TTC whilst breastfeeding - cycle 4

[ThatNimbleOP]

Hello,

Is there anyone who’d like to join me…

Currently on cycle 4, CD11. Still breastfeeding my nearly 2 year old and co-sleeping, wondering if it’s having an effect on fertility as we conceived in a blink of an eye the first time…trying not to overthink it all.

Anyone welcome to join, don’t have to be breastfeeding, just any support welcome!

Thought last month was the month but here we are again… :/

@ThatNimbleOPyes awful, I’ve had two periods now, and both have been weird, heavy, unusual spotting a few days before. Just hormones normalising I think, in a flood!

Also, I noticed some mood swings (short tempered) and some brain fog type feelings- apparently normal! I worried I had dementia for a bit 😫

Last time I weaned and was pregnant straight away, so maybe that could be a thing as well

@january1244 yeah!! Tbh cramps have stopped now, was just a couple of days so hoping it could have been implantation. I normally get mid-cycle cramping but this was another level! Very isolated on the front and to the side I ovulated, normally I get it around my back too. Praying to the baby gods but ,equally, know it could take a few months to see the effects of weaning (if any).

13 or 14DPO. Just constantly checking for red haha. But also normal for me to have no cramps before AF comes.

ALSO partners sperm test was all normal, in fact better then normal which a huge relief ☺️

Going to buy an oura ring when payday rolls around so hopefully that will help if not pregnant this cycle.

Period came ladies!! Beyond gutted, had a cry…onwards and upwards. Plus sides are that this is the most emotional period I’ve had for over a year (maybe since my periods returned PP) so something is going on.

Also got period cramps which sounds crazy but I’ve had zero cramps with my periods, they just appear out of nowhere. Really felt this one coming, nausea and dizziness in abundance, hence why I thought I was pregnant!!

@january1244 hoping it won’t be long till a BFP now. Will count this as CD1 of a true cycle haha. How long did it take you to fall pregnant after stopping? I stopped 2 weeks ago the day I ovulated.

@ThatNimbleOP sorry to hear you're on another cycle! Me too! My period eventually came but I think i was just relieved after 44 days 🫠 let us know how you get on with the oura ring! Im so intrigued by them!!

This long cycle has given me a bit of a kick to get myself sorted. Trying to get in with the GP and have an appointment back with my acupuncturist too.

We're down to just a quick feed with a story at bed time now. It's entirely just for comfort but she absolutely demands it 😅

@Strongbrewplease sensing thoughts out to you too but also can imagine the relief it came, 44days is LONG!

Im picking it up tomorrow so it’s ready to go beginning of my cycle. Just want to use it for temp and to see exactly when I ovulated. Also good for seeing if im pregnant? Anything helps right.

Just starting to feel very sad about it all…could not ever believe it would take this long. Hope everyone else is holding up.

@ThatNimbleOP I was considering the oura ring not sure if it's worth the cost but been tempted!

I'm week five now I think of no night time feeds and now day 6 of two feeds a day - first thing on a morning and bedtime. Really hoping this helps my period return as not sure at 15 months he is ready for me to fully stop feeding.

Hormones feel all over I just feel rage all the time

How is everyone doing?

Thankfully on a much shorter cycle this month, ovulated CD16 - coincidentally i got the super strong result on the ovulation tests the day after my first accunpunture!

About 9dpo over here so firmly in the tww.

Hello! @Strongbrewplease long time no speak!

Oh wow, great to hear your cycles are sorting themselves out. How much acupuncture are you having? I also had a session at the beginning of my cycle!

Still TTC. 5DPO here so not far off you haha. Started temping this cycle which has been fascinating. Makes me feel like I’m working on it more lol.

Also over 1 month since stopping the boobie!

Hi, hoping I could join!
I’m 17 months pp, with a little boy who still loves the boob, my period hasn’t returned yet but my DH and I are still giving it a whirl with ttc #2!
I started opks to see if I could find out if I was starting to ovulate and caught a high (not peak) last weekend so we DTD!
If I did ovulate then I’m probably about 6DPO, but today have had some light spotting so unsure if period is returning or it’s implantation? If I’m right about when I ovulated then it might to early for implantation?
I think as my period still hasn’t returned, it’s so hard to tell what anything means! It’s a bit of a minefield postpartum!!
If we don’t get a positive then I’m going to try reducing down feeding and get on the supplements too!

@Rosieliz04 I'm in a very similar situation, still no period so have been trying to do tests in hopes of catching first ovulation for a while but levels seemed to be all over. Have been having lots of twinges for months so thought something was coming. I'm down to two feeds a day - first thing in the morning and before bed.

I actually had a really strong positive Monday showing as a peak on premom and awful cramping and lots of cm so think I may have ovulated this month

@OneKookyPinkShaker I had some idea that it would take this long for my cycle to return, but I naively didn’t think it would actually take this long! 🙈

Yeah, I’m waiting for AF which will hopefully confirm that I did actually ovulate when I suspected!

