TTC while breastfeeding

[CatSneeze]

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?

Thank you doomkittycleo. What ovulation signs were you having, if you don’t mind me asking? Were you charting and doing OPKs too?

Noseringgirl I wonder if I'm one of those women who has to fully wean in order to regain full fertility. How old is DS2? I feel bad, but every time DS wakes up during the night, my first thought is "Noooo! The night feed will affect my fertility"

No idea why my post includes a screenshot, please ignore! I clearly need to go to sleep (and FX DS will bless me with one uninterrupted night...)

I was charting and had ewcm and positive opks, so was sure I was ovulating, but gynaecologist said, no. My progesterone levels were too low and it took 2 years and 3 rounds of clomid to conceive 😢.

I did the blood tests a few times (some on my actual CD21 and some on when I believed to be 7dpo (which is what a they need to be to be accurate).

Both showed low progesterone 😕.

Looks like I must have geared up to ovulate, but that it wasn’t an effective ovulation.

I hoping that having DD1 might have caused my hormones to reset and it might be easier next time, but until I reduce the BF further it’s not looking likely. We’ve timed BD right for the past 4 months, since AF returned and no luck yet.

@LulaRose he's 18 months old and we've mostly night weaned now. He sometimes has a late night feed but his main feeds now are morning and evening with an occasional afternoon. He started asking for more when it was really hot so I was feeding a few more times a day and worrying about the impact on fertility.

How’s everyone doing? It’s been a bit quiet in here for a while. DD is now 10 months and we did try introducing formula in a cup for a week or so, but she wasn’t going for it and was getting worse (started refusing water too cus she thought we were trying to trick her into drinking milk in the cup even when it was water.

I’ve given in now and just increased the amount of cheese and yoghurt in her diet as the health visitor agreed this would be ok. She still has x3 breastfeeds per day too.

I’m on the 5th cycle since my periods returned and we are actively trying this month. Currently on CD 21 and we DTD CD13,15,18 and 20. Fertility friend out my ovulation down at CD 18, but I didn’t spot any ewcm until that day (prior to DTD so fairly confident it wasn’t leftover semen).

I had ovulation pains CD 18,19 and 20. Not temping atm cus my sleep is still a bit inconsistent and it caused a lot of stress when ttc DD1.

I feel confident that we’ve had a fair go this month, but still wondering if I’m actually ovulating yet. I wish I could get tested to see as we want a small age gap, but pretty sure the Dr won’t test until I’ve stopped breastfeeding.

Just really hoping we won’t need clomid again this time. Don’t want to have to try on our own for months and make the age gap even bigger if it’s not gonna happen naturally.

@doomkittycleo hopefully you've ovulated and caught that egg! I needed clomid for DS1 but managed without for DS2. It did take a while though and was about to be prescribed it again when I got pregnant.

I'm ovulating on my own now (I track using an Ava bracelet but also do OPKs). Last cycle ended in a chemical which seems to have made this cycle a bit weird. I usually ovulate around CD16 but am only CD12 and FF has me at 4DPO. My temps started going up from CD6. Getting positive OPKs today as well (only started testing yesterday as I was away). It's all very confusing!
DS2 is having 3-4 feeds a day still. I'm hoping it's not interfering with my fertility though!

NoseringGirl I got temp spikes and positive opk’s like clockwork last time, but Drs said I definitely wasn’t ovulating, so even if I do use them, I can’t guarantee trust them.

When you say it took a while with #2, how long did it take? And where you still breastfeeding at the time?

It took nearly 18 months and I was breastfeeding for most of that time, I only stopped 2-3 months before I got pregnant. I started on metformin for PCOS around the same time I stopped breastfeeding and also had acupuncture and was on a low GI diet so I think that helped more than stopping breastfeeding. DS1 was nearly 2.5 at that point and weaned himself.

