TTC whilst breastfeeding. Tips, advice and support

[Porridgeaddiction]

Hi all,

There doesn't seem to be a thread for TTC whilst breastfeeding, so I thought that I'd start one. All welcome to jump aboard if that's your journey too, or offer tips and insights if you've managed to conceive whilst feeding a young one.

How does everyone feel about potentially catching with twins?! Apparently the risk is higher if breastfeeding 😬

Holy moly, is that true? Why on earth would that be the case, when resources are low when BF? You'd think it would be most likely to conceive a singleton girl!
I guess I'd be okay with twins (although insanely hard work for the first few years) but I'd worry about carrying successfully to term, and having healthy babies.

Remind me @Mc3209 , is this your first period? If so, hooray!

And @A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 and @PinkDucks both near the start of their cycles too - you're all quite in sync!

The last molar, Pinkducks, lucky you! We only have six teeth so far 🙄 Do you still have canines to come? I've heard they're the worst - I hope it's not true!

@Orangio yeah, something to do with hormones. Even worse if twins in the family, then it goes up from 6% to 11% chance. I think my DH would have a coronary if I got pregnant with twins 🤣
Yep, it's my first one since pregnancy! Now that I've seen it, I want it to go finish quickly 🙈

@Mc3209 oh wow is it really that high 🙀 I have twins in the family. Gosh. Yep it would be a worry, especially carrying them and all the associated extra risks.

I'm CD4 so yes we are pretty aligned! Tbh feeling like it's not going to happen for us while I'm feeding as intensively as I am - my luteal phase is surely so short nothing can implant. Going to try to introduce a couple of feeds of formula to see if it improves things

Jumping on here as I really now want to start thinking about TTC no2. I want quite a close age gap but worrying now that I might not get that with BFing. My boy is 6 months. No period yet however 2 weeks ago I was randomly sick and then got a BFP (on multiple brands so defo was real). It then turned negative pretty quickly so I’m certain I’m no longer pregnant but now that’s 2 weeks and still no bleed?! I phoned gp and he said oh I don’t know I’ll need to check. Then phoned me back and said I spoke to someone else and we’ll do a blood test in 2 weeks and as long as there’s no hcg your fine? But I’m now questioning this like surely if I got a BFP I ovulated so that released egg and my uterine lining will be in there so needs to come out with a bleed?! I’m considering phoning EPU to ask for a second opinion… when I got the positive it was a huge shock but I then got over the shock and came round to the idea and now I’ve imagined it I really want it so I want to try TTC.

Hi @justwantobeamum poor you, that sounds confusing 😕. I’m by no means an expert, but I think if it’s v v v early it’s possible for the egg just to be re-absorbed back into the body , and not necessarily result in a bleed. Def call the EPU for a second opinion if you are anxious though. Don’t worry about bf- 6 months is still really early, and it sounds like you are already ovulating , even if your hormones aren’t quite at a level to sustain a pregnancy yet. I’m sure if you keep DTD regularly you will get another bfp in no time ☺️Xox

So I finally had another bleed- but only 6 days after a positive OPK 🤦🏼‍♀️. Anyone else have a luteal phase that short?

Oh thank you @Golaz that is interesting and reassuring. I was starting to think what if it’s all just left inside me then messes up hormones even more. I think that perhaps I ovulated as like a blip I don’t think my periods are showing any signs of returning and I’m guessing my hormones also stopped it implanting properly and progressing. We are still very much BFing day and night and I don’t see that changing soon 😂 week 1 of weaning though and I think I will try to power on with that and hopefully he will cut down some feeds 😂

@justwantobeamum I'm so sorry that must have been horrible to get your hopes up like that. Your period might well resume shortly as it sounds like you caught the first egg. Hope you're okay.

@Golaz yep mine is about that short too. So that's probably 5 days if it's six days after a positive opk? From googling it seems like we are 'sub-fertile' while breastfeeding after cycles come back.

Hey girls!

I'm just checking in to wish you all luck with your cycles! How funny that you've all synched cycles! Imagine everyone getting a bfp at the same time?!

@justwantobeamum welcome to the thread. I'm sorry about what happened. That must have been a very anxious and confusing time. Looks like you are able to ovulate, so it may be possible to conceive again and for it to stick! Good luck! Make sure that you're taking your vitamins and looking after yourself.

I've stopped bf as I got really bad anxiety feeding my daughter breastmilk that I was told did not cause "significant harm"... That got me thinking so it can cause some harm? Researched and read every article that I could find and thyroid blockers has shown to rarely cause growth problems and thyroid issues in breastfed babies, but it can happen and I was so wound up about causing harm that me and DH decided that the best course of action was to just switch to formula. So here I am with a bra full of cabbage leaves medicating myself with sudafed.

