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.

[Jakeyblueblue]

Thinkingof4, whatever you have done, I have obviously done with ds too! He's the same. He has no interest in boob during the day but still feeds loads over night! Am thinking its related to co sleeping too. My mum told me yesterday that I was a total slave to him!
As for my baby making progress, I am on about cd20 and still no positive opk. Am sure I have ovulated though as have pmt. think my body has gone to pot as now had two days of random ewcm. Bit of a bummer as my husband is away for two nights..... Just sods law!

[specialhero]

well, last month I gave up taking temps and remembered to use opk exactly twice and
missed any ovulation

meanwhile, I accidentally bought the wrong type of opk's on amazon, the ones you need to use with the expensive machine which i do not have. If anyone here does use one and would like a free shrink wrapped box of tests let me know

good luck and all..

[Jakeyblueblue]

Well mummy's, looks like I can't tell when I am ovulating after all! Got first positive opk this am on cd21. Def out for this cycle as husband been away so no dtd for the past few days. Pleased everything's working though. Will now anxiously await AF, hoping its a decent number of days away! have heard bf whilst ttc can make the LP very short
Oh well Onward!!!

[Thinkingof4]

Glad you got positive opk jakey even if it is a week later than you expected.
Ds3 had a dreadful night last night, waking every hour. I was working today so dh got up in night and took him downstairs to sleep in buggy where he did sleep a bit. Seemed happy as larry this morning so I have no idea what that was about! Think I'll need to head back to the sleep forum for some ideas. Can't cope with this little sleep and work On the other hand ds3 has started giving me the loveliest kisses which melt my heart so I shouldn't complain really!!

[BR44]

Hello all . I've been away for a week so just checking in!

[Thinkingof4]

Bumping for katiegolightly

Hi br44
how are things with you? Anyone planning to poas anytime soon?

[TizzyNo1]

Thinkingof4 love POAS! chuckle!

Having a crap week :(. I am ovulating (hurrah!) and have EWCM, but am also having a MAJOR wobble about potentially tandem feeding. As y'all know, my DS is BOOOBY and is deffo not ready to wean. This week he's teething and has a v slight snotty nose and has been glued to me - I'm not joking, he's taken to jumping on me when I get dressed and the boobs are out and running around the house cuddling my bra, sniffing it and saying 'hhhmm, smells nice'! hilarious, and so nice but also making me anxious about (a) feeding through pregnancy and (b) feeding after pregnancy. I'm caught - don't want to wait til too much older for all the usual reasons, but am afraid that if DS maintains such booby enthusiasm I won't be able to handle both him and a newborn. As I said before, he's no longer co-sleeping and everything I read about tandemming says co-sleeping is a must (not really doable for us). Plus, I have no support other than DH and he'll be at work 7-7. My mum isn't local and helps out a couple of days a week anyway but is only around a couple of hours at a time. Sorry for the moan, but am feeling a bit at sea with this...should I wait til DS is older (currently almost 21 months)? should I find out about hiring help in the future (anyone used a Mother's Help? apparently good for lonely old outcasts like me and DH ;))...anyone felt similar and overcome it?? Aargh!

[Thinkingof4]

Hi tizzy good news about the ewcm! Re tandem feeding, bear in mind that if you get pregnant now baby won't arrive for another 9-10 months so your ds will be almost a year older. I imagine he'll be much less of a boob monster by then as he'll be much more interested in playing / climbing / causing mischief so I honestly wouldn't worry about delaying things any longer. He'll be a different boy by then! (and you'll be looking back to now wistfully thinking how lovely it was when he was a boob monster

[Jakeyblueblue]

Tizzy, I have to admit that I have been having a few similar wobbles. Ds isn't a boob monster in the day but is very much so at night. He goes all day now but still ferrets around looking for boobs several times in the night, if not 2-3 hrly. We co sleep so that's fine but I can only imagine what it would be like with an Velcro newborn too! Having said that, I think thinkingof4 is prob right. By the time we actually catch and then have 9 months of being pregnant, anything could happen! I am kind of banking on ds not loving the colostrum and self weaning whilst I'm preggers. If not, then tandem nursing it is!
I'm not considering POAS this month as hubby was away when I finally ovulated so know I am out of the game! Still no AF though so hoping this is a good sign of a decent LP. Boy, I have got sore nipples though! Seemed to have been sore since ovulation! Not good! On the plus side though, I have received my lovely thermometer and sparkly new charts! Next month I mean business!

