anybody else would like to TTC but still BF and not ovulating yet?

[choolie]

DS is 11mo and still has couple of BF at night. We thought we'd be at least trying for DC2 by now, if not already pregnant, but periods not yet returned. I know I may be lucky and just not get them at all and get a BFP but it's like the great unknown, will I won't I, ooh was that a symtom etc. Very hard not to reach for the tests every 2 wks!

Anybody else in a similar posotion?

Hi Choolie
My DD is nearly 7 months old and DH and I are getting excited about number two DC already! However, much the same as you, DD is exclusively brest fed and there is no sign of my periods returning anytime soon. We have started weaning, which she has taken to really well. DD used to feed sooooo much (seriously - about 11- 12 feeds a day!) and since weaning she is definitely so much less interested in milk. I really don't want her to cut down on milk too quickly though, and have just now given her an impromptu breast feed, as am worried if left to it herself she wouldn't want much milk at all. (plus keep getting very full breasts now and it's getting uncomfortable!) It's all so confusing, because on the other hand, I want her to cut down the milk feeds so there is more chance of conceiving. She is still very young though I guess to cut out milk much. Plus she still feeds at 11.30pm and 4am through the night.
I was reading some articles yesterday about conceiving whilst BF.I will try and find the links for you. I know what you mean about reching for the tests though! I got all excited last week thinking there was a chance I might be pregnant - I felt like I really might be - and wasn't. Boo hoo. Sorry this is a bit chatty and not actually helpful - I just know how you feel!

thanks boobie, that's great to know am not the only one - just looking for others in the same boat really, so no worries about the chat, it's what i'm after! be grateful for the links when you have time, cheers .

yep, DS was the same with his quantities of feeds, more so all through the night, which I've only recently managed to reduce. He stopped being interested in day feeds off me, and prefers some formula now (altho' has lunged at my boobs a few times in the bath this week as he's just started nursery, so has picked up his bedtime feed again ) - not prepared to stop just yet, so hoping no.2 will be lucky right timing on our part. (Altho' nothing like a baby who doesn't sleep well as contraception - lack of energy...)
11mo on, boobs settle down luckily, so whether he has 1 feed or 5 feeds, the next day there's no over fullness, so you'll prob get to the same stage soon - have finally been able to go out without bra pads and am managing an underwired bra in the day time now .

Hi there Choolie - (name change - it's me - the Boobie!) sorry for lack of links - busy weekend and off out again in a sec but will try and find them this evening.. if you still around!
I know what you mean about not having the energy to even make number two happen in the first place. Although we got our first full nights sleep last night so am celebrating today!
Hopefully boobs will settle down a bit - they're all over the place at the moment! I am soooo lopsided it's a wonder I am not going round in circles!

hello
had my eye out for a thread about this for a while.
my dd is only 5 months and still fully breast fed but i'm old (39) and so we have no choice but to start on no 2 asap. Plus I had trouble conceiving her - she's an iui baby - so am terrified i won't get a no 2! I have moments of fear about it at 4 am.
I was planning on suddenyl topping all night feeds (looking forward to that!) and replacing with formula at 26 weeks as it's the suddenness that's supposed to bring back yr periods. I saw soething on kellymom - will try to find the link when i get time...
But actually it might be easier to replace all her day feeds with formula as she has no interest in feeding during the day. But then that's not likely to bring my periods back!
Feel awful as I'd love to keep bf for longer as it's so easy and loely and I had a lot of difficulty getting it started.

As for the sex - well for oncw it's nice to not know if i'm fertile or not - takes the stress out of it!

And i've only done 2 tests! Mainly becasue i keep beig queasy - think it's bfing!

Dd is very grumbly at the moment - maybe teething - so haven't read yr posts properly but just glad you're both out there! Who ever thought we'd want our periods back!!

I know, Peanuthead! We should be happy to be period free - but I am just so keen on no.2 already!
Just a thought re. stopping breastfeeding suddenly though... My DD is 7 months old, and started weaning at 6 months. Just this week she has dramatically cut out milk feeds - going down to just 3 a day from about a million a day!) and went for the first time from 7pm - 6.30am with no feeds at all! So she has naturally come to a sudden decrease in feeds. Maybe you might be lucky and not have to do the replacing night feeds with formula!
On the negative side I now have nowehere for all this milk to go! Boo Hoo.
I guess I should get off mumsnet and do something more productive to bring about baby number 2 really, bearing in mind this sudden decrease in feeding! Yawn. It's never going to happen!Good to have you join us peanut.

I think it's the sudden decrease that does it so that's a good thing. although did you know there's alos a thing called milk fever when you can get flulike symptoms when you cut down suddenly!
7-630 am - what a dream!! although that would have my boobs exploding. i once went 12 hours on one side (don't ask...) and it was agony so i do feel for you. Currently we're feeding 3,4,5 tiems a night - i lose count by 4 am ish.

Bedtime feed now so got to go...

oh, I didn't know that about the milk reducing quickly affecting things - DS has cut down on his milk so gradually that my body is prob holding on till the bitter end before starting to think about any eggs then! At 6mo DS was not at all interested in day feeds, the world becomes more interesting to them I think doesn't it at that stage.

I'm 36 myself peanut head, so we don't want to leave it too long, just incase we'd also like no.3 too - undecided yet depends if we're lucky enough to get a DC2, fingers crossed!

I'm sure I've read somewhere the longer it takes your periods to return, the more fertile that first one is...but that could just be wishful thinking, google here I come!

