Ovulation after pregnancy loss

[AnotherEllie]

Hi everyone
I sadly had a mc which started with bleeding on 1st Jan and I believe I miscarried completely on 2nd Jan this year. It was confirmed as a complete miscarriage on 4th Jan with a scan. I bled until Saturday 7th and I have been taking hcg tests everyday which are getting lighter - as of today, they are basically squinters. I was 6weeks 2 days and things happened quickly and with little pain.
I'd like to try again ASAP as my husband works away and it's difficult to plan these things.
I have a very regular cycle - usually 27 or 28 days but I've not really tracked ovulation before so not sure when I typically ovulate - I guess probably around day 13 but not sure.
I am wondering if people can share when they ovulated after their mc? I've become confused by reading online as some have said 2 weeks later but was this 2 weeks after bleeding started or 2 weeks after bleeding stopped?
Or am I unlikely to ovulate until 2 weeks after HCG has fully gone? I am getting myself confused. I can only see ranges online but not sure if the range is smaller for your next period if the mc was early.
I'm going to track BBT and use OPKs too but I'm just interested in others experiences. Could this happen as early as this Sunday as this was 2 weeks from the start of the MC?
Also, I already have one ds who is 18 months and I'm still breastfeeding. No idea if this has any bearing on things but it was a straight forward pregnancy and birth with him.
Thanks so much in advance!

@AnotherEllie Hi, I’ve chatted to you on another forum 😊 I’m wondering the exact same thing! Can you ovulate 2 weeks after the start of the bleeding?! I had my loss on the 31st ( 6 ish weeks) and I had light spotting from the 2-5th but stopped spotting completely on the 6th. Now I’ve seen signs of ovulation, my cervical mucus (cm) started changing already on the 8th, surely it can’t happen this early?! I’ve not started tracking body temp or using opk’s yet as I thought I’d wait 2 weeks. I’m away with work so I’ll start tracking again tomorrow. My cm is usually the biggest clue to when I’m ovulating though. I think I’ll just dtd and hope for the best.
I hope someone can shine some light on this for us!

I forgot to add that prolactin ( breastfeeding hormone) suppresses other hormones and makes it more difficult to ovulate

@Travellingislife yes exactly! I'm really confused. I have this feeling I will be the same as you are suggesting and will ovulate quite soon - as mentioned my cycles are often only 27 days and very regular.

I think it must be possible to ovulate after 2 weeks from the start of bleeding if your period can come back after 4 weeks? (Though I wasn't clear if the 4 weeks was from the start of bleeding or after bleeding ends) I just don't know if that's the norm or if longer is normal etc. I also read some people ovulated after 3 weeks and then had a period at 4 weeks so I think it can change the luteal phase.

Have you done a HCG test? I'm getting very faint positives but not sure if it would prevent ovulation or not...

I am going to where my husband works at the weekend so that we can ttc for this reason! Don't want to miss an opportunity, particularly as my husband might be away during my next ovulation.

It's all so confusing and hard to plan! It makes me realise that I am lucky to have regular cycles usually!

So sorry for your loss. My son is 9 months. I got my period back 6monthspp and ovulated again despite feeding him between 7 and 12 times in 24 hours. Apparently when you get past 6 months the hormone drops. And can ovulate again. I definitely ovulate. Can feel it. I think its 2 weeks from first day of bleeding. When I ovulated after a chemical I think I ovulated earlier than the month before x

Once you get past 6 months it doesn't

Hi @AnotherEllie sorry about your mc 😔
I miscarried in November 2021 at 5 weeks, i remember alot of pain and bleeding heavy for days.
I then had a period on 21st December 2021 and concieved after my period in January 2022, i had my baby girl in October 2022 (i was overdue).
Hope the above helps, sending you positive bubba vibes x

Hi I miscarried on the 9th december 2021, positive ovulation test on the 4th January 2022 and got my positive pregnancy test 10 days later. My daughter was born in September :) good luck!

I'm so sorry for your recent miscarriage, OP. To answer your question, yes, it is possible to ovulate from 14 days after you start bleeding. The first day of the miscarriage does act as cycle day 1 for the purpose of monitoring cycles. However, whether this does actually happen varies massively between women. I had a miscarriage at 7 weeks and it took me 5 weeks after the start of bleeding until I ovulated (I use OPKs so was able to monitor this). I didn't get pregnant that cycle, but I did the next, and I'm now 15 weeks. I'm also still breastfeeding, and when I had my miscarriage I did wonder if that was a problem, but it doesn't seem to have affected my current pregnancy.