[TizzyNo1]

Thanks all! Feeling bit better today, sleep helped a little bit. Feel v up n down / yes n no, frustrating but I think it's natural, hearing what you've all said so much appreciated grin

[BR44]

Hello all. I am having my own mini boob drama. The boy has gone off milk. Not sure if he's self-weaning (too astonishing to contemplate seriously) or has a mysterious problem with his mouth, it's all a bit baffling. Last night he went to sleep without taking a drop of milk for the first time in his whole 22 months. I have started a thread in Breast and Bottle Feeding if anyone's interested in the details!

Back on subject, after having no luck last month I am now on CD16 and planning to start the OV tests today.

Glad to hear you're feeling a bit less down today tizzy. I complete understand your wobbles. A friend of mine is BF her lovely new 3-week old at the moment and it has really reminded me what bloody hard work it is.

Good morning to Jakey and Thinkingof4 too. Hope you are all well and fully supplied with sticks of various kinds for use soon

[BR44]

Think I figured out how to link to the other thread...

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/breast_and_bottle_feeding/1521863-I-think-my-DS-has-self-weaned-but-Im-too-astonished-to-be-sure-Words-of-experience-please

[totallynaive]

Hi. I'm new and really don't know whether to stop bfing entirely as I'm desperate to conceive a second time and my baby boob monster is nearly 17 ms. We are down to one feed at bedtime, and ds is very distressed on several occasions during the day because of this, and has been since I started cutting out feeds. He also cries a lot at 5am (we co-sleep) and usually bats the substitute milk away and eventually settles. I've had periods for the past 3 months but imagined I wasn't actually ovulating because my cycles were too long: 42 days at first, but now my cycle seems to be normalising, as within 2 months it's down to 34. Am I right to put my ds through this hell, given that I may be able to conceive anyway?

I know the answer is: get a clearblue kit. I have one now, but it's probably too late in my cycle to tell if I've ovulated this time. DP says: no more boob by 2 weeks' time. The rationale is that I'm 43 so why make it even 1% harder?

Grateful for any similar experiences as well as technical advice or moral support...

[Jakeyblueblue]

Welcome totallynaive! What a dilemma! Although I suspect it's being made worse by dp having an opinion on it too! I'm no expert and someone may correct me otherwise, but I don't think long cycles are too much of a problem as long as you are ovulating. Short cycles or cycles where period comes very quickly after ovulation are a problem but not the other way round. I think you need to check if you are ovulating or not. You don't need the clear blue kit, just order the Cheapies off e bay and a thermometer. I think I paid 6 quid for 40 opk and 10 hpt and 3 quid for the thermometer. As long as you are ovulating and period comes more than 10- 12 days after that, you should be able to conceive without weaning totally. Long cycles are common in breastfeeding as the hormones delay ovulation so it often happens later in the cycle, thus the extra length. It sounds like the boob monster isn't ready to drop that feed yet so I wouldn't unless I hag to. If you aren't ovulating then maybe consider it, but find out first!
Br44, I did see your post last night! Sounds odd! Sounds like he's just happy without it. I know the experts say self weaning is supposed to be gradual but I know loads of people whose toddlers just stopped one day. Only time will tell! Good news though, if he has, I know it's sad but you'll have two unclaimed boobs again ready for the next one!

