short luteal phase due to BF?

[lilysma]

Can anyone help decipher my cycle? Have been TTC for the third time for 5 months now with no success. DD is 3.2 and still BF quite a lot. I'm worried that I may have a luteal phase that is too short and this may be affected by BF (I have read that this is sometimes the case) but am not sure, mainly because I don't know which day to take as day 1 of the cycle.

AF always starts with a very light brownish staining (sorry if TMI!) for several days (in the last two or three cycles this phase has been as long as 5 days) before the cramps and the bright red blood at full flow starts. The light staining starts 9-10 days after I get a positive OPK result, which seems to be a short luteal phase - if I count the beginning of the staining as the beginning of the cycle. But if I count the bright red blood as day 1 then it is fine (about 15 days).

Opinion seems to be very divided about when to count as the first day of the cycle. Can anyone point me to an expert source of info about this? If no success this month I will go to see GP (I'm 36) but am concerned that I will just be told to stop BF because most health professionals seem to have a knee jerk reaction that it is time to stop now. I don't want to force DD to stop if it isn't necessary as she is still very attached to her BF and I'm happy to continue....and I have no idea how to get her to stop!!

Any suggestions about where to get information on this issue???

General consensus is that the first day of your cycle is the day that you wake up bleeding red blood. So if you start bleeding at 2pm, the next day is day 1.

Even if your luteal phase was 10 days, this would be adequate for conception. It's the short side of normal but not a luteal phase defect. I've always had a shorter than average (14 days) lp and it's around 11 days, occasionally 10.

When my periods first came back after bfing, my luteal phase was 4 days and stayed that way for a while, gradually lengthening as dd fed less. I wasn't actually having a fertile cycle for about 11 months after my period returned.

Trying for 5 months without conception is utterly normal. Your chances of conception if you're in your 20s and doing everything right on the right day is 25% and this chance drops as you get older so of course it doesn't happens straight away. That said, I am aware you are anxious to conceive and as you are over 35 the GP wouldn't mind just doing some basic tests I'm sure as you've reached 6 months of trying or thereabouts.

There is no need to stop bfing if you want to have another baby but you probably want to make sure you are ovulating. OPKs alone are not a reliable indicator of this at all.

Have you read Toni Weschler's book? Very good indeed and would help you understand your body.

Meant say. I am still feeding my 2.7yr old and while it took time for my cycle to settle, I am certainly fertile again.

You can continue bfing for as long as you and your dd wish, through conception, pregnancy and having a second.

Thanks for this. I haven't read the book, but it has been recommended by many so perhaps I should. Have just been trying not to think about it all too much on the basis that this may make it less likely to happen, but I guess the fact that I'm posting about it suggests I've failed at that .

I know 5 months isn't that long at my age, but just want to make sure I'm not trying against impossible odds IYSWIM! My other two pregnancies were very quick (the first one happened the first month of trying, but ended in EP and the second one took 4 months) so I've been spoiled!

My periods came back when DD was about 18 months, so they've had over 18 months to settle down (but I guess it may not work quite like that . But I haven't been checking my cycle except for the last 5 months.

Oh I think it's normal to worry a little about it. And there are very basic tests they can do throughout your cycle to check you're ovulating at the right time and with adequate hormone levels. Be clear that you want to continue bfing and even if there were any fertility issues discovered, there are steps to take before stopping bfing.

You sound like you have a good basis to start from ie conceiving in good time previously (I am sorry about the ep) and your periods having returned while bfing (doesn't always happen).

Please come back and tell us what happens. I suspect there's little to worry about.

Toni Weschler, yes, definitely read.

Thanks loads for this supportive advice. Can I just check out another internet derived theory on you? (I know, I know, a little knowledge is a very dangerous thing!) If the light flow I get before AF is 'spotting' then I have read some suggestions that spotting for more than a few days before AF can be a sign of low progesterone levels - i.e. I am back to the same problem . The thing is that I have always spotted for a few days before AF, it's just that it seems to be lengthening. I guess I should just stop self diagnosing and go to see the GP to get some basic tests next month if no go in this cycle....

Hi Lilysma. I don't have any wisdom for you (we won't start TTCing for another eight months or so - first baby) but I also get spotting for 3-4 days before my period starts properly. One cycle it was 7 days, but I think that was a weird cycle. I track mine on the Fertility Friend website - I figure that if it turns out to be a problem, I'll have about 2 years of data to show the Drs

I've also spent FAR too much time Googling and scaring myself about low progesterone levels and the problems that can go with it (namely short luteal phase and difficulties conceiving, and risk of miscarriage in early pregnancy). The only thing that comforts me slightly is when I mentioned it at my last smear. The nurse said I had cervical erosion, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is the cause. If you're due a smear it might be worth asking whether you have an erosion.

Thanks for this - will ask when I next have a smear - google is definitely dangerous!

Yes spotting can be a sign of low progesterone levels, it can also be a sign of many, many other things and sometimes can be nothing. Also, with low progesterone levels you might expect other symptoms or signs. Spotting can just be one of those things, it can be progesterone levels, uterine cysts, endometriosis, cervical erosion. I have a slightly eroded cervix and bleed during smears and spot for a day or two before each period.

I think a trip to the GPs should put your mind at rest but your cycle doesn't sound "abnormal" or on the surface of it anything that would prevent conception. But, at 36 they'll happily check you out.

Thanks Gingerbread. Google really is a dangerous tool in the minds of the paranoid and mainly ignorant (i.e. me ). I think I need to stop thinking about this for another month and then go to see the GP and read 'the book'. Will keep you posted...