TTC and still Breastfeeding? You are not alone - come to our bf-friendly cafe for a chat and some cake!

[MisterSafetyCatchIsNotOn]

Over here all breastfeeding ttcers! Welcome to our thread - a place for us to come for support, information and to talk about the extra challenges of ttc while still breastfeeding (or expressing like myself).

I thought I should go ahead and start the new thread as the old one is about to fill up and I didn't want anyone to get lost (hope that's ok Waiting and that you haven't already done this and I just missed it!)

For anyone who is new to the thread or needs a reminder, here are a few links to some useful websites (thanks Waiting for putting these together)

kellymom.com/bf/normal/ttc-while-bf/

kellymom.com/bf/normal/fertility/

www.llli.org/nb/nbmayjune04p114.html

www.fertilityfriend.com/Faqs/Fertility-charting-while-breastfeeding.html

Hello mummyJ! Welcome. I am new too - new to the forum and new to motherhood so can share my thoughts but other, more experienced mamas may be able to help more.

I had loads of questions after reading your message: did you breastfeed your other children? When did your periods cone back when breastfeeding them? Currently, how much are you feeding him? And how long ago did you cut out the night feeds? I think these might be important to think about before deciding what to do next. I'm also assuming that you would like to continue bfing?

How exciting to be trying for no 5!! I am one of 5 and love it. I am34, have I've baba age 8 months and would like 4 so ttc ASAP. Have recently nightweaned (but still co sleep) Abd just last week noticed cm which made me hopeful that af imminent. This is why I asked all those questions.

Ps mister safety- any more updates? Symptoms or temptations to test again? Xx

Hi there!
Well. Baby 1 (now 6) i didn't breast feed. Periods returned at 6 weeks.
Babies 2 and 3 (now 5 and 3 ) i mixed fed. Periods returned approx 6 months.
So them along comes baby number 4. We fed and fed. And fed. We co slept. He didn't move out! We fed anywhere and everywhere!
Anyway here we are. He is 2 in October. Still feeding in the day although it has become less and less. Today he had one feed at tea time but i think he was tired! He feeds to sleep so that happens every night. He will probably wake a couple of times in the night and feed back to sleep. He is now in his own cot next to my side of the bed. Side car set up. It was a compromise lol. When we were properly co sleeping it felt like he was latched on all night!
I would like to continue to feed. It one reason why i didn't mention it to my Dr. Surely the answer is to stop the feeds but easier said than done hey?
X

Oh wow! You had them super close together which is what I would like to do!! Would love to hear about how that has been for you (emotionally and physically!)?

If your periods came back when you combination fed at 6 months, I would have thought that they would be back by now with your littlest one.... But maybe the night feeds are the what's keeping your periods at bay? But maybe not at all bit I know la leche league say that the priority (for fertility to return) is to nightwean (ESP bet 12-6am when certain hormones are highest).

I posted on the la leche league forum at the same time as this one and I have copied some of the response below (from experienced lll lactation consultant who also tried to convince me not to ttc so soon!):

SHE SAID:
*To answer your questions:

• Pretty much everyone who reduces nursing significantly will get their period back, no matter whether they do it at 8 weeks, 8 months, or 18 months. The issue is timescale- we are all individuals and there is no way to say how long it will take YOUR body to resume fertile cycles after the weaning process has begun. There's also no way to say how much nursing is too much, when it comes to keeping your fertility away.
• Some women do need to stop nursing entirely in order to get their fertility back, but this is extremely rare. Most moms who nurse for a natural term- i.e. more than 12 months- will get their periods back as their babies naturally transition to a majority solid food diet*.

Ps

We co sleep and I night weaned about 2 weeks (to trigger fertility) and it wasn't as traumatic as I thought and he adapted quickly (few days), now sleeps 6.30-4.30/5am

Hi mummyjo, wow that's impressive, so you had 4 under 5 at one point I have 3 siblings with close age gaps and we had great fun growing up, family holidays were brilliant! I'd love a big family like that, just have 1 so far and am under 30 so I might still get there!
Madrigals might be able to help you if she pops back in at some point, she had a similar co-sleeping milk-obsessed baby and I think didn't get AF back until he was nearly 2 (sorry if I've got that wrong mad! Hope the ms isn't being too hard on you) She now must be about 3 months pregnant so obviously it can work out!

Not much new to tell Guise, I checked my temperature this morning and it is well above my usual baseline for ovulation, so think it's likely I am post-ov now but no idea when AF should be due! Not tempted to test at all really, the thought just terrifies me at the moment because I'm almost certain it would be negative, but while I don't know for sure I can have some hope left! Any more signs that AF might be on the way? I'm impressed with your night weaning efforts, I didn't manage to get ds sleeping that long til he was about 18 months!