[Thinkingof4]

Hi totallynaive
I agree with jakey, regular periods generally means you are ovulating so no pressure to stop feeding really. I previously got pg while bf ds2, he was on 1 feed a day. Ds3 is still on a few (!)feeds overnight and I'm not pg yet but definitely ovulating. And not really TTC properly yet anyway iyswim
br44 any update on ds? Has he fed tonight or still on strike?
tizzy hope you are still feeling more positive, sleep deprivation can really bring you down

Well I was going for bad mummy of the year yesterday after ds3 somehow tipped his wee trike and hit the ground hard with his face I was right beside him but couldn't catch him. Dh then arrived home to find us both in tears and I then proceeded to blame dh for the whole thing for being late home
Bad wife of the year too! Ds3 had a HUGE bump on his forehead and a burst lip, but after a cold compress and lots of arnica cream you can hardly see the bump today, and his lip is fine. Amazing how fast they heal. I did apologise to dh as well, poor man. I think I must be premenstrual

[totallynaive]

Thanks for your replies jakey and Thinkingof4. Frantically overdeducing from the fact that I was rather flushed just after Day 14, I think I probably did ovulate this cycle then - so fingers crossed I'll be able to start with my OPK in just over a week anyway.

I am so grateful for the point that bfing hormones delay ovulation to later in the cycle. Just hoping my womb lining is ok as my periods used to be really heavy and now seem quite a bit lighter. Baby no. 1 was IVF, and I'm hoping my body will just kick in and let me have one naturally now.

Thinkingof4, I know people have different approaches to parenting, but
back in the 'seventies I thought my brother was very cool because he went to A&E such a lot. My parents didn't seem too concerned. (Those pre-social worker days!! Aaahh!!!) My brother is now very successful and at the age of 46 rarely falls off anything. My ds is following in his footsteps - or should I say, bumping his little head and grazing his limbs as he rolls down tree stumps, embankments and worse, and then gets up again and tries the same thing twenty seconds later. They truly are made of rubber.

And I'm definitely hormonal. When ds cried for my milk this morning I hugged him really hard and had a cry too. Definitely not ready to give up the boob Jakey, either of us. (Hankie icon, where are you???)

[totallynaive]

Oh, and good luck, Jakey!

[catdoctor]

Evening ladies, just checking in - havn't had a chance to read all your news yet but looking forward to indulging myself.

AF has returned for me - hurrah! Having my second period now and 2 ovulations detected on temperature chart, luteal phases 11 and 9 days - so this is good, right?! DS generally on 1 skimpy feed only now, at night, though poorly last 2 nights and 3-4 sessions demanded.

I've never tried to conceive before - DS was an 'accident' so looking to you guys as my database!

[Jakeyblueblue]

Evening all, just checking in too. Am incredibly excited as have got to 10dpo with no AF!! Woop Woop! That means I have a decent enough LP to get preggo! Def mean business next month!
Catdoctor, congrats in getting AF back and yes, you need at least 10 days post ovulation to sustain a pregnancy so this is good!
Although I am very pleased to see a return to normality, I had forgotten how bad these hormones really are. So far this cycle have had spots, bloating, sore nipples, cramps and headaches! Havent suffered with any of them since I fell pregnant with ds.

[BR44]

Excellent news about the LP Jakey!! The spots and other hormonal nasties are a bugger, aren't they? I got a really bad breakout for the first time in over 2 years last month! When are you planning on testing?

totallynaive I'm very sorry you're having such a difficult time. I have no real words of wisdom to offer, other than that when my DS was 17 mo we were feeding significantly more than we are now (22mo). My point is that even these 5 months have made a massive difference in how bothered he has been about milk. You may find that your boy also just naturally starts minding less as he gets a bit older. I know this is scant consolation now, especially as you have the time pressure of TTC, but I have been really surprised at how much he seemed to 'grow up' in the last two months particularly, and I can honestly say now that can envision a day when we stop completely. Hand on heart, there's no way I could have said that at 17mo. Oh, and Jakey is completely right about the long cycles and BF. My last cycle was 39 days and I OVd on CD 27.