Oh no @Porridgeaddiction I'm so sorry you had to stop. That really really sucks. I hope at the least that you get some relief from the soreness quickly. Is the thyroid problem an aftereffect of pregnancy and likely to be temporary, or is it possibly permanent?

@Orangio the endocrinologist said that it may settle down itself, although postpartum thyroiditis usually settles down within 8 months and I'm well past that, so she suspects that it's Graves disease that was triggered by pregnancy.

She said it was safe to breastfeed whilst taking the meds, I just really wasn't happy doing so

@Porridgeaddiction ah that's pants. There is nothing like a smell of a warm, starting to cook cabbage in one's bra 😬 Hope your boobs will feel better soon.

So after my first ever bleed at the end of August, I'm now pregnant! My periods were really regular before I had my son, every 28 days on the dot, so we just got down to business on day 11 and 13 after first day of pregnancy and then voila! Breastfeeding is really painful at the moment and hoping he will stop by the time baby number 2 comes. Good luck to you all ❤️

@Sneezymcsneezy congratulations!! 🎉 Fantastic news! So happy for you 🥰
Your post gives me hope. Before DS, I also had a cycle like clockwork. Fingers crossed I will follow in your footsteps.

@Sneezymcsneezy Congratulations! That's wonderful news! I'm so happy for you!

Thank you @Porridgeaddiction @Mc3209, it was a bit of a shock how quickly it happened actually as first time round we took 6 goes and we had used BBT to measure. FWIW i went 14 months without a period and down to two feeds a day (to sleep and in the morning)

Hello! I bumped into @A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 on another thread and wondered if I could join? 🙂I'm 37, have a 15m old breastfeeding DS and have just come off the pill to TTC no2. Have had a read of this thread, some interesting stuff! And congratulations to those with BFPs!

Hi @Billyv 😊
Are you doing anything specific (SMEP, tracking etc..) or just seeing how it goes?

Hi! We were super lucky that DS was conceived about 2 weeks after I stopped my pill. I didn't even have a period. So I was thinking I might start OPKs in around a week from now... Which sounds crazily hopeful. I'm not actually expecting a BFP soon, but if/when I ovulate I'd like to be able to pinpoint it so I can see what my luteal phase is like.

I think bbt is pointless for me as I'm still getting up some nights to settle DS. Plus he always wakes at 5.30am, which is when I feed him and put him in bed with us to sleep for another hour or so.

Otherwise just taking vitamins, trying to eat less crap, trying to sleep more (ha!). Today we went between 10am to 7pm for feeds which is good, but he generally has an afternoon feed as well. I'm thinking I'll start offering cow's milk for the afternoon feed if he asks for milk.

Just scrolled up the thread and saw you've just got your period back - did you do anything specific to encourage it to return? How old is your baby? Will you use OPKs etc or just go with the flow?

Hi @Billyv that doesn't sound crazily hopeful. If you've been on the pill, your cycles may well return immediately.

I'm 38. I thought that opks don't work when breastfeeding as you may get several oestrogen surges? I haven't been using them, and like you, temping isn't working atm with the interrupted sleep etc. I've been following CM and fertility signs but not sure how reliable that is either. Are the Clearblue opks which pick up additional hormones (the smiley face tests) any good while feeding does anyone know?

Hello! Same as @Billyv, thanks for the link @A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 ! 31 with a bf 9 month old, and absolutely no signs of my period. Used to have very short 23 day cycles (short luteal phase) and we have severe male factor infertility, so while not in a rush to conceive again right now - and counting our lucky stars we did to begin with mid-IVF-consultation - I am a bit anxious about giving it another go sooner rather than later!

Hi @AnonymousXXIX 👋

Oh no I didn't know that about OPKs @A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 do you have a link to where I can read about that? Presumably more oestrogen/different oestrogen patterns changes cm as well then... 😐

I'm kind of hoping at 15m in my cycles will just come back. I'm 37 so also feeling that evil biological clock tick

@Billyv DS is 2 years old. I am still breastfeeding, but I think what finally brought my period is reducing the frequency. My DS is a boobie monster, it feels like mission impossible to gently reduce feeds. I still feed in the night as well, DS' sleep is not the best 😵‍💫
I am making sure to eat enough calories and take vitamins. I am still on the fence about OPKs, I can just see myself getting obsessive.

@Billyv it said it in a pack I bought. I just googled also and it says the results are invalid. My understanding is false positives, and also breastfeeding can suppress an LH surge and so false negatives also 🤷‍♀️

Yep I think so, as I have several patches of EWCM the last two months