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Conception

When's the best time to get pregnant? Use our interactive ovulation calculator to work out when you're most fertile and most likely to conceive.

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Original poster

Conceiving while BF and no period?

25 replies

NotAdmittingWhoIAm · 19/04/2007 18:42

Is it really possible to get pregnant before your periods have returned while you are exclusively breastfeeding? I know there are always freak occurances but is it really, really unlikely?

I hope the answer is yes. We have not been using copntraception as I have had no AF yet. But now I feel sick and tired and, well, pregnant. It would be too early to test. I am NOT ready for another baby.

Am I being paranoid? Is it really, really rare?

OP posts:

beansprout · 19/04/2007 18:43

It is rare but entirely possible given that you need to ovulate before you get a period.

Only one way to find out.... hope you get the result you want.

belgo · 19/04/2007 18:45

Yes it is very very possible to become pregnant in those circumstances. It's just happened to a friend of mine, and she didn't know until she was five months pregnant! There will be 13 months between her two babies.

My periods returned eight weeks after giving birth, despite bfing 2-3 hourly day and night.

goingfor3 · 19/04/2007 18:46

You may not have had an af but if you had unprotected sex a couple of weeks before your first one was due to start you could be pregnant. Only one way to find out. How old is your baby?

wheresthevalium · 19/04/2007 18:52

Um, I did

DD1 was 6 months, hadn't had a period, still BF exclusively

Aquababe · 19/04/2007 19:04

I'm the product of my parents belief that you couldn't get pregnant bfing.
There's 13months between my ds and I and my mum was v lucky as ds was cs and could have been v problematic.

Original poster

NotAdmittingWhoIAm · 19/04/2007 19:12

Oh cr*p. My DD is eight months. I love her to bits and I love being a mum but I am not ready to have two. I hated pregnancy and am not sure I could cope with a baby and being pregnant. Also I just want to enjoy DD for a while longer. I know I want another child one day but not yet. I was thinking more like when DD was 2.5. Also I am returning to work in two weeks and cannot imagine telling them I was pregnant already. My career means alot to me.

Why, why, why did I not think this through? I honestly thought my periods would not return 'til DD stopped feeding so while I appreciated that I would ovulate two weeks before it came I thought I could control when that was.

Could still be a false alarm. I mean it would be bad luck if our very infrequent sex (we are quite tired with DD ) had happened to fall two weeks before my AF happened to return. I can't test yet because unless I am already 2 months gone then I would only be two weeks gone...

OP posts:

lillochum · 19/04/2007 19:15

I was still breastfeeding when I conceived dd2 - quite deliberately. My periods had come back mind you, but I certainly had no problem conceiving - pregnant the first month of trying. DD1 gave up breastfeeding of her own accord part-way through my pregnancy (when she was 13 months old), and I was told that this was normal because the flavour of the milk changes! So, it can't be that uncommon. Also, my mother met a woman who conceived in her private room at the hospital before she even made it home after giving birth! Don't know how anyone could think of sex at that time - she must have had a very easy delivery! Sorry if this isn't what you wanted to hear though, but on the plus side I have no regrets about having my children so close in age, (18 months between them) and although it is hard work they never had any jealousy issues.

belgo · 19/04/2007 19:16

Please don't panic. even if you are pregnant, things do have a way of working out and the chances are, you're not pregnant.

And a second pregnancy might be far more enjoyabe then the first, mine was.

Wait a few days and then test.

belgo · 19/04/2007 19:17

there's 18 months between my two and it's great.

mezzer · 19/04/2007 19:18

I also have a friend who has two sons, 13 months apart the second came along while bf and without AF. I think you can do a preg test at 2 weeks. I did when suspected was preg my dd and it came back +... Might be worth doing just to put your mind at ease.

Aquababe · 19/04/2007 19:18

can't have put my mother off she went on to have another 4 kids after me so it can't be that bad

ChippyMinton · 19/04/2007 19:19

i've done it not once, but twice ....actually twas on purpose

lillochum · 19/04/2007 19:19

Just to add - pregancies, births and children are all different, and a previous bad pregnancy doesn't mean this one will be. Also, if your career worries you, in the long run having your children close together may actually mean you are out of the workplace less time. (Re- the jealousy thing again - 2.5 can be a lousy time to have a sibling, and from your point of view you may have just got used to easier nights and no nappies - it can be harder to get back into that after a break).

whomovedmychocolate · 19/04/2007 19:22

I'm hopeful that I will get pregnant without having to see af again! She's a bitch and gives me spots. OTOH pregnancy makes me all glowy.

