TTC while Breastfeeding (or recently weaned!!) regular cycles and baby dust this way!

[expatvet]

Hi guys... here we are, shiny new thread for all those TTC while breast-feeding or recently weaned (for pumpkin and I!!)

come on over!

Ha that's true - I look at some of my friends with 2 (or more!) now, especially with the Ones that are very close in age, and just think whoa that does not look fun 😜
Yup I've not had a period since Jan 2015! Wow you were very unlucky starting back so soon after birth and whilst bfing! Although it does seem that if you start back sooner rather then later then you are likely to not be ovulating, but still having a bleed for a few months. Have you tried taking you temperature every morning? I think it's the only way to definitely tell if you are ovulating (and when!) - no good for timing bd as you get the higher temp shift after ovulation, but at least you know that it's happened!
Someone on here recommended a book called the impatient woman's guide to getting pregnant - that's really good (and pretty funny!) for tips on temping and everything else, a very interesting chapter on how to try to chose the sex of your baby (which I'm not bothered about 😜) but thought was interesting x

Happy Easter! How's everyone doing? Any symptoms Mummybear? I'm still finding it hurts when LO feeds, especially at first, and it seems like my supply has gone down suddenly? Yesterday LO fed a few minutes, then stopped & asked for more milk, she got upset and frustrated... she has never done that before!? Maybe just a dip in supply before my period might be going to start, didn't think it was due yet but my cycle has been unpredictable so who knows!

Morning ladies. Good morning to you @dolphin. I'm only 5dpo so not really not many signs or anything. I have had on and off cramps (like a dull ache) since ovulation but that is probably nothing as it's too early for things like that. Yesterday I had a sudden large amount of ccm and then what looked like ewcm but was all cloudy and not at all the right time in cycle for it. I'm worried I might be getting an infection or something as I've heard that can happen if you suddenly have a lot of BD nights in a row.

Hey ho. How is everyone else? Happy easter by the way 👒🐣🐰

Oh no Mummybear hope ur not ill and hopefully it's even a good sign?! I'll keep my fingers crossed for u! Hope u had a lovely Easter :)

Hi all I am ttc baby number 2 whilst currently breastfeeding my 11 month old. I am on cycle 3 day 4 and AF has just finished this morning! X

Welcome youngmummy! How is everyone doing? Wanted to update u guys I'm pregnant! So happy and also anxious! Thank u everyone on this board for the support & info, especially recommending going on the pill to kickstart ovulation. So far my LG is still feeding, but my supply is already disappearing!

Congratulations Dolphin hope you have a happy and healthy pregnancy!!xx

Woohoo dolphin! Great news! Delighted for you

Hello youngmummy, welcome!

I've been away from this thread for a while. I was hoping I'd have better news by now with return of my AF, but alas still nothing.

Delighted to hear about everyone else' BFP. Let's keep the good news coming.

Yey congratulations Dolphin that's wonderful news 😀
Welcome young mummy & good luck on your quest!
Nothing at all happening here, still feeding 2/3 times a day and not at all at night but no sign of ovulation or Aunt Flo! Xx

Thanks a lot everyone, that's lovely! Wish u all best of luck in ur journey 😀

Hello! Glad to find this thread. Beginning to TTC for no2, DS is 10m and feeds morning, evening and often 1-2 times in the night (we're working on that!). Been on the pill too (progesterone only) but came off that at Easter. Now waiting for AF and fingers x'd I don't need to wean completely!!

Hello EastEnd, welcome! We've had a few BFPs recently! Fingers crossed for you too!

Thanks eclectic, interesting to hear a few ppl say they regret weaning in order to conceive- the gp told me today that it would be the biggest factor in not getting pg again and seeing as I'm 36 I really should crack on if we want another child but then on chatting to him his kids only bf'd for 2 weeks and never got on with it so... BF has always been easy for me so finding it quite hard to cut back with my LO but I have found my supply dipping the last few weeks anyway so stopped expressing during the day and gave nursery formula to try him on and today he took 7 oz, normally I'd struggle to express 3 and he seems to be sucking quite hard so it's not quite as nice ss it used to be. I'll see how it goes I guess, I always planned to BF for a year, perhaps longer but never really considered it affecting my fertility. On the upside, DH and I shagged tonight and it was amazing! I think BFg a lot must suppress your libido, for ages it's been rather meh, so that's good!! TMI lol!!

Welcome eastend 😀 Hopefully you don't have to wean completely - that's what I'm hoping for anyway!
My lo is 19 months now and although I night weaned 2 months ago and she is only feeding 3 times a day I still haven't got cycle back 😕 I can tell that my supply has dropped though as I never feel "full" anymore, even when she's skipped a feed and I'm definitely putting on weight again (I lost loads whilst she was feeding on demand despite eating like an absolute beast!!)
Have a hen do weekend after next so hoping that 2 days of not feeding at all will kick start something to happen! (Also looking forwards to 2 nights uninterrupted sleep and hopefully a lie in 😜)
I know what you mean about the sex drive, I just felt nothing at all until night weaning, but now much more interested!
Good luck everyone 😊 Xx

Congrats Dolphin on your bfp! Haven't really been checking mumsnet much recently, but thought when I had a bit of time I'd come on this evening to see if there were any updates on this thread.

