TTC whilst breastfeeding support thread - join me to share your ups and downs!

[smallblackflowers]

Hi!
A little about me - I'm pushing 34, have a 10 month old DD that I'm still breastfeeding and really want to conceive no.2 asap!
I am on my second cycle since AF returned and am temp / CM / CP charting using fertility friend and have OPKs!
I ovulated on day 29 of my last cycle, and am on day 21 at the moment.
Have been having fun and games with very fertile signs over the past week, so lots of BD, but no ovulation, poor DH is full of a cold and not feeling very energetic but I keep insisting that he perform until my temps go up

So anyway - hoping that there are others out there in a similar boat who can help to keep me sane and hopefully share some good news in the coming months.

QueenFee DD can quite often be fobbed off with a bottle of water at night (and now often asks for that rather than bf when she wakes up ) though she always wants boob eventually ...

I think I got a +ive OPK on CD14 this month so I'm feeling really hopeful that things are finally back to normal.

Christ, I've just remembered that I must not forget to go to acupuncture tomorrow!

Hope you are all well and not suffering too much in this heat

Ooo, Happy Birthday for Friday, QueenFee's DS!
Yeah, I can see that if you have always tested positive before you would again. It was the woman at DH's work's first baby and I think she got negative tests for her 2nd baby too.
Not sure about older babies and water at night, I'm still at the 6 month mark with PFB He is, however, being a star, we've had another 2 nights of sleeping through I am shattered now though, as I could not sleep well last night due to the heat
Dita - excellent if your cycle is back to normal
Also, if you're reading this today, DON'T FORGET TO GO TO ACUPUNCTURE!!!

I'm suffering in this heat too Lifeof Kate. I'm a teacher and the kids were really struggling today because they were so hot.

Good news Dita! Fingers crossed this is your month.

I've taken a leaf out of SBF's book and I've been to Holland and Barrett and bought up the shop. I've got co-enzime Q10, more evening primrose, more agnus castus, spirulina and milk thistle, as well as my normal pregnancy multi-vit. Let's see if it gets things moving!

yeah the heat is a bit much when you have to chase after kids! Oh days like this you look back fondly of when you could sit in the garden and read in the sun whilst sipping a cold white wine....
Back to reality!
DD and DS1 were weaned without too much hassle at 14 and 16 mths so maybe there will be a big improvement over the next couple of months
Today I managed to distract him quite a lot from snacking so he basically only had 3 feeds (morning 1pm and bed) which is quite a breakthrough
DVC good news +opk and hope the acupuncture goes well
LOKate Yay to the sleeping through!

Did you go to acupuncture Dita?!

The heat is flooring me too QueenFee, not to mention making DD want more feeds during the day.

And I also had a plugged duct the end of last week so I was volunteering much more feeds over the weekend (plus expressing at work, not that it appears I can conjure much up with a pump now these days).

DD looked slightly confused at times when I was looming over her from all sorts of weird and wonderful angles but, the trooper that she is, she took it all in her stride and everything is flowing freely again.

No other progress to report...

Hi ladies... RL has been very busy of late, so haven't really had time to keep up with thread. Sounds like there has been some good progress with reduced feeds and better cycles etc though... onwards and upwards!

Am having a strange cycle. No sign of ewcm at all, only a couple of swi, but am now having twinges, bloody nose (I think this was a sign for me last time) and feeling a little teeny bit sick... AF due on Sunday, so still a few days before I can test. Am thinking these signs are just in my imagination which makes me feel a bit .

N feeding more than ever so feel a bit about that in general - people keep saying why don't you just go cold turkey - there is just no way he would let me, that's why! I think it's the heat - have you found that too? He's not so interested in real food.

If I don't get a bfp this month, maybe I will cut out all day feeds or something... or night wean... [gulp]. Waves to all and hope you are all doing well.

Hee hee I did remember to go to acupuncture, but DD was still awake despite being pushed in her buggy for two bloody hours (and being awake at 5 am) - she then obviously fell asleep moments after we got in the car, so next week I'll drive around instead of pushing. And I was so knackered that I managed to relax enough to fall asleep during the session

at your looming bgs Beveridge

MissJackson how are you getting on? Have you tested yet? Hope you get some answers soon.

