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.

[Lis999]

MrsHuxtable - Yes, I am using the smiley face OPKs. What's also weird about my chart is I am getting + OPKs spaced exactly 13 days apart. I am tempted to bring the chart to my OB, but I am worried that she will just brush it off because I am still breastfeeding. To answer your question, FF says that you should try to temp at the same time, even if it means that you won't have gotten the recommended 3 hours of sleep. I have just started setting my alarm to temp, and some nights I have only fallen back asleep for half an hour before temping.

[stuffthenonsense]

Hi, yes still night feeding. There are 24 months between dd1 and dd2. 15 months between dd2 and dd3. Ds1 was conceived when dd4 was 12pmths. She was cosleeping and feeding 2 hourly but despite that I got my bfp exactly 3 weeks after we decided to try for another. We've been so lucky I can't help thinking its got to run out soon. This is the first time I've tried temping and I wonder how it works with cosleeping and feeding.

[Jakeyblueblue]

Nonsense you are my hero! What an amazing story! I hope your good luck does continue and some of it rubs off on us less lucky ones!
I've tried temping but my temps were all over the place. Still co sleeping and bf 19 month ds several times during the night. Even when I did get three hours of unbroken sleep I sometimes forgot to take it as soon as I woke and this effects the results too so I've given up. I've also given up with opk's as I've had too many false positives. Just going on cm and nipple soreness now.

[Jakeyblueblue]

Also forgot to say I'm going to increase the b6 to 100mg this cycle as LP was only 10 days last cycle even with 50 mg. I was googling to check this was safe and found this.
community.babycentre.co.uk/post/a6848175/vitamin_b6_to_help_correct_luteal_phase_defect
Everything you need to know about b6 and bf.

[skylark101]

Hello there, wd love to join your thread. Im TTC no 2 and am 40. Our DD is 18 months and still BF. I BF her morning and evening and then sometimes in the day too at the weekend. I really dont want to stop as she is really attached and we both enjoy it. Plus special time of reconnection as I work outside home Mon-Fri.

But im worried that it will make no 2 harder to conceive or mean that it will take significantly longer... I dont have all that much time to play with given my age! I took 2-3 cycles to conceive no 1 aged 37 and was over the moon. On about cycle three now and impatient!! Wd welcome any thoughts/advice?

[MrsHuxtable]

Welcome skylark!
I'm on cycle 3 as well. How long have you been ttc already? Taking 2-3 cycles at 37 is amazing in my opinion so I wouldn't worry too much.

I'm new to all of this as well. Not even ttc yet, but only getting prepared for April.

Are your cycles regular? Do you know if you're ovulating already and if so do you have a decent luteal phase?
From what I understand that's the 2 big stumbling stones when ttc while breastfeeding. Not ovulating and having a short luteal phase. My problem is the luteal phase. I'm pretty sure I did ovulate last cycle but then AF arrived only 4-5 days later, so catastrophic in ttc terms.

My DD is only 12 months (on Sunday) so a bit younger than yours but I do get where you're coming from. I always thought I'd bfeed til 6 months at least and partly til 1 but the year mark has crept up on me and neither DD nor I are ready to stop. My aim is now to get to 18 months at least and 2 years would be my ultimate goal. Funny, I never saw myself as an extended breastfeeder but there you go.

Jakey How long does the luteal phase have to be? I always thought anything from 10 days was fine? You're scaring me a bit what with the pathetic excuse of a LP I have...Can different women get pregnant with different luteal phases? I now wish had charted pre DD, just to know what my cycles were like then. I always had 24-26 day cycles but idea when I ovulated. I did have a feeling that I was an early ovulator though, possibly day 10. Damn, that would have been a LP of 14 days minimum.

We need the luteal phase for the egg to implant, right? And once that's done, AF shouldn't turn up, also right? At what point can you get a positive pregnancy test? Is that only after implantation? Also do some eggs implant quicker than others? Sorry for all the questions. I'm trying to make sense of it.
I had a very positive preg test with DD on CD25. Shame I never tested before that as it could have given a clue about speed of implantation.

