Sorry - periods post pregnancy

[newmummyneedshelp]

Need help -

My DD is 5 months. I still haven't had a period. I am mainly FFing my DD as I couldn't breastfeed but am doing a little bit of breastfeeding - as much as my body can. Would say she is getting about 100 mls a day total from me at the most. Still feeding uring the night - again only a small amount.

Did two pregnancy tests a month or so ago - both negative. Haven't, ahem, had sex since.

Two questions -

1. How long after giving birth did it take for your periods to restart?

2. WTF am I going to do if I am pregnant? Should just nip out to shop now and buy a test but DH would have a heart attack if I told him that I was worried. Will get another tomorrow but in the meantime please reassure me.

I've heard that your periods can take a good while to come back post-pregnancy, esp if you are BFing, but if you're worried maybe go and see your GP for a bit of reassurance?

Having said that, mine came back seven weeks after I gave birth. I laughed because I couldn't believe my body was ready to have another child.

If you've not been jiggy since the negative pregnancy tests, I wouldn't worry too much about being PG. Those things are pretty accurate....

Hi there,
I went through a very similar anxious patch roughtly 5 months after DD was born, and completely ruined a foreign holiday fretting and panicking! My periods came back at 7 months, and that seemed pretty average among the 11 women in my mummy group. One of us only got hers on the night of her DS's 1st birthday. To ease your worries, do go ahead and buy another test. If the tests you did a month ago were negative, the likelihood is you are not pregnant. The thought of a second pregnancy so close seems overwhelming, but in your case, from where I am sitting, it seems unlikely. But do find out. Then you'll know for sure. Good luck :)

Mine took about 14 months to return - was bfing. Was really starting to wonder where they'd gone....!

Mine only came back last week - 17 months after DS was born!! He is BF and still a complete milk monster. Not really sure why they've suddenly come back as there's been no real change to how much he's feeding recently - he does have far less milk than when he was really little, but seems to have been at his current rate for ages now.

Think it's one of those things that's different for everyone.........

I got told that they don't come back till you stop breast feeding so double bonus on the cash side, not paying for baby food or tampons (hope that is true)xx

even if you are not exclusively breastfeeding, the fact that you are BF'ing regularly including through the night I would imagine means that the hormones don't get a chance to kick in that start your cycle off again. Mine started about 4 weeks after stopping breastfeeding, no idea if that is normal or not. You might be surprised if you knew how much milk baby is taking from you - when I was moving DS onto the bottle, I was down to giving him 5 mins on the boob then he was having half a bottle. When I stopped that 5 mins he went straight to a whole bottle.

Anyway good to not have your periods back, my first one was heavvvvyyyy.

PS if you really are worried just get a test and get it over with, a few minutes of heart pounding are worth it to put your mind at rest!

Hi there,

I hope this doesnt freak you out too much, but it is worth having all the information and seeing if anything sounds familiar to you.

I have Ashermans Syndrome which is scar tissue on the uterus and/or blocking your cervix (sometimes called uterine adhesions or cervical stenosis) I had retained tissue after DS's birth and an ERPC to clear it which is what caused the scar tissue to form. I FF from when DS was 1 month old and didnt get my periods back 6 months later. I was fobbed off by my GP who kept saying it could take a long time for them to come back after birth. This is true IF YOU ARE EXCLUSIVELY BREASTFEEDING. I went private and got a course of progesterone which did help bring on my periods, but unfortunately this made me forget all about it and I didnt discover the Ashermans until 2 years later when I miscarried (scar tissue prevented the embryo from implanting properly) I had another ERPC and lost my periods again. This time I did more investigations (because the progesterone didnt work this time) and eventually found out I needed an operation to remove the scar tissue. I have now had treatment and am 11 weeks pregnant, all is well and my chance of another mc is as low as any womans now that all the scar tissue has been removed.

There is an amazing international support group for women with AS accessible from this info site www.ashermans.org/

or directly on yahoo here health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Ashermans/

There is tons of information available there that you might be interested in reading

Two things that helped me identify AS as a likely cause of missed periods were:
I did charting (see www.fertilityfriend.com) and identified that I was ovulating and having period pain at the time I was supposed to be bleeding, and OPK tests also showed I was ovulating once a month too. Have you tried either of these? Have you noticed any cyclical pain (once a month period pain)?

I would DEFINITELY do a pregnancy test to rule that out. I do hope it turns out to be something non- AS related.

best wishes