I'm a bit . I think I got a +ive on CD14 but it was a bit hit and miss (forgot to check the test for a while etc). Don't think I had much CM though (despite gallons of grapefruit juice - very refreshing in the heat!) but was a bit hard to tell because with all the SWIing I was never sure um in case it was um detritus rather than cm Now on CD20 (I think) and have been a bit crampy yesterday (particularly) and today (slightly) which was an early sign last time so vaguely hopeful. This evening I have just got EWCM, which again was an early sign last time but I'm panicking in case I'm actually just OVing now, like I did last month. I really really can't be arsed to SWI but it's been a few days ... I'm going to have to aren't I? Egads. Sorry for the overshare

Oops - meant your looming bfs, not bgs, Beveridge

Just found this regarding night weaning when co-sleeping and it seemed a bit more gentle approach here
I think we are going to give it a bash when the summer hols start so it doesn't matter too much if DS and DD are tired. I also want DS2 to move in with DS1 rather than in our room so this may help.

DVC know what you mean re can't be bothered SWI especially in this heat!

Fingers crossed for BFP for those of you in the is it or isn't it stage!

There's a support thread for the Jay Gordon method over in the breastfeeding forum, though I haven't looked at it in a while! Good luck

Hi everyone! Just wondered if you'll take a newbie on board.

I haven't read the whole thread yet (will do over the next few days weeks) so I can pick up all your info.

In a nutshell, DS is 10.5 months and we want to try for another. As mad as this sounds I'd like to get pg before Christmas so there will only be two school years between them (DS is August), but I'm ovulating on day 20 and my perios starts on day 27. Boo!!

It's probably too early to start dramatically cutting out feeds and he won't take a bottle/formula so I think it's probably a case of waiting until he's one and then cutting down to morning only. But I'd love a spring baby! Sadly mother nature isn't agreeing with my 'custom order a baby' ideas.

Anyway, I'm going to have a read through and try and catch up with all your stories (not in a stalker way!) and hope to pick up some hints and tips. It was tricky getting pregnant with DS so I'm going to take the 'all guns blazing' attitude towards this attempt.

Hope to speak soon! (Again, not in a stalker way).

Well I ended up testing super early on Thurs CD27 and got a bfp but am just so, so terrified of it going wrong again (I miscarried 3 months ago). I feel scared stiff every time I feed N, and every time I get a twinge, thinking it is AF about to begin... was silly to test so early really. Yesterday and today have just dragged, and I have so many days to get through before I can actually believe this is for real.

Queenfee We tried the JG method but never got past the first stage of feeding short. I know some babies seem to go with it quite well, but N would cry and scream and thrash around (in bed with us, us trying to cuddle him as per JG's instructions!) and it just didn't seem to work for us. I am sure if we had stuck to it, he would have got the message though. But I think he was still too young really - too young to understand that nursing had 'gone night night' along with Mummy and Daddy!

Welcome gingerbaby - I wanted my babies a school year apart too, but didn't get AF back until DS was 11 months and it was too late. But Xmas is a long way off for you, I am sure things will settle down by then and your cycles will improve.

Btw dita I had absolutely zero ewcm this month, I was checking all the time (tmi), so that's very strange. I thought I maybe hadn't even ovulated.

dita read somewhere that you can get a positive on opk but then not actually ovulate (not enough LH), then ovulate a few days later. That's why temps are the only way to know for sure - but I could never remember to take my temp each morning.

Anyway, hope you had fun swi in any case! Fingers crossed for you.

MissJackson wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwooooooooooooooooohoooooooooooooooooo!! That's fantastic news, huge congrats to you. Wishing you all the best for a healthy pregnancy and hope that AF stays away for you (did nature have to make AF cramps and the stretching you get in early pregnancy feel so similar? ).

I think that some new OPKs I've tried this month are less dependable/read differently from the ones I'm used to so now no idea at all about whether I've OVed or when. Pah!

Welcome gingerbaby and good luck reading the whole thread! Hope that it contains some useful info for you, particularly re short luteal phase. I know what you mean about wanting a spring baby - I was the same, and hopefully might still get one, just a year later than I hoped!

missj so pleased for you. hoping this baby stays put.