And @Emmamoo89 such blanket statements aren't helpful. Breastfeeding certainly impacted on my ability to ovulate - I didn't get a period back until I cut down feeds to no more than 15 minutes once a day - anymore and I would not have a period. I tapered down slowly after 9 months months as my period was nowhere to be seen, so my prolactin levels post 6 months were clearly still a problem. It's always helpful to give our own experience, but it doesn't make it a universal truth, so we shouldn't state it as such

Just giving my own experience and it might of been like that for you but most it fine after 6 months. And you don't always need a period to ovulate.

@Emmamoo89 as I said, personal experience is always helpful, but blanket statements like "not when you get past 6 months it doesn't" isn't. And I'm not 'unusual', so I don't know why you think 'most' are fine after 6 months. Each woman is individual and prolactin will impact their hormones differently.

And yes, I'm perfectly aware that you don't need to have a period to ovulate. But that is obviously only for the first cycle, after that you will have a period. You cannot ovulate consistently without periods.

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. I am already tracking BBT but will also start with OPKs once my HCG tests come back negative.
@sexnotgenders that's interesting about breastfeeding. I do notice my cycles have been randomly longer on occasion and I have wondered if it could be linked to when my ds is ill as he breastfeeds constantly (10x a day!) even now when he feels unwell - so I have wondered previously if this has affected my cycle.
I know I just need to wait and see but it's helpful to know it could be any time from 2ish weeks so thank you.

@AnotherEllie I’m hopefully seeing my husband today, and I fingers crossed it’s not too late as I’ve had ovulation signs for a few days. We have the same problem- I work away a lot and it’s causing so much stress trying to hit the fertile window.
I’ve not done a hcg test yet, I’ll do one today when I get back home, I’ve heard some women saying that after a loss they have had faint tests but still ovulated so I think you definitely can.
You breastfeeding seems not to have an effect, for me it really did, I didn’t have a period/ didn’t ovulate for a year after I stopped breastfeeding!! That said, my body is hyper sensitive to stress and stops ovulating right away if I’m stressed, that certainly doesn’t help things when I’m desperate to conceive and the whole situation makes me stressed.

@Travellingislife I really feel for you. My husband is away now until Friday but I don't expect to ovulate until Sunday at the earliest as that is 2 weeks from bleeding. I'm seeing him Friday-Sunday then he is away again until Thursday. I'm just hoping I don't ovulate on Tuesday or Wednesday next week (or even really Monday for that matter as I'd rather be together when I ovulate to have the best shot at it) so I'm hoping it either comes at pretty much exactly 2 weeks or if not, closer to 3. So hard to know! I wish my husband's works trips were shorter as an 8 or 9 day trip is virtually impossible to work around, even if I go to the same city as him for the weekend. I don't know why but 4 weeks extra of waiting feels like such a long time too when TTC!! I suppose because in our minds, we had already started to plan to have our children in the next 9 months so adding a few months feels long. So tough and frustrating. All I can do is continue to track and try and see if my husband can move his work trip in February if needed. Frustratingly I am also starting a new job so hard to book off random time too to try and be together - that is what I would have done in my current role. Keeping my fingers crossed for us! Please do share your journey over the next few months @Travellingislife if you feel comfortable.

@AnotherEllie I got pregnant 4 days after ovulation so there is definitely a big chance you can still get pregnant if you dtd on Sunday but ovulate later in the week.
I will share my journey, please do the same 😊

@Travellingislife that is really interesting and encouraging!! I will definitely share my journey. I never thought it would be this complicated to think about though!

So I’ve finally done hcg and lh tests, 11 days after the day of the heaviest bleeding. Lh negative but hcg showed a very faint positive. I’m having ovulation signs so goodness knows what’s going on. I feel so ready for ttc so I’ll keep testing, dtd and hope for the best! I’ll start tracking my temperature soon as well but I think it’ll be a bit all over the place.

@Travellingislife that must be so confusing! I think doing some lh tests might be good. I also heard to do them twice a day as you might not see a surge otherwise.

I am currently on day 9 after the heaviest of bleeding and I have the very faintest of lines on a HCG test now - probably so faint that you wouldn't see it if you didn't know I had been pregnant.

I haven't had any signs of ovulation yet but feel a bit strange. It's hard not knowing my body as I am usually so regular with my cycles.

I am planning to keep an eye on cervical mucus and BBT too. I know you mentioned you monitor this @Travellingislife. I found this chart so I am going to see if that gives me any clues.