Nonsense Glad to hear, it is possible to get pregnant despite al the nightfeeding. Did you have any idea about the state of your cycle, like luteal phase?

What an epic post! I'm getting really impatient now with this 2 months wait I have. Had a tiny bit of cm today so hoping I'm ovulating earlier this months. If not, I'll be starting Agnus Castus next cycle.

[MrsHuxtable]

Lis, I just came across this on another thread. Maybe you already know this. A poster said that repeated LH surges within the same cycle without ovulation are called

luteinized unruptured follicle syndrome (LUFS).

Not sure if you want to google this or ask you OB about it. Just thought that info might be of use to you.

[MrsHuxtable]

Also, Lis, I'm not even sure if the info on that other thread is right so don't worry now and think you have LUFS. I just had to think of you when I read that post. Kind of regretting mentioning it now as I don't want to claim stuff I haven't actually reseached myself.

[Jakeyblueblue]

Welcome skylark! My advice would be to start charting / monitoring your fertile signs, check your LP is ok and confirm your ovulating. Maybe buy some opk's. Success ttc whilst bf seems to be luck of the draw. It has def made things harder for me but my best friend, who only has one tube, fell pregnant whilst bf her 12 month old first month of trying. You might be one of the lucky ones skylark, if you are ovulating and your LP is longer than 10 days, you should be fine.
Mrshuxtable, LP needs to be 10 days or more, however, most advice is that if your LP is less than 12 days and you have been dtd at the right time for several cycles with no success, it may be a LP issue and its worth getting it checked. Mine is 10 but I'm not Preg and have been ttc since may so I'm thinking its most probably that.
After ovulation, progesterone levels rise to enable the body to sustain a pregnancy.One of the jobs progesterone does is to maintain the uterine lining to encourage implantation. The reason LP is sometimes an issue when ttc whilst bf is that the prolactin released to make milk, inhibits progesterone. The levels of progesterone never rise enough thus meaning the lining is shed prematurely and AF arrives.
From what I' understand from dr google, it is possible to concieve with an LP of 10. There seems to plenty who have done it, however, implantation usually occurs between 7 to 12 days so you can see how this could be a problem if LP is only 10. Again it's luck of the draw. I think implantation is variable, it depends on where the egg and sperm were fertilised and all sorts of things. So I guess it's possible I have fertilised during this time but its been unable to implant in time or it hasnt implanted fully before my levels dropped.i tested the day AF was due with ds so not sure if LP was an issue then. Tried for 18 months for him and never charted etc so no idea if this is just me or directly related to bf.
hope that all made sense, be wary of the Angus castis, I've heard it can reduce milk supply. B6 can too but ds is 19 months so if it did dwindle then it wouldn't be a huge issue, but if you feeding an under one, that may not be ideal. :)

[MrsHuxtable]

Yes, Jakey, that makes sense. Thank you!

DD is 1 this week so not too tiny. The B6 so far hasn't made a difference to my milk supply. At least not that I noticed. But then I'm only in day 10 of taking it.
I read about the agnus castus and supply as well. Funnily enough, some people use it to increase supply so I think whether it increases/decreases or does nothing, might also be chance. If I was to start taking it and my supply did drop dramatically, I'd just hope that stopping it would enable me to increase my supply again.

Anyway, I will wait and see what this cycle brings.

Do you have an opinion on progesterone cream? A few people on the old threads seem to have used that succesfully...

[mamapants]

Hi everyone
Can I join you all? Have read bits of the thread to catch up and am getting to grips with all the alien abbreviations.
My little one is 6 and half months old now and me and DP are keen to have a small age gap. AF returned last month but don't know whether am ovulating or not. We were lucky enough to conceive first time so don't know anything about opk and temping etc. We are just going for the no protection route at the moment but not in a hurry just yet. Ds is still feeding every 3hrs on the day and 2 feeds at night at moment and am keen to contnue till he decides otherwise.
Good luck to everyone

[Lis999]

MrsHuxtable thank you for the info on LUFS. I googled it and I don't think it's what I have because apparently with LUFS it looks like you have ovulated (progesterone is produced) but in fact no egg is released. But for me although I am getting repeated LH surges I am not producing progesterone (no temp rise). Thank you for sharing that idea though, I am anxious to figure out what's going on with me!