Hello everyone, hope you're all enjoying the nicer weather and that your lovely DCs are adjusting to it overnight. Big welcome to the new joiners.

I have no idea how ladies, like Mister, with massively irregular cycles can put up with it. I think I'd have no hair left because it's hard enough figuring out OV when your cycle varies by a couple of days here and there, let alone by weeks and weeks. Good grief. Respect to you ladies.

It seems that my life now revolves around 2 week periods. Two weeks till DTD to TTC and then TWW afterwards. Rewind, repeat, adnauseum. I've come to the conclusion that I'm sooooo incredibly impatient because we've only really been trying properly for one cycle! Now, for someone who has spent the past 21 months accustoming herself to everything being broken down into 3 hourly intervals, two weeks is a bloody long and excruciating time. Argh!

Just wondering... how are all the footie-loving DHs coping with the recent results? Or, in the interests of equality, even footie-loving ladies? Will there be any baby-making happening this month?

Lucky for me DH is not British so is likely to be in a more celebratory mood! Yes long irregular cycles are a real pita but in a way it helps me not obsess quite as much, as I really can't predict anything so there's not much point trying iyswim! I do feel quite frustrated at the start of each cycle though as they are so long I know I'm just likely to be sitting around waiting for 3 or more weeks before I start to get any signs of impending ovulation. Also makes the weebairn strategy rather tiring! My strategy at the moment is to try to have something to work on during those weeks, like cutting down caffeine, exercising more or this time (when AF finally gets here) booking in to see my GP. It makes me feel better if I'm doing something proactive at least!
How long til you are due to ovulate? Have you started on the ov tester kits yet?

World Cup has been an anti climax! Everyone is miserable! Good thing weather is ace as still a cause for celebration. Feel sorry for gerrard.

Yep I definitely did the rewind-repeat thing last time and I expect again this time....
Thanks for asking Safety re periods..... Mucus gone now so dry again (sorry tmi) but that pattern makes sense. I have been feeling a little off so not sure what that is about but I have heard that first periods can be pretty awful. What were yours like? Did you feel queasy few days before? My periods historically are pretty normal, short, not much pms.

Giuse when AF came back for me (think at approx 9 months) it was totally different (length, flow, duration). I'm not one for PMS and thankfully that's the same. The first 3 cycles were randomly long but then it has calmed downto a 30 day average over the last 12 months.

Welcome newbies and hello to longer-term residents.Hope everyone has been enjoying the sunshine this weekend? I finally got out into jungle garden today and did a bit of weeding - long overdue!! Had a poorly DD last week, so she wanted lots of BF, poor boobs are feeling it now. Not used to that much work!

Giuse my AF came back after 17 months, straight back into normal regularity and heaviness, in fact more regular than last time I was TTC! Until last month that is, when I had a 15 day AF (ugh)and am still waiting for the next (37 days so far - normal cycle 28 days). Frankly am very confused. Could it have been a v early mc? Haven't tested as I don't feel pg, but might POAS on Weds if no sign of AF, not least as I'm due to go out drinking on Friday...

Zoo, DH and I are pretty much immune to world cup fever, but he's had huge deadline so hasn't been to bed before 2am for over a week, DD has been poorly so lots of night-waking and I'm super-busy at work so this month DTD has been a rare occurrence. But as several stories on here have shown, you never know when you'll hit jackpot

Luckily this household is immune to the football too. But that bloody work sure does get in the way. I've started doing OPK this month and got a smiley face on the old CB dual hormaone tester this morning so promptly txted DP to let him know that my stick says he should come home at proper time tonight and for the next 2 nights. He said "I'll try". SAY WHAAAT?!?!?! Hahaha. So I'm really hoping that the stick knows what it's talking about. It's cycle day 12 at the moment, so the maths is potentially lining up. The internet cheapies haven't budged in the slightest though. Hmmm. I'm predicting an inordinate amount of time spent testing with them over the next day and a half. I did buy the CB expecting it to be far more accurate, but annoyingly there's no way to know for sure. The stick says DTD, so it shall be done. Fingers crossed.

Happy Monday everyone! Another weekend, another BFN for me, no sign of AF. Cd 59 I think I'm broken.

Mister... I say whaaaaaat?!?!?!?!?!

Heh heh! Hope your dh made it home Zoo!!! Not sure how long you've been trying for this baby but your message brought back lots of memories of what it was like when trying for our first baby....had slightly forgotten all the peeing on sticks, sending texts to dh at work, postponing any other plans until ovulation complete!!!

What do you think is going on Mister? No af / mega long cycle...? Think u said your cycles irregular, but Is this 59 days and counting cycle an outlier?

