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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.

Original poster

TTC while breastfeeding

168 replies

CatSneeze · 04/01/2018 14:21

DS is 13 months now and BFing 2-3 times a day/night. Would love to try for number 2 but periods came back in October and still all over the place and I seem to have a super short luteal phase (AF arrived today 5 days after OV, earliest yet!) so I'm expecting a long wait.

I noticed that there was a support thread for those TTC while breastfeeding a while ago and was wondering if there were others out there who fancied joining me on a new one?

OP posts:
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8
FuzzInsideMyBrain · 06/04/2018 22:29

Hi pindles!

I read an interesting article and spoke to a lactation consultant who said to make your body realise that it will be able to sustain a breastfeeding baby AND pregnancy - and you do this by eating loads GrinCake Plenty of healthy fats and high-calorie (healthy) foods!
I'm also doing acupuncture to try to kickstart my ovulation, so we'll see...

www.thealphaparent.com/how-to-get-pregnant-whilst-breastfeeding/

noor9587 · 07/04/2018 23:39

I'm cramping loads, starting to think AF is on its way! I'm symptom spotting and all I notice is cramps/fatigue I'm actually starting to doubt myself Confused

smellsofelderberries · 08/04/2018 04:10

Just place marking here as currently TTC baby 2 whilst BFing my 17 month old. Just started spotting today (at only 10 DPO Sad) so period should start tomorrow. We stopped preventing last November and have timed things fairly well the past few months, but I think I will need to start eating more as per the link Fuzz posted (thank you for sharing!), as I really don't eat very much. Have very much enjoyed being a stone under the weight I conceived my DD at, but my luteal phase is on the shorter side and my periods are very light, so do wonder if that is the cause. Also going to start doing some acupuncture this cycle. I'm pretty sure I'm ovulating but my hormone surge doesn't feel very strong compared to what it used to.
Anyway, nice to meet you all and I hope none of us are hanging around here for much longer!

Pindlesandneedles · 08/04/2018 16:08

Thanks for the links Sweetheart and Fuzz. That’s really interesting and reassuring. I have had horrible AF like cramps for about a week now all gone. I wonder if it’s my body gearing up for next time. Also eating more sounds good! I started running recently maybe that set things back again!! Think I’m going to plan for a month of cake and see what happens!! CakeGrin

Pindlesandneedles · 08/04/2018 16:12

Welcome elderberries (I love your name!) fingers crossed this is your month. Are your cycles regular now? Acupuncture sounds interesting. Is it meant to increase fertility? Have you had it before?

Wolfgrrl · 10/04/2018 08:28

Fuzz and sweetheart those are really helpful links, thank you!

I have started spotting today so I think frost AF since pre baby will be here soon. I had been doing OPKs and got a positive last Thursday so that gives me about a 4 day luteal phase to work with Confused Those with periods back - does it get better??

Wolfgrrl · 10/04/2018 08:30

Ooh just read your post elderberries about short luteal phase. If I helps, I conceived DD with a short luteal phase and 10 days should be alright. I took a B vitamin complex as well which I heard should help with increasing it. I got pregnant the first month I used it so worth a try?!

doomkittycleo · 10/04/2018 22:09

Wolfgrl lots of ppl suggested b complex to me first time around, but after a few days I was suffering from severe fatigue. It settled when I stopped taking it (bizzare I know).

I also tried acupuncture, it didn’t help but did gradually get more painful.

noor9587 · 12/04/2018 18:55

AF has showed up Angry which means my next time trying will be June :( when hubby is next around. Good luck to everyone trying to get a period and pregnant x

jpclarke · 12/04/2018 20:15

Sorry ladies I have had some issues using the internet since last Friday, sorry to hear about those of you who got their period. Co q 10 apparently helps with fertility but I have read some of you talking about b complex and I was also taking that. Please god, baby will be due mid December but I would imagine I will be taken in early. My dh was delighted, when he finally found out. I think I was in shock for the first few days so I just left a positive test in the bathroom for him to find himself.

MrsNai · 16/04/2018 12:04

A great thread that ties in with my situation so thought that I would join in the hope of finding advice and support.

My baby is ten months old and still has breastfeeds pre-breakfast, mid-morning, mid-afternoon, bedtime and at least once a night. I would love to wean baby on to cow's milk at twelve months and decrease feeds when that is best.

Yesterday I was excited as for the first time since pre-pregnancy I had a period but bizarrely, I always had heavy periods for several days, it was lighter and does not seem to have lasted beyond the day.

I had hoped AF had finally returned and with it fertility and a chance to conceive but now it seems to have been a false alarm.

BoBo90 · 16/04/2018 18:02

Can I join too please?
My little boy is 5 1/2 months and been weaning for two weeks. No af yet and no plans to stop bf so we're just dtd and hoping for a surprise 😊

The plan was to start early so try would be more relaxed but I'm already desperate to be pregnant again 😂

MrsNai I read somewhere that your first period can be nothing more than pink discharge but it does still count and you can be ovulating again 🙂

MrsNai · 16/04/2018 20:06

Thank you BoBo. I shall take heart and count days!

doomkittycleo · 17/04/2018 20:30

Does anyone have any theories as to why I have spotting again (3rd cycle since af returned) on CD14.

