Ttc and still breastfeeding? Thread #3: Pull up a chair for some support from others on the journey!

[auroraboringalis]

Yes, we know all about how emotional and hard it can be! All the pros and cons, all about missing Aunty Flo's and wtf cycles with no ovulation, all about children being cute and pointy. No matter if you are five months or twenty months down the breastfeeding timeline, if you're ttc again, this is the thread to join! Welcome!

Hello ladies does anyone mind if i join?
Im 24 and have a 4month old dd i am currently breast feeding. Although dd is so young we cant wait for another one and have started ttc again!

Oh i should add my periods still arent back, does that mean i cant concieve? ??

Hi Lucy and welcome. It's possible to get pregnant at any time whilst breastfeeding as, even though your cycles have yet to return, you may be lucky enough to catch the first egg. Again, I'd recommend using opks and charting your temperature. We started ttc when DD was 6 months old, but my period didn't return until she was 16 months. She's just turned 2 and we've still yet to get a bfp. I do know that I'm ovulating these past few months thanks to temping and opks though. Prior to this my cycles, I believe, we're anovulatory. You may be lucky and conceive straight away or it may take you longer (but everything happens for a reason ) Good luck on your journey x

Sorry to hear that, Pear - so confusing and annoying for you - hope you get some sense out of it soon x

Glad the post office trip went okay x

We have only started ttc this week so im expecting it to take us a while. Though we fell very quickly with dd, didnt use a condom once and i got caught!

Hi lucy welcome welcome! May your stay with us be very short and you fall pregnant right away!

Pear, from what I understand your CBFM won't have been high fertility as it didn't get your baseline for it to note the hormonal change, it has to have a reading of you on low, then it notices when you get a rise in hormone levels which gives you flashing smiley, then when it detects LH surge it displays the solid smiley for peak if that makes sense.

Hi Lucy, good luck staring your ttc journey

I tested today, obviously a BFN I felt a bit stupid after too why I'm I testing when I don't even know for sure if I'm ovulating?! I've felt really hormonal today so maybe AF is on her way, I'm guessing she'll arrive sooner or later as nearly a week of no BF

Sorry to hear you got a bfn lea . I completely understand the testing-when-you're-not-even-sure-you've-ovulated thing. Sometimes it can be worse to not test though because then you end up obsessively symptom-spotting (or maybe that's just me!).

Welcome lucy. Hope you get lucky and catch that first egg .

It was dh's birthday yesterday so we went out for dinner and to the cinema while my mum babysat. I meant to bf ds before I left but completely forgot but he apparently went to sleep for my mum quite happily without any milk so I'm experimenting with dropping the bedtime feed from tonight. I'm currently on cd20 and pretty sure I've still not ovulated so I hope this will give my hormones a nudge to get things moving!

Lea, don't feel silly for testing, we've all been there

Congratulations on weaning x

Lea im thinking of taking tests every 4-6 weeks in the hope i may get a bfp! Trying not to get my hopes up, we only started trying 3 days ago and ive started symptom spotting already, even though im pretty sure im just setting myself up for a disappointment

Leamice - sorry I think I've confused you. I'm getting flashing smileys on the Clearblue ovulation hormone detector sticks but with my Clearblue fertility monitor its not even picking up a high. So what I'm saying is how come they're both not reading high? It will be interesting to see what tomorrow brings Probably more confusion

To anyone using the Clearblue dual hormone smiley sticks...how many days of flashing smileys did you get before getting your static smiley? I'm on my 4th flashing smiley day and feeling inpatient!!!

Lea - how many flashing smileys did you get before a static smiley?

Eggsnbeans - how are you feeling? Hopefully a bit more positive now.

Muni done - are you nervous about testing tomorrow? Anymore signs?

How's everyone who's been cutting bfdown? Mary? auto?

Pear I got 5 or 6 days of flashing before the solid smiley.
Did you start testing with the dual hormone and the CBFM from the same cycle day? That's what I was confused about lol. I meant if you'd started testing with the dual hormone tests then they picked up your oestrogen surge but then you used your CBFM having not used previously on that cycle it would take that first reading as your baseline and display low fertility as it didn't have a previous reading to note the hormone rise... Does that make sense? If you'd been testing with both from the same CD then I have no idea why it's not noticing your hormone level change.

Welcome talulah & Lucy & good luck

Trinpy how old is ds? I'm thinking about replacing dd's bedtime feed with a beaker of cow's milk... She doesn't seem to drink much from a beaker though so would worry she wasn't getting enough dairy.

Pear 2 cycles ago I had 10 days of flashing; last cycle none!

Bfn for me this morning. I'm expecting af today/tmrw. Oh well, onto cycle 4! Was BF-ing dd this morning & she but my nipple really hard - lovely start to the days!

Lea - oh that's hopeful then! I mustn't give up yet then I do feel like it could be close. I started testing with my cbfm yesterday (so no I didn't start at the same time as smiley sticks). Today again I got low fertility on my cbfm. I now see what you mean thought peeved it doesn't explain why it hasn't picked up anything today?!

Af has arrived! Onwards to cycle 4

Sorry to hear that, Mumo x

Argh Mumofone! How is this possible You got a peak and everything I am annoyed for you!! I guess it is some condolence that you haven't paid for sticks in cycle 3 and you'll hopefully receive more sticks in time for cycle 4 but you've got your own anyway so you're covered if they arrive late

Sorry Mumo! Like your positive thinking Smiley :)

Hi everyone waves.
I'm still feeding DD who is currently 20 months old and NO return of AF yet. We successfully night weaned a month ago and I'm trying to be consistent with my temp charting but between DS and DD both being in bed with us, I struggle to get 3hrs straight sleep before temping in the morning. Someone always inevitably stirs and wakens me. Anyway, I'm keeping am eye on my CM and I'm definitely moving in the right direction but my question is about OPK's - does everyone use them and what are decent (but not too expensive) ones to buy?
TIA - baby good luck vibes to you all.

Sorry af got you mum. Ds is 13.5 months. I've replaced his bedtime bf with water because he is still bf 2x a day and loves yogurt so I think he's having enough dairy. He woke up ever hour last night until I gave in at 12.30 and fed him. He then slept through until 7.45 this morning though so I feel like I've made some progress!

glam I use amazon cheapy opks. They're not as easy to read as the more expensive clearblue digis but they're reliable and more economical if you enjoy frequent poas .

Welcome talulah & Lucy, sorry about af mumo

Pear we're still doing just the morning feed. DD managed all of last week with me putting her to bed without a bf. Dh is working early shifts this coming week though so I don't think we'll manage to drop her morning feed until his shifts change again.

AF due in 7 days: time to start getting obsessed again . Didn't dtd enough/ at the right times this month so I'm pretty sure I'm out anyway.

Good luck, Mary, fx for you x