Hello everyone.
My son is 2. I was “trying” from the time he turned 1 but periods came back at 19 months. Pregnant first cycle but it ended in MMC and it really really dragged, waiting for it to end naturally and then eventually having surgical management. Had a period quite quickly after op and not sure I ovulated. Then a few weeks after I ovulated again, had some very faint positives the last few days at 10 and 12 DPO but I’m a bit concerned so I have my fingers crossed but am not super hopeful.
Anyway I’m feeding probably between 6-12x a day but Monday- Friday I work full time, so I assume this is what brought my periods back. He more than makes up for it at night though and also I find it quite hard to not feed a million times a day during weekends.
I must be ovulating - obviously, because I keep getting pregnant. Everything I’ve read says that once you are pregnant BFing shouldn’t make it more likely you’ll MC, but obviously it’s hard not to worry now.

Ah, I don’t have pcos, just wasn’t ovulating. I put it down to 15 years of hormonal contraceptives with no more than 3 months break.

It seemed like I was gearing up to ovulate each month, but that my hormones weren’t quite strong enough.

I tried acupuncture when ttc DD1, but it didn’t helped and just got more painful each time. I gave up with that after a few months because of the pain, (that and the woman kept pushing me to buy loads of supplements etc).

I’m planning to stop breastfeeding at 1 year anyway, so only another 8 weeks to go 😁 (DD has never taken a bottle so I have a dreadful relationship with BF as I have felt like a prisoner throughout). Can’t wait to finally stop!!!

Hopefully it won’t take another 10 months because we really don’t want such a big age gap.

I guess we just keep trying and see what happens.

@wheezing I can understand that worry. It crossed my mind with my chemical because I know that breastfeeding can mess with luteal phase. I think it's quite normal to try and find a reason after a loss. Hope those faint lines get darker for you!

@doomkittycleo ahh I've heard that from other people who've had acupuncture about the supplements. My acupuncturist never even suggested them. She was fab! Well done on nearly reaching your breastfeeding goal, it's hard work!

@doomkittycleo
Well done on feeding so long especially feeling about it the way you do, 8 weeks isn’t that long!

@NoseringGirl thanks, it’s annoying now because it’s all I can think about. I’m assuming from my MMC that clearly my body is able to hold on (far too long in fact) to a pregnancy, but maybe that’s now how it works.
I’m also worrying because I basically get pregnant every cycle (DS also first cycle). MMC was two sacs even. I kind of wanted to not get pregnant this cycle to prove that I could time DTD with ovulation and it not result in pregnancy, and I think then I’d maybe believe a BFP more.
I wanted to wait a few days and all I have at home are ICs but I might test when I get home.

I actually ovulated for the first time since giving birth, and got a positive pregnancy test at 8dpo. Sadly I ended up having a chemical pregnancy. I'm feeling frustrated and very confused about what this means for my cycle and fertility. DS is back to feeding a million times a night because of the heatwave, and I wonder if it means I won't ovulate again for a while...

Breastfeeding on demand- periods cane back three months in, got pregnant six months in- not using contraception- but hardly trying either. Only had sex twice that month and around 8 times in total!!

Let’s hope it sticks!

@LulaRose my 2 year old was basically attached all night. I wouldn’t worry- I’ve heard a lot of people say, and it seems to hold true for myself, that once your cycles come back they’re back.
I was on holiday for two weeks before I ovulated and despite distracting as best I could but I don’t think I went more than 3 hours without feeding the whole time day of night.

It’s like my body was asleep and now it’s awake again.
Sorry about your chemical. I’m in limbo at the moment trying to figure out if mine is that or not.

Hopefully no one minds if I resurrect this thread?

My DS is 14months, we’re just doing night time weaning atm, he doesn’t feed in the daytime at all.

My periods be returned but on a short cycle of 21days. I got a positive on an OPK this month and we DTD often, but at 9DPO I’ve had a BFN this morning and I’m just feeling a bit down about it.

Do I need more supplements?

I breastfeed dd (10 months) whenever she wants throughout the day and I'm 8 weeks pregnant. We were avoiding fertile week so no clue how we caught xx

Hi ladies,

I know these posts are from years ago. I am
Currently in the same situation with short luteal phase - ive stopped feeding my baby to regain fertility so that we can try for #2.

I had my first period at the beginning of jan - 4 days after ovulation (using CB digital ovulation tests).... have just ovulated again on either cd22 or 23.

Do you have any success stories? Anything that you did that seemed to work? Or is anyone else in the same position?

Thanks xxx