Whereas this cycle I'm on CD19 and the OV kit is showing positive this morning! I thought I might have a slightly shorter cycle this time as we have dropped the morning feed, but this seems like a huge difference?!? Oh well, I will obey the stick and pounce on DP this evening. The boy is back on the milk, by the way, but is taking less and pulling himself off way earlier than he used to. Bedtimes are taking a lot longer as a result. I have no idea what his two day blip was all about, but at least it showed that he can actually manage without it and, most significantly, sleep without it if need be.

Thinkingof4 You'll have to wrestle me for the Bad Mother award. I think most of the other mothers in the park would happily have given it to me yesterday. I have accepted the fact that my DS refuses to wear his own hat in the sun, but what am I supposed to do about his insistence on removing every other child's hat? I spent all my time returning hats to confused children and apologising to angry looking parents...

Hi Catdoctor! From what I've read a LP of at least 10 days is needed for implantation, so 9 might be pushing it. But if you're only on your second period the LP will hopefully get a bit longer each time so it's looking good!

Right, I really should go now. The Olympic torch was coming our way this morning and I had planned to take the boy out to see it, but I fear it's probably gone past by now. Oh well, if he asks me why he missed this momentous occasion when he's older I'll just have to explain that mummy was conducting important business on the internet.....

[Thinkingof4]

br44 that's so funny, what a monkey!

Poor ds3 has got a few spots in nappy area which look like chicken pox so waiting to see what develops! Neither ds1 or ds2 have had it either so could be a busy few weeks!

catdoctor glad to hear AF back properly, sounds promising! And jakey that's great re decent LP

Well I'm now cd33 and wondering whether I'm having another super long cycle or what! I don't want to poas as I'm sure AF is just round the corner and I let myself get excited last time when it was actually just a 44 day cycle. I'm certainly not feeling very premenstrual iyswim but maybe I will be in a week!

[Toptack]

Hello, can I join I please? DS is 20 months and we're just thinking about TTC no.2. DS isn't feeding every day anymore, prob only about 5 times a week. My periods came back at around 9 months but luteal phase is still often v short -this was a problem before I had DS, so nothing new. I'm nearly 38 and know if I go to the Dr he'll tell me to wean completely (he was shocked to find out i was still bf'ing DS at 10 months!) but I'm not sure it will make much difference - what do you ladies think?

[PerpetualProvocateur]

Hello ladies. I was on here a while back but disappeared as "TTC" without any idea whether I was fertile was doing my head in. I kept getting my hopes up about catching the first egg and then getting very disappointed with each inevitable BFN. I've got a 13 month-old DS who is still BF at least 3 times per day, and I was starting to think my chances of a close age gap were dwindling.

But today I got my first AF since September 2010! I could barely contain my glee whilst nipping to the shops for supplies. I realise that would make me a freak to most, but thought you would understand!

So now we will give this TTC thing a proper go. I know that it might not happen as easily as it did with DS, but it is such a relief knowing that it could actually happen now!

Right, off for a catch-up!

[specialhero]

Hello Toptack and all. Sorry I can't help with your question. Looking for advice myself.

I'm on day 12 of what's usually a 26 day cycle. I can't really track temps because I don't get enough sleep due to ds's bf'ing. I've been testing with OPK's, the smiley face ones, today, yesterday and a few day's last week and i've seen no sign of a smile. Is that unusual? I could be ovulating later than all the calculators predict I suppose, or maybe its a sign that something's wrong. Can't say I've noticed any EWCM either.

[Thinkingof4]

specialhero maybe you have a short luteal phase like toptack
I'm not too sure what youcan do about that- perhaps something like agnus castus but I don't know if you can take that while BF. Sorry not much help really.

Looks like AF is putting in an appearance here after all so only 33 day cycle this time which is a big improvement on last month!