Last time my periods took a year to come back,but when they did I got pregnant with one go (literally one,not much opportunity when you co-sleep with a toddler)at 42 even though I was bfing three or four times at night and a lot during the day.now baby 8m and no periods yet,undecided about trying for a third!

DD1 is 9.5 months, still BF and I've still no periods - but the general guide is that BF isn't a reliable form of contraception past 6 months regardless of how much the baby feeds, so I may well be ovulating.

I'm trying to get back into some of the fertility awareness stuff I used while we were TTC before to give me an idea of if/when I do ovulate, just in case DD decides to let us have a chance to do anything about it .

oh hellymelly i could kiss you - that's just what I want to hear!
it can happen! although i don't think we'd ever manage it on one go/

do you think all the fertility awareness stuff works if you haven't had a period? I also can't imagine taking my temp at the same time every morning before I move when i've got a demanding baby. I was convinced over xmas that i had fertile mucus but I suppose I would have had a period if i had been fertile.

i suppose lots of sex is the one thing to do on the offchance of ovulating but phew....

hellymelly thanks! yes, must admit, we're co-sleeping, so that is the next hurdle, actually getting down to it!

Tangle I must admit I'm a bit dense about all this ovulating or not lark - can you ovulate regularly without a period? I thought once you'd ovulated if no conception takes place, that's when you get your period, as it's the egg that's not being used. so, could I actually be ovulating at the moment without getting periods??? (sorry for such a stupid question - you'd think at 36 I'd know a bit about all this, should have concentrated more at biology!)

Choolie - I was still doing nightfeeds when I conceived this time - no periods though - very little cervical mucous either, the only things that tipped me off that I was fertile were an early miscarriage and then a BFP six weeks later. I'd only had sex twice since DD was born and both times we caught. We were told we'd only ever have babies using IVF so......

peanuthead - you can definitely ovulate and be fertile even if you're not having periods, as there have been quite a lot of babies born to women who were relying on BF (and no periods) for contraception .

If you are ovulating then your hormones must be tending back towards "normal", and so the fertility awareness ought to start to come into its own again.

Whilst in an ideal world you'd take your temperature at exactly the same time every morning, I tend to go for when I've just woken up after a "reasonable" period of sleep (it's meant to be at least 3 hours - yeah, well...). I've only been going about a week and so far the temps match my pre-ovulation temps from when I was TTC. If I'm ovulating then there HAS to be a change in hormones to trigger that, and that should be evident in a temperature shift. From when I was temping before I'd expect to see a gross temperature shift if I ovulate, even if the timings and sleep are a bit eratic and so there's a lot of scatter on the plot. So I figure at least I'll have an idea of whether I'm ovulating or not and roughly when, even if I can't pin it down as accurately as I'd like.

In addition to charting temperature and CM, you can also keep tabs on the postion of your cervix (if you can/want to reach it). Some women use ferning although I never have. Or you could get a bulk load of OPK sticks and do one a day. They may cost money but at least they're not time sensitive.

choc sorry for your MC, but big for the BFP that followed. thanks for giving us all hope! when are you due?

End of July we think (see how complex it gets when you have no periods? ) However the mws are surprisingly cool when you tell them you are still breastfeeding.

Oh and bollocks to temping and peeing on silly sticks HAVE SEX EVERY THREE DAYS - sperm will then be available when you do pop an egg out. It really can be that simple

sex every 3 days? DD needs to actually sleep in the evenings as standard rather than a rare occurence before that one'll work....

not ttc at mo but still bf 15 m/o quite a lot really and periods came back at 13m which was later than I expected if that info is helpful?

Tangle - yes, that's why we only did it twice in 13 months

In retrospect though laziness and knackeredness in equal measure played a part

I BF until DD was 17 months. Periods returned when she was 13 months and I was pregnant when she was 14 months. Baby inbound in five weeks . Best of luck (mainly with staying awake long enough to have sex every three days ).

I know, every 3 days??? honestly, we're lucky if we've done it every 3 months since DS born (11mo!) - dreadful sleeper = most effective form of contraception!

Must make time for some romance

Feel free to borrow my DH. He's normally charged and ready to go

Oh and we haven't done it since I conceived either. When DD gets old enough to ask me what the difference is between boys and girls I may well have to look it up!

Hi there, I hope you don't mind me gatecrashing? I've been b/f A LOT for 23 months now and STILL no periods. We really want to try for another, so I've drastically cut down on day feeds recently and I'm sure there's some hormone action. It's so frustrating not knowing what's going on.

I've just read a book that says you can have periods without ovulating, but if you're ovulating you will bleed. Simple as that. So if you're not having periods, you're not ovulating.

It also says that sperm can only live for a matter of hours in non-fertile type mucus, so the three-day bonking rule shouldn't make much difference. At least that's what the book says and it seems to know what it's on about. It's called 'Taking Charge of Your Own Fertility'. Anyone else read it?

Ladies, I have only skim read the thread, but I was ttc for months while breastfeeding ds and it seemed like a lost cause. Then I read this book. It was a revelation. I had no idea that I knew so little about my own body!! I later learned that breastfeeding was making my luteal phase (the time between ovulating and menstruation) too short to give a fertilised egg time to implant. I cut down feeding ds a bit and I got pg in December last year, but unfortunately miscarried at 6 weeks.

What I really want to say is that it's not always as simple as breastfeeding + ovulation = able to get pregnant. I am 36 so I know I need to get my skates on and without the information in this book, I would still be fumbling in the dark - so to speak

LOL crossed posts danceswithbaby