I had my 12 week scan on Tuesday. I thought I was anywhere between 9 and 12 weeks based on the 7 week cycle I'd had previously, but turns out I was 11+5, so not as far out as I thought. So far so good. Was a relief to hear all was well at scan, as symptoms haven't been so strong this time round, though know all pregnancies are different. Still feeding on waking, before bed and overnight, but painful at the mo and wondering whether I'm actually producing much milk now, as one day DS didn't feed between 2am and 7pm and breasts were as empty as anything - previously would have been full and lumpy with such a long gap.

Good to hear AF has returned for you Eclectic, hopefully won't be long till you get your bfp! Fingers crossed yours returns soon Eastend!

Enjoy the hen do Bessyboot!

Hi Baking glad to hear the scan was all good 😊
A friend of mine who was bf when got pregnant said she had to stop because her lo was getting terrible wind at night and she thinks it's because she was furiously sucking at the boob but nothing was coming out! But then again I know 2 others who have fed throughout pregnancy and then gone on to tandem feed- so (just like being able to get pregnant!) everyone is different 🙂
Xxx

Thanks Bessyboot! DS has bad wind at the best of times and probs if he is dry sucking it isn't helping. Don't fancy tandem feeding, esp as DS will be 34m when his sibling comes along, so feel like I could do with a little break inbetween. Was hoping he'd self-wean if my milk dried up, but thinking he may need some gentle encouragement to do so, but probs no surprise as he's always been a boob monster :)

Have been away from this thread for a while. Been ttc #2 since October, dd is now 20 months and still feeds a lot! Periods also haven't returned yet.

I'm really struggling with seeing all my friends with children the same age fall pregnant again. I really want to be pleased for them, and I am, but I just feel so jealous 😔

I've just bought some Angus castus and vitamin b as I hear this is meant to help. I really don't want to wean before dd is ready, I've tentatively tried cutting down on feeds but she isn't very receptive 😂 She's very very strong willed!!

Evening Dilly, it's hard isn't it when others announce their pregnancies and you're still ttc. I know in the couple of months leading up to my bfp it seemed that one friend/acquaintance after another announced theirs. My periods returned when DS was 23 months, though didn't start ttc till then, as had decided to wait till that sign that my body was ready. At 20 months DS was back feeding most hours in the day and at 21 months I decided to get a bit tough and cut back to just a feed on waking, before nap, before bed and then when woke overnight, which was still about 3 times. Seemed to do the trick in hastening return of periods, but know it's not always easy to cut back - I guess I was just lucky that DS accepted that we were no longer feeding on demand, though did find that offering extra snacks and an alternative milk helped to distract him, as did getting some toys and activities out that I'd saved back. I had a friend who used b vits to regulate her periods, though she wasn't breastfeeding at the time, but fingers crossed the supplements help you. Hope it's not long till you get your bfp!

Thank you bakingmad83

I don't think it helps that now family are starting to ask when we're going to have more children. We made the decision not to tell them we were ttc as I didn't want to put up with constantly being asked if I'm pregnant yet. But I'm not sure if this is worse or not!

I'm going to keep trying to cut down feeds, but I'm not going to push it too much if she isn't ready. I'm just trying to accept that it will happen when the time is right. It's so hard though

Hi all, I bought the clear blue dual hormone OPKs today. When is it that I should start testing on a 35 day cycle would you say? I usually ovulate around day 25. Xx

Baking congrats on the scan and thankyou for the welcome everyone.

I think I've had a couple of days of mastitis- not too badly thankfully but a rather sore boob and feeling generally grotty. The best cure is for the LO to feed lots which of course he loves but the exact opposite of what I am trying to do, gahhh!!

We've bee quite open with family and friends about TTC again but equally said we had some heartbreaks and 2 years before DH so there may be some challenges ahead yet. I think ppl have been quite sensitive about that thankfully!

Thanks Eastend! Sorry to hear you've had mastitis. I had it mild a couple of times last year when I tried expressing - for me hardly ever got any milk out, it just seemed to stimulate more milk production and got lumpy/painful boobs and then seemed to ache all over. Like you say it's easy to resolve when you've got a boob monster, but goes against what you're trying to do.

Sorry can't help with your question hopingforabfp, as never used opks, but hopefully someone else can help you out :)

I think that's all you can do Dilly is give it a try and if your little one isn't ready you can always retry a little further down the line. Frustrating when family ask about when you're having another. Good yours have been understanding Eastend. On the whole ours have been pretty good, though SIL has kept asking since DS was 9m when he's getting a sibling and she wouldn't believe af hadn't returned. We've always just said we're going to play it by ear to people who asked. Tbh we still haven't told people I'm expecting #2, I was keen this time to wait till 20 week scan, but not sure I'm going to keep it a secret that long, as already feel like I'm showing a bit - hardly even looked the slightest bit pregnant till over 30 weeks last time, but know you tend to show earlier with subsequent pregnancies.

baking I think I phased my last post badly, I was hoping I'd have the news that my AF had returned, sadly still nothing. I'm hoping that not expressing for nursery will encourage it to return.
Great to hear all is well with your scan.

Hoping I haven't used opks before, but I'd imagine if you know roughly the day you ovulate, maybe use them for a few days before? Sure others will know more than me.

Mastitis is such a pain EastEnd I had it a few times when LO was a newborn. Massaging in a super hot shower was helpful, as was feeding in lots of different directions. Know what you mean about it not being ideal to ramp up the amount of feeds though.

Dilly it's amazing how flippantly people can ask, what is essentially, detailed questions about your sex life. I'm sure I've been guilty of this in the past, but since close friends were struggling to conceive and unfortunately had miscarriages, I am now more sensitive. People don't mean anything by it, but it is frustrating being asked when you're going to try for another.