You’ve got your feeds down a lot, that will almost certainly mean your period will be back soon. My DS seems to be getting more boob obsessed by the day! We had a night without him this weekend as well and now he’s been so unsettled overnight ever since and waking wanting to be fed! I feel like I’m never going to reduce it enough sometimes!

@Rosieliz04 I had to with the overnights as no amount of gentle weaning was working overnight and I just couldn't cope being back to work with hourly/90 minute wake ups even with co-sleeping. So my husband had to do night wakes up and by night 3 he slept through! Though he then turned boob mad when I was with him not at work. So I bought stick on nipple covers and would just show him when he tried to feed and say no boob until bedtime and he got it quickly. I tried again with gentler methods but didn't really work

Hi everyone!

We’ve totally weaned now so I’ll probably be less active on this thread. Moved across to generic TTC haha.

I’ll keep updating you all though. First month TTC after fully weaning….9 DPO but testing negative this morning on easy@home.

Also anyone into charting? What do we think 🤔

Also welcome all newbies and happy baby-making!

xx

@ThatNimbleOP your chart looks great! 9DPO is still really early, so deffo test again in a day or two!
I tested on 9DPO and got a BFN. Still not even sure if I’m even ovulating so I might just be doing all of this for fun/added stress!

@OneKookyPinkShaker wow, that worked really well for you! I think when DH has a few days off work, we’ll try him on the night wakes as we’ve spoken about it before and I’ve heard that it works.
Good tip re, the nipple covers too!

@Rosieliz04 that’s good to know. I’m such a chart virgin haha.

Also re: help night weaning. I really thought my little one would never wean but the night ones were the last to go and here we are.

Think once that bedtime one goes and they understand that there’s no more boobie (also the milk goes a bit funny fairly quickly haha!) it’s like a switch. She just stopped bothering at night. I really wish I’d stopped about 6 months ago with how easy it was!! Some tears but it’s soo all forgotten…☺️

How old is your little one again?

@ThatNimbleOP My chart knowledge is still a bit rusty, but yours deffo looks good so far!

Thanks for the advice and support! He’s 17 months, so doesn’t necessarily need it as much as he asks for it! I definitely use BFing to give myself an easy life; it gets him to sleep, helps him when he’s sick but he’s asking more and more and still waking overnight for it so we might just have to stop soon for both our sakes.

Glad to hear it went well for you and hopefully means a BFP soon!

@ThatNimbleOP well done on the weaning! Useless at xharts over here though so no insights to add.

We're down to just the bedtime/story time feed now and that's mostly because she's demanding it. I push her off after 10 minutes though and then it's a tantrum for getting in the cot. Think it's time for us to let this one go and move on... easier said than done!

@Rosieliz04 mt DD is 17 months also!

Ibe had a couple of accunpuncture sessions now, it seemed to work (coinside) with getting pregnant last time. Just having a horrendous period over here this time though. Cycle day 4 and it's been a lot 😬

@Strongbrewplease that sounds promising though! Honestly my daughter was the same but then it was just about being persistent as obvious as it sounds. Also not sure if you’re into it but she listens to peppa pig stories on Spotify, seems to have replaced the comfort of the boob…!

Oh no so sad to hear you’re on your period too, same here, CD1. Although weirdly temp rose today when it’s supposed to keep dropping, bodies eh?

We’re going in to night 4 of weaning my LO overnight so that I can get my cycle back! I did a test on Saturday which was negative, just in case lol.
Weaning is going okay, but my DS is quite boob attached so nights have been long!! But I think we’re making progress as he’s already not waking as often, which I’m looking forward to as well as being able to properly ttc!
I input my spotting from last week as a period just to see when my app would tell me I would ovulate, and it should be early next week. Looking forward to finding my peak and started temping again, so hopefully get DS weaned and then kickstart my cycle again.

@Strongbrewplease I’ve heard great things on Mumsnet about acupuncture, maybe it will work again for you!

@ThatNimbleOP Sorry to hear your chart wasn’t a winner after all!

Thanks @Rosieliz04. My temp has dropped well below coverline now so guess that's my pattern. Keep going with the night weaning, we're all here to support you.

CD2 i always feel SO much better, like a weight lifted! Telling myself there were plenty of months we only DTD once so shouldn't really count it. I'm gonna say this is only really cycle 8-9 of trying. Cycle 2 of post weaning :)

I'm day two of my period so I think I definitely ovulated this month though if so had a short luteral phase but hopefully I can track things now!

Hi all, thought I should probably come and update!
I ended up having 4 consecutive weeks of accupuncture and in that time also had a really weird period so decided it was finally time to see the GP.
She thought it sounded like a chemical (although not real way to ever know as I wasn't testing) and potentially had PCOS.
Went for a scan, which was all clear.
Then went for a blood test which has elevated HCG.
So after 10 months ttc, and still breastfeeding alongside our nighttime story, we have our bfp!

This is the second time I've conceived within a month of having accupuncture. No idea why but it really seems to work for me!