sore nips. Had ov pain end of last week so am thinking I have, but the ewcm is throwing me. Oh well am carrying on with the shagging just in case.
Think I need to try temping although I never get 3 hrs of unbroken sleep either! Ds was getting a bit better but his molars have put pay to that

....... And the desperate symptom spotting begins. Woke at 5.30 feeling horribly sick.

I'm so sorry Tizzy. Can't imagine how tough that would have been.

I'm on 4 dpo ish now and going to try not to symptom spot after cycles where my boobs grew massive and was really nauseous turned put to be nothing at all :( tempted to have DH hide the tests too...

I'm sorry to hear your news Tizzy.
It's such an up and down on this thread but I guess that comes with the territory of ttc while breastfeeding.

I've moved a step in the right direction since my last post as my first AF has finally arrived 9 months pp. For my standards, it's the period from hell. On day 3 now and it's quite strong when before DD my periods where super light. Not sure if that's a good thing. I hope this is not just a one off (can that happen?) and AF is back for good.

We're not ttcing before the new year anyway so I ordered some ovulation sticks to see what the score is. I noticed a lot of cm a week or two ago so suspect that even if I do ovulate, my luteal phase is too short. If I find this to be the case, I shall see what to do next.

Hmmpfff.

tizzy sorry about the bad news. I too am trying to reconcile to the idea that DD might be an only child. I keep reminding myself of friends, families and colleagues who only have one, and how they seem happy and at ease with the fact. (I didn't ask why they have only one. It might be of reasons they aren't comfortable to share. Though I learned recently an uncle and my ILs both suffer from secondary infertility).

jakey good luck. I have imaginary symptoms every month!

Onetoddlingterror - hugs. It's tough eh. Thanks all for commiserations x

Oh dear :( Commiserations and un-mumsnetty hugs all round.

I think DD might be an only child as well - which would be a shame for our nuclear family, but also the wider family as my sibling wont have children due to his mental health, and DP's sibling can't have children - and I'm nearly 40!

I always wanted a large family, but XH was an arse and infertile (and knew it but didn't tell me despite TTC for 6 years unsuccessfully) and it took me a while to find a better man... :(

rainbows in 38 so I'm in the same boat of feeling a bit old

AF has just left so I'm starting to feel hopeful for the new month. (AF is so cruel isn't it)? I haven't given up yet and am still boxing baby clothes up to store in the loft.

And your XH is most definitely an arse, rainbows. How can he put you through ttc for 6 years and not say a word!

I think he was actually in denial - had growth hormone deficiency as a child, and the treatment made him sterile :(

My nipples are agony
Think I probably ov'd yesterday but can't be sure as haven't been opk ing. Ewcm seems to have dried up and had cramps all day.
Why do they hurt so much? I know they can sore around ovulation but I've never had anything like this

Oh I'm so glad I've found this thread. Please expect lots of stoopid questions.

I am currently bfing my 17mo DS. He feeds loads. All bloody night. AF returned when he was 11mo and this is cycle %231 of ttc dc2. AF due tomorrow but I feel pre-menstrual and have POAS'd already (BFN) so not this round.

This morning I educated myself about luteal phases. Have no idea when/if I ovulated and am now convinced I won't be fertile while DS is feeding this much. DH think we should wean. I don't really want to, as I know it'll break DS's heart.

So, it's nice to meet y'all.

Cycle number 1, not 231. That would make me 51 and DS 21, which might explain the lack of baby number 2 in itself.

Welcome fredkiller, you don't have to completely wean, but gradually cut down on the number of feeds. It might not be scientific, but there is agreement that feeding a lot will affect your ovulation, etc, etc. But technically, if you have AF, you should be ovulating! I think the OPK only tells you about the LH level, and is not an indication of your ovulation. And the only way to chart ovulation is via basal temperature. That BBT is only good after 3 hours of sleep is a bummer because even if your LO is night weaned, there's no guarantee you get 3 solid hours of beauty sleep! (I don't)! And that when I woke up, it's usually to DD crying, and the last thing on my mind would be to take my temp while hearing her crying away.

Have you read the tutorial on fertility friend? I found it very good.

hmmmwell dtd a bit, no period yet and no sign, 7.5mo dropped feeds significantly during the day and varies at nights - sometimes a couple of quick feeds, sometimes feels like she's on me all night...

no pregnancy symptoms at all - fantasising I might be pregnant and having one of those don't-notice-it pregnancies unlikely

Thanks OneLittleToddler. I conceived DS very quickly so I didn't really look into anything about fertility. This is all new territory for me. Not that we've been trying long at all, I'm just anticipating problems because of all the bf. Will check out fertility friend.

DS does most of his feeding at night, and we've started thinking that night weaning might be necessary - for other reasons too. I just think it'll be horrid for all concerned, so any advice is welcome.

Quick Q - before DS, my periods were pretty painful. They haven't been painful at all since they returned post-birth. They are heavier though. Do you think these means anything? Or have my pain sensors just been hardened by labour?!

ooo i hope that goes for me too fred! pre pregnancy periods = hell. mind you, i was unzipped so no idea about labour

fredkiller I night weaned DD at 15mo using Dr Jay Gordon's method. But she isn't really a boob monster so it all went really easily. Basically she was just as happy with a cuddle as with a feed. None of the LO getting angry that Gordon warned about. She still doesn't sleep through every night however. For example last week she probably didn't sleep through for half the week. She can't resettle unless she came into our bed. I think she is teething very badly since she is also dribbling all the time.

Hi fred
We night weaned at 13 months and was the best thing all round and after still getting up to her 4 or 5 times up til then I shouldn't feel guilty to say that she sleeps really! (But I do, sorry to those who don't have LOs STTN)

Do you co sleep? We don't so was easy for DH to go instead of me for a a while and along with me reducing the length of night feeds right down that did the trick.

I'm in the 2ww now and have super constant temps post ovulation this month. Going to stop temping for the month and try not to obsess...

Yes, I remember reading that when DS was about 6mo and I was stressing that he wasn't sleeping through yet.

It's funny that the longer it's gone on, the lower my expectations of his sleep patterns are! I blame it on the rest of my NCT group all having bloody angel babies who slept through from day dot.

Anyway, I remember it seemed quite gentle, so will revisit. DH is keen just to do all the resettling and co-sleeping himself (i currently join ds on his floor mattress as and when he wakes). But he has a horrid cold right now, and then it'll be his teeth I expect. There is always something, huh?!

My 16 month old feeds MANY times at night still so we cosleep. I tried Dr Gordon's methods but wimped out as she got super upset... :(

I'm tracking BBT and despite DD feeding at least every 2 hours day and night, I reckon I've ovulated this month - and this is just after my first period! So you may not have to wean?

Ooh that's hopeful Rainbow. Fingers crossed for you!

Have decided to have just one full cycle of constant shagging next month, before I send myself slowly mad by going down the OPK route. We only decided to ttc halfway through my most fertile window so we may have missed the boat this month.

Is anyone else shit scared of having a baby and a toddler? When I think about it rationally I think "hell, no" but the biological urge just to have another squidglet is so strong...

yes fred, bigtime - get jealous when other people have babies, yet think i'm effing insane to want such a small gap!?

FredKiller the night weaning definitely improved DD's sleep. She was up only 1-2 times a night so it wasn't as bad as some of your LOs. But once night weaned, she mostly sleeps through. The reason I mentioned the relapsed is to not give you false hope! They do sometimes struggle to sleep again, because of teething, cold, nightmares.

We used to co-sleep, and that's what we do now on bad nights. Basically if she wakes at night and we can't settle her easily in her cot, she comes into our big bed.