I just have a bad feeling I won't be with my husband when I ovulate and it'll be frustrating and then it'll be the same stress again when he's away next month.

I really took my first pregnancy for granted!

@AnotherEllie is your husband away for many days at a time? Remember that sperm can live for 5-6 days inside the body.
I’m thinking of doing LH tests twice a day now when I think I’m in my fertile window to not miss my surge. I definitely think the chart you posted is accurate, that’s basically what my cycle is like.
I know what you mean with not knowing your body, my cycle used to be a textbook 28 day one with ovulation on day 13 but after having my son it’s different, later ovulation and longer cycles, not the same each month either. I also got pregnant right away with my son with no complications so I expected the same now. To be fair I got pregnant fast but I lost it.. I just wish I get pregnant again fast and it’ll be a healthy baby 🙏🏼
I’m sure your cycle will get back to its usual self soon once your hormones settles.

@Travellingislife thank you for the reassurance.

Our experiences sound really similar! I also fell pregnant fast the 2nd time - on the 2nd month of trying so fingers crossed it happens again when things eventually return to normal for us.

Unfortunately my husband often does 8 or 9 day trips - once a month. So difficult to plan given I have no idea what's going on with my body. I think it is just a case of riding out the next couple of weeks and hoping for the best!

Oddly, I'm having period like symptoms now - bad skin and a bit crampy. I'm actually wondering if ovulation will be more likely in 2 weeks ish on that basis.

Think I'm driving myself mad thinking about it! My work is really quiet too which I don't think helps!!

@AnotherEllie our hormones are all over the place so it’s so difficult to know what’ll happen. We just have to wait and see.. I hate waiting! I’m a huge planner and I really dislike not knowing when I’m due to ovulate. I wish our bodies were a bit more robot like 😂
That’s a long time he is away but hopefully you’ll hit the fertile window, 5-6 days each month. I understand you’re stressing about it from month to month though, I’m doing the same, now I’m already worrying about me being away next month and wondering if it’ll be when I’m ovulating.
I thought I was about to ovulate but today I’ve got no specific signs.. It’ll be sex at least every other day and just hoping for the best.

@AnotherEllie I was going to add that even if my cycle isn’t 28 days now my cervical mucus follows the same pattern as the chart you posted. It’s super helpful knowing what your cm is like during your fertile window. So even if you won’t get your usual regular cycle back this month you might still see where you are in your cycle depending on your cm.
I’m off work today so I’ve got too much time on my hands thinking about things 😅

@Travellingislife thats good to know! I think I'm going to track as much as possible and see where things are at. I'm just like you - a complete planner so I find it comforting to do all I can.
I think I need something to keep me busy for the next couple of months but can't think what that could be!!

Hey @Travellingislife just checking in. How's things going?
Still no sign of ovulation for me on day 13ish since bleed. I am back together with my husband for the weekend but no idea where I am in my cycle. Only faint lines on LH tests too and testing twice a day. Almost hoping I ovulate around the 3 week mark to give us a good shot now but who knows what will happen. Wish I'd tracked my CM before TTC now as I think it would give me some insight into what's happening! My skin has cleared up so my hormones must be settling one way or another.
Hope you're doing okay and sending you positive vibes!!

@Travellingislife I'm feeling a tiny glimmer of hope as just did an LH test and it's darker than it has been for the past few days. Definitely not as dark as it should probably be but maybe that's a sign. Will see how things go today and tomorrow.

Hey!
It’s a good sign your skin cleared up though! Arghhh I know, it’s so frustrating not knowing where you are in your cycle. Does your cm give you any hints? Someone told me once that if it feels slippery between your fingers ( not dry and sticky) you’re getting close to your fertile window, for me that’s accurate.

I think I ovulated, or at least my body tried to ovulate, on Sunday or Monday going on the cm alone, but my LH tests were negative ( but nearly positive, a super strong line), on Tuesday pm, that was the first test I did and since then they’ve become weaker so I think my peak might’ve been on Monday or Tuesday am. IF there was a peak, I’m not sure I ovulated so it’s maybe just the hormones going bananas. We dtd Tue and Wed but I feel like nothing will come out of it. On Sunday I was convinced I was going to ovulate and that I’d become pregnant right away, now I’m not so sure.. My cm is behaving like after ovulation though, it’s dried up.
I’m thinking I’ll get my period in about 10 days and then it should be easier to track the cycle. My next ovulation would most likely fall when I’m away with work in that case 😫

Hope you’ll have a nice weekend with your husband!