I have no ewcm and my last 2 cycles were 33 days long. DP and I haven’t DTD since CD10 and he’s currently driving back from London (there and back from Lancashire in a day, so likely to be too tired when he gets home). I’m worried it could be ovulation bleeding as it’s CD14, but as my cycles are 33 days should I not be ovulating closed to CD18-19?

Would be more relaxed if we had DTD in the past day or 2, but I’m expecting a knackered DP tonight.

Wolfgrrl · 01/05/2018 09:19

It's gone quiet on here. How are you all getting on?

I had my first period at the start of April but it was not much more than some light discharge over two days (however I felt so ill with it!). This cycle I have been using OPKs and charting cervical mucus and BBT since around CD10 and so far nothing and I'm on CD21! Shall I just carry on with the OPKs until I catch it or could I be waiting months? I had naively hoped that my cycles would be every month when they started. Ha! I'm still bfing my 8.5 month old. Those of you with periods - how irregular were they once they started?

Right, going to read back on the thread and will do some replying...

Wolfgrrl · 01/05/2018 09:23

doom what did the spotting turn out to be, do you know?

Wolfgrrl · 01/05/2018 09:25

mrsnai sounds like our first period experiences were the same! How are you getting on this cycle?

Wolfgrrl · 01/05/2018 09:25

Bobo we were also planning to start early and be relaxed but being relaxed does not seem to be in my nature!!

BoBo90 · 01/05/2018 12:14

Woffgrrl I was hoping the same about cycles being regular once they start again! You'd think Mother Nature would want us to make more babies not be a bitch about it make it difficult! 😩

How often were/are you breastfeeding? Did you have to cut down a lot for af to return? Xx

doomkittycleo · 01/05/2018 13:59

wolfgrrl no idea, af is due next Thursday, but think I’m probably having anovulatory cycles.

Been at the drs for palpitations and breathlessness and mention it there and she said my periods are probably not fully back so it’s likely due to hormone imbalance due to bf Sad.

She’s sent me for a smear today to rule out anything else.

hopsalong · 01/05/2018 20:21

On the palpitations and breathlessness, I have been having some similar symptoms. (Currently feeding DC2 who is 11 months old 2-3 times a day and have been having periods since December, but the first few light and very long cycles, with weird spotting around when I thought ovulation would be.)

From doing some research I think the palpitations and (in my case) noticeable increase in heart rate is linked to progesterone. I notice it after ovulation. Before DC2 I never had any of these issues, but had hyperemesis and a lot of palpitations in my second pregnancy and think it sort of sensitised me. At any rate, just to say that there’s quite good evidence that progesterone can cause these symptoms so try not to worry that it’s some underlying thing.

For what it’s worth I was having apparently regular cycles when TTC DC2 and still breastfeeding DC1. But it was only the month that I completely stopped that I noticed proper egg white mucus etc and that was the month we conceived DC2.

NoseringGirl · 01/05/2018 20:50

I had a couple of days of palpitations last week and was a bit worried about it then it stopped. Now I think about it, it's around the time I ovulated. Interesting to hear it could be linked to progesterone!

SunnyCloudy · 01/05/2018 23:36

Hi everyone! Is there anyone else here who hasn't had a period yet since giving birth? I'm 10 months PP and no AF yet.

I've been getting a lot of ovulation symptoms and have been doing OPKs, but haven't had a positive. I tested again on Saturday and got this. Would you say this is a positive ovulation test?

TTC while breastfeeding
TTC while breastfeeding
MrsNai · 04/05/2018 14:06

Wolfgrrl so far am hoping that we might be fortunate and trying to resist the urge to pee in a pot (have got a glass in the bathroom cupboard just for peeing in for tests, please could someone reassure me that I am not the only one) as it will be ten days or so before anything could show on a test.

Checked a fertility calculator and even shaved my legs so we managed to DTD on some fertile days.

Have also resisted the urge to scream at DH when he suggested we just see what happens as we didn't need to check fertility calenders last time. Slight rose tinted glasses on his part as we did use an ovulation calculator and it took months to conceive.

doomkittycleo · 08/05/2018 21:45

hopsalong that’s very interesting about the palpitations and progesterone. I’d say it certainly sounds plausible that this is what’s happening with me.

Hopefully I won’t have to wait till I wean DD to conceive DC2, but if I do, so be it. She’s 7 months now and I plan to wean at 1 year so I can live with that. As long as it doesn’t take 2 years again I’ll be fine.

We are currently trying to night wean DD on the advice of the health visitor as she has been waking 2-3 times per night lately and the lack of sleep has been killing me. She never really came out of the 4 month sleep regression and seems to be nursing for comfort rather than food.

I’ve been limiting night feeds to 10 minutes per feed since Thursday, next Thursday I will reduce to 5 minutes with a plan to fully night wean in 2-3 weeks time. As she doesn’t take a bottle, I haven’t had more than an hour or 2 away from her since birth, so I’m looking forward to a night or day out with DP if we can manage it.

On another note my periods are very consistently 33 day cycles, so at least I can predict them.