Congratulations MissJ!! Fantastic news.

I can totally empathise with the fear that comes with pregnancy after a loss. It takes the shine off, doesn't it. I really hope this one sticks for you.

Dita - Neither dp or I can be bothered with SWIing in this heat either. Which is a shame as I've just got a peak on my monitor. We have been making the effort but I have to say, it's not been the most romantic of encounters I've ever had.

Congratulations missj, good luck and hope you'll be able to enjoy it

Read a fair whack of this thread now and just wanted to ask if people have ny products/brands they recommend? I was going to go on a shopping binge for vitamins etc and totally bemused by the range out there! Also is progesterone cream safe and is it onl avaliable over the internet?

Thanks in advance! DS has just woken up so must run...

Thanks everyone; think I will be lurking here for a while longer though. Every day seems like an eternity to get through, but if I can get to 7 weeks I think I will go for an early scan, because I heard somewhere that if they can detect a heartbeat then, the chances of miscarriage go down to 1 in 10 or something...

dita sorry for crappy sticks - this month I was going to buy expensive ones as I never quite trusted the cheapos I had - but they must be all the same, surely?

gingerbaby I'm just on the sanatogen pronatal vits, and never got around to the progesterone cream, although I think the founder of this thread, sbf was using it, obviously with success!

Good luck with the swi coconut!

[pops head around the door]

Hi all and big congrats missjackson

gingerbaby I did try the progesterone cream, but was having a month off when I actually conceived.

I had a viability scan a couple of weeks ago - confirmed my dates and we saw a strong heartbeat (was 6+6 at the time). My MS has been up and down, some days I can barely function and others I just feel a bit off (like today) and start to worry that all is not right...typical first trimester paranoia . I've got an ultrasound on my kidneys tomorrow - might ask them to peep at the baby whilst they're at it...assuming all ok with the kidneys that is!

Anyway, just want to say that I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you all. x

So chuffed to hear about your BFP missjackson! Fingers crossed for you...

Glad to hear things are continuing to go well for you sbf

Teeth have reared their head again here, spent a number of nights last week with DD latched on from about midnight. ho hum....

Thanks sbf and bev. I think I will ask for viability scan too, assuming I get that far. Feeling really scared as nipples have stopped hurting when ds latches on and have no symptoms. And that's how it was before I miscarried last time. And it's still so early, not even five weeks! Trying to think positively but it's so hard.

Sorry to hear about teeth bev. Ds also latching on for an hour at bedtime as I down to just one feed in the day using distraction techniques!

Just wanted to mark my place as this keeps falling off my active convos!

Did I mention the other night I was driving around town while obsessing about my uncertain state of ttc and suddenly noticed that the reg of the car in front was BFP Hoping it's a sign On CD26 or something, tested yesterday and got a BFN obviously. Hoping to hold out until Friday then will test again unless AF arrives - though that's probably still too early thinking about it. Pah!

to all, sorry for the me me me post

I posted weeks ago but looks likely we'll start ttc from next month!
DS (14mo) is still BF on waking and at bedtime but I've now had 2 periods so hopefully will be all systems go soon!

Will try and read back a page or two to catch up...

That sounds great SES - good luck

Took another test this morning and was a BFN despite me looking at it from all conceivable angles and in various different lights to see if maybe there was a faint line that I missed (sadly I'm not joking ). No line so I left it on the side in the kitchen and went to play with DD. A bit later, DH came down and made himself some coffee and we had the following conversation:

DH: So that's a negative then?
Me: Well, did you see a line?
DH: Yes.
Me: Sorry?
DH: There is a line.
Me: The test line?
DH: No, there's another line.
Me: (suspiciously) Have you drawn one on in biro?

But he's right, there is the merest glimmer of a line, like the afterthought of a ghost BUT it was well after the allotted time. Having said that, I've got into the habit of checking them for hours after doing them, thinking even an evap line would cheer me up a bit and never got one .... Yeeeeeeek!

Can I join? DD is 21 months and still feeds at bedtime and when she wakes at night (usually once or twice).
Am trying to resist the urge to chart as I got a bit obsessed with it last time lol!!

One question for you all - my nipples are pretty painful around what I think is ovulation time. Anyone else get this?