[skylark101]

Welcome to Mamapants..! Well done for convincing your OH to try again soon.. That bit took me ages as my DP wanted 2years plus. But now Im worried it may be quite a bit longer!!

Mrs Huxtable, im not sure yet if Im ovulating and length of LP. AF came back about a year ago once I was no longer feeding so much through the night. My cycle is 28 or 29 days. Last time i just tried to be chill and not monitor anything. This time ive started looking out for CM but had slight thrush this month (sorry TMI) so checking for EWCM has not been very effective.

Jakey, to do charting/figure out ovulation do you need to do temps as well or can you do it from CM? I've got good book by Francesca Naish and printed off her charts, dont know if anyone else has come across her?

Any advice on figuring out whether you are ovulating once AF is back and lenght of LP wd be much appreciated.

[Lis999]

skylark101 the only way to know for sure if you are ovulating is to take your temp. I really like the fertilityfriend.com website for charting. It makes it so much easier.

[Lis999]

Well ladies I finally O'd on CD 46! I am 5 DPO... praying that I have a decent length LP. I am not going to be a happy camper after waiting all this time if I find out I have an LP defect too!

[MrsHuxtable]

I wish you luck with your luteal phase!

I'm on CD16 today and so far no +opk. Had loads of ewcm this morning though so am hoping it'll be earlier this months than last when I got that + on CD24.

I've not charted for a week now because I accidentialy merged 2 cycles on FF and made the first one disappear that way. Am feeling rather down about the whole ttc thing and feel like it's not gonna happen anyway with my crap LP. And we haven't even started yet.

It's my first day back at work today. Boak!

[Jakeyblueblue]

Hi all,
Welcome mama pants!
Skylark, you can't use cm to chart but you can use it along with charting or instead of. I saw a fertility nurse when ttc ds and she said to dtd whenever you see ewcm. I guess it depends on if your cm noticeably changes. Mine never used to before I had ds but now it noticeably changes. I usually get around 3 days of copious ewcm with ov and nipple pain on the 3 rd day and it then totally dries up on day 4, so I know I've ov'd. It won't tell you if you've def ov'd like charting but it will tell you when you are most fertile. Like the nurse said, its there for a reason.
Mrs huxtable, looks like we will be cycle buddies. I'm on cd 18. Have had ewcm for several days but no other fertile signs so am thinking I prob haven't ov'd. I've had cycles like this before where I've had ewcm around the right time, obviously my body is trying to ov, and then several days later I get it again with all the symptoms and def ov, giving me a very long cycle. I have been dtd daily though just in case. Dh being very amenable. Happy to dtd whenever as we were told yesterday that consultation begins next week with regards to our new terms and conditions and probably the end of nhs mat pay. I'm feeling very down about it too tbh. Luckily my grandad has left me a some money meaning I could survive on SMP but its not the point. So many other things I would have liked to do with our little nest egg other than pay the bills with it.
Have thought maybe I should just wean and try to get Preg before the consultation ends in 90 days. That's possibly 3 cycles but I'm just not prepared to do it. I've loved bf so much and do has ds and I don't want it to come to an end with tears and distress. He would be so upset if I just stopped now. Stuck between a rock and a hard place!
Damn this LP defect!!!!!! We must wage a war on this bloody thing and conquer it!!! I've increased b6 to 100mg so fingers crossed!!!

[MrsHuxtable]

Oh Jackey, I really really hope you conceive this cycle and you won't have to choose between stopping breastfeeding and another baby. I really dread getting to that point myself in the summer possibly. :(

What are the new rules for your ML? Will you still be eligible for it as long as you conceive within the next 3 months?