Original poster

NotAdmittingWhoIAm · 19/04/2007 19:23

I am sure it would not be that bad. I am sure if it is what happens then I will cope. It is really the pregnancy that worries me, not the small age gap. It would be about 17 months and hopefully they would be really close. I was just so sick and tired for the first 5 months of my last pregnancy and I cannot imagine I would be that good a Mum to DD if I feel like that again. It is that and the work issue that worries me.

I might go and test just to check. The thing is a negative would not comfort me yet.

OP posts:

lillochum · 19/04/2007 19:47

I was tired and had horrible nausea for the first 3 months of all my 3 pregnancies, but given that my 3 children are all close in age, I think they were all too young to remember if I was a grotty mum for the duration!

beansprout · 19/04/2007 20:14

at someone conceiving before they left the hospital?

Or is it . Did she give birth and then ovulate?

mum03 · 19/04/2007 20:24

Hi, just to reassure you, I had a horrible first pg, very sick and tired, but then managed to get pg when ds was only 7 months old, only 15 month between my two. My second pg was not bad at all. Tired yes, but not too bad and much better birth etc too. My ds and dd play together wonderfully now as they are so close in age.

My ds stopped bf almost as soon as I found out I was pg. I later found out as has been mentioned here that the milk can change in flavour apparently! In terms of becoming fertile while bf - yes it is possible, I was feeding dd very frequently and af came back when she was only 6 weeks old!

If you are already feeling symptoms, then you should probrably test now, as if you are feeling symptoms, then the hcg should be high enough to trigger a pg test. Please let us know how you get on.

Glassofwine · 19/04/2007 20:29

Yes you can, I did dd2 was only 12 weeks when I found out I was pg with ds. Don't forget that no two pg's are the same.

mower · 19/04/2007 20:31

Got pregnant while bf exclusively, was a bit of a shock as ds1 was only about 5 months when I found out. There are 13 months between my two ds and I love it, pregnancy was so so much easier the second time round didn't even think about being pregnant and amazed myself at what I could still do dispite having massive baby bump!!

By the way I did have two af's before conceiving. My af's must have come back early this time as well when ds was about 2 months. This time though am being REALLY careful as don't want another 13 month age gap.

Have you done pregnancy test yet?????

Original poster

NotAdmittingWhoIAm · 19/04/2007 22:50

Was going to test as I thought I had a spare test from last time lurking in a cupboard. Can't find it and can't go out and buy one as DH is out and DD asleep. Will have to wait to tomorrow.

Good to know that some people with horrible first pregnancies had better experiences the second time around. Heres hoping.

I was also a little at someone having sex in their hospital room straight after birth. But then I remembered my friend whose DD was born one day after my DD. 10 days later my friend told me she was enjoying sex more than ever as she "felt empowered" by the birth. She reckoned they were at it like rabbits. She asked if I felt the same. I answered 3 months later.

OP posts:

belgo · 20/04/2007 17:16

Any update?

Original poster

NotAdmittingWhoIAm · 20/04/2007 19:10

Negative . If I keep feeling funny I will test again next week because I did not get a positive unitl my af was a week late last time. However I am very comforted by the negative.

Now I just have to sort out a reliable form of contraception...

OP posts:

belgo · 20/04/2007 19:25

thanks for the update. Hope it works out for you

lillochum · 20/04/2007 22:34

Can't say I felt sexually "empowered" after giving birth to my first - I had a massive episiotomy, and such a vicious venthouse that the chain broke on the cup and I heamorraged pretty badly - personally I couldn't have sex comfortably for about a year. Hardly surprising that the news that someone had sex in their hospital room stuck in my mind! (Mind you my second delivery was great - really felt in control, only used TENS, felt I could have had another one half an hour afterwards!)
Glad to hear you had the test result you wanted.

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