Thanks everyone for all your messages re first periods when breastfeeding. Seems, unsurprisingly, that everyone is unique. I am still feeling queasy on and off, tired, randomly had some whiteish cm today, still no AF. If I ovulated (this I did as had first fertile mucus signs) then would have been around 14th June) so I think AF would be due this weekend so just need to be patient and hope it comes. But then was reading that some people have symptoms for weeks and weeks before their period finally comes....

Fingers crossed for AF at the weekend then Guise (don't often say that)! Just a really long cycle I think, yes it is an outlier, I was expecting AF 10 days ago at the latest based on previous cycles. This week I've had some boob soreness and mood swings which I often get the week before AF, so I expect she'll show up by the weekend.

Zoo did DH keep his word? The cheapie opks will only show positive for a short time ( think 12 hours ish) which is why they're easy to miss. I think the cb give you a bit more warning (should be positive for 2 days+) because they measure 2 hormones and compare to your levels on previous days. So hopefully the cheapies will turn pos today or tomorrow!

Not that I'm one to kiss and tell but yes he made it home. Probably feared the alternative. Haha. He has strict instructions for the next two nights as well.

Giuse, this is cycle 2 for baby 2 but I'm totally A.R. when it comes to planning and doing things. I just can't relax. My age also puts me on a tight timescale. No time to waste!

The cheap OPKs still didn't budge yesterday or this morning. No idea about today as I'm at work. I bought the more sensitive CB OPK and I don't want to dwell on the reason why it went straight from negative circle to a static smiley (peak fertility) yesterday then back to a flashing smiley (high fert) today. Just hoping the body still has the capacity to conceive and carry.

Big wave back Mad . Very happy about your scan news. Thinking about the successful BFP on here keeps me going.

I'm feeling a bit all over the place so just lurking at the mo. Not helped by busy times, but I love being busy. Friend has just got back from over 2 years travelling (missed our wedding and DS1) and got other friends' weddings and BBQs to look forward to, and fingers crossed a weeks camping! I so need a break. Hoping it will help reduce the stress levels and my occasional obsessiveness about TTC no 2.

Zoo Love the thought of your DH fearing the alternative and rushing home! I'm horrible when things don't go to my TTC plan

Mister So the cycle continues... You must be so patient. You've mentioned before about going to see someone about them maybe soon. Do you think you will?

Giuse Hope your AF doesn't keep you waiting too long. Thank you for the LLL info! Find it really interesting what other peeps think about fertility and BF

Welcome Mummyjo Wish you lots of luck in TTC no 6! So impressed. I'd love a large family.

Erm does anyone else get completely confused about their cm....????? I think I always felt confused really but even more so now: stop reading now if not keen to read about mucus: thought might have ovulated on 14th (wet,slippy, libido), then 16th (snot mucus on tissue), yesterday (white, watery on underwear), then this morning (clear stretchy on tissue - once only, thought might be ovulation but negative opk). CONFUSED. All seems random. Other: Past week have been feeling like period coming (tired, queasy on and off, bit "moody" etc) -

Does all this sound normal eg my body trying to work things out after no fertility for so long? Dud anyone have symptoms like this for weeks before period came or did it come in the normal week or two?

Hi Giusepp - I get very confused about it. Although I have the opposite to you, i.e. not convinced it's EWCM at any point. But perhaps we are respectively glass half full/half empty people!!

I remember noticing it when I was a teenager, but that's about it. Though obv had it since as conceived DD

By the way, I'm probably the odd one out of the group, as I'm not charting or measuring anything, but just trying the old fashioned way (since April). I guess if nothing by August I'll try to learn to monitor my fertility.

Hi mad-lovely to hear from you and glad the scan went well-you give me hope.

Hi to you as well mrsdiddly thinking of you.

Here I am in day 37 of cycle 2 since mmc-not sure what is going on but have spoken to the doctor and she said not to worry (yet!). Any sign of cycle 2 for you mrs?

Also spoke to her about 2 mc back to back and because I had a third before dd and because of my age she is going to refer me for investigation. Not sure how I feel about it really-just want everything to be ok!

Lovely to hear scan went well Mads, super news, best news all day!

Giusepp, I have never been able to spot a pattern in CM so stopped worrying about it a while ago. And Rosepetal, I'm not charting or temping or doing OPK - just DTD and fingers crossed - so you're not the odd one out!

If we don't get somewhere soon I might resort to OPK though, but need AF to appear soon...

MrsD, hope you can get that camping holiday sorted, you deserve it.

Love to all, x

Hey June, sounds like your body is still working out what's what - so tricky - fingers crossed it all settles down soon. and ? Glad you're getting referred so you can find out a bit more, even if there's nothing to find out.