CD 17 and tons of ewcm today. Faint line on my opk today so am hoping it will turn positive tomorrow or the day after. That would be 5 days earlier than last cycle. Of course it's all pure speculation. Had my first day back at work yesterday and am even more determined now that DC2 needs to arrive within the next year.

We're almost at the end of this thread and I have decided that the next one will be our lucky one. We're all going to get our BFP and healthy, happy babies are going to follow!

[Jakeyblueblue]

I'm a Macmillan nurse and work at a hospice that was nhs run. Last year we left the nhs ( they didn't want us anymore) and we are now a stand alone charity. We were initially transferred on same nhs terms and conditions which was 8 weeks full pay, 16 weeks half pay plus SMP and then 12 weeks SMP. Terms and conditions were only guaranteed for 2 years though and looks like they are going to change it to basic SMP for the duration. Its a big deal for us because I'm the biggest earner!
I hope your right about the next thread being the lucky one!! Looks like we may be testing around the same time so hope this is our month :)

[MrsHuxtable]

Tadaa! CD 18 today and got a +OPK. Did a cheapie in the morning with a faint line but the amount of ewcm I've been having was crazy so did a CB digital one at lunchtime and hey presto, there was the smiley face. Did another cheapo after work and I've never had such a strong line before. Felt my cervix at all that info and it's VERY open.
That all sounds good, doesn't it? I'm not temping at the moment so no sure way of knowing if I'm actually ovulating but the signs are surely there, no?
Oh, and did I mention the sore nipples?
Anyway, assuming that I do actually ovulate, I got my + 6 days earlier than last cycle so unless this one is really short, it would point to a better luteal phase, yes?

That really sucks about your work, Jakey, but I guess it's nothing you can change. And don't forget, the next thread will be our lucky one. No arguments! I'm hoping for you that it's your months. It won't be mine as we're only ttc from mid April, so 2 more months of preparations.
Have you ovulated yet?

Anyway, I'm off to bed now. I'm working all day tomorrow. Bah!

[Jakeyblueblue]

How weird!! I ov'd yesterday too! I've given up on opk's and just go with cm and ov pain. Def yesterday and all dried up today. Been dtd everyday so hoping we've done enough.
Hopefully you will have a better LP mrs huxtable, although in my experience, my LP has remained the same whether I ov'd earlier or later. One cycle I ov'd dead on cd14 and got AF cd24! The following cycle ov'd day 31 and AF day 41. Hope it isn't like this for you!!
I've actually has less troublesome ov symptoms this cycle, nipples much less sore than usual so I'm hoping that the extra b6 is working as its supposed to regulate all the hormones so you don't get extreme symptoms.
Well I for one am glad I've ov'd as was getting very bored with the daily shagging! Least I can have a rest for a few days!!!

[MeeWhoo]

Hello everyone and sorry for butting in, I haven't read the whole thread but I wanted to ask you all a question.
i have a 16 mo ds who is still very much into his milk. I went to the gyne for a check up and he said it's best not to start ttcing until you've had 3 or 4 regular cycles "for your body to get back into its rhythm and to be able to date the pregnancy accurately". As far as I am concerned I will be happy for pregnancy to be dated according to scans if needs be, but I would like to know if there really is a reason, hormonal or otherwise, why it would be better to get back to a regular cycle before ttcing.
Thanks in advance and sorry for intruding!

[Lis999]

Well AF came at 8 DPO so it looks like I do have an LP defect. Boooo! How is everyone else doing?

[CorporeSarnie]

Hi all, no idea what is going on here... opks all -ve, altho haven't been that consistent in doing them, cm not very evident, temps have gone up last few days (but again, haven't been that good at timing or remembering some days). Not much sex either with late nights working and feeding/catching up after everyone being ill and DD hatching 4 teeth this week (ouch).
So waiting for af at cd 27 tomorrow.
MeWhoo suspect it is partly due to stuff like this - need a couple of clear cycles so that you know when to initially date pregnancy from (esp as NT is only useful/predictive from 11-13wks).

[CorporeSarnie]

sorry lis, maybe try the b6 this month & see if that helps?