Anyone TTC while breastfeeding?

[charlie15]

Thanks for the welcomes ladies Kalyrra, so sorry about the last couple of weeks, it doesn't rain, it pisses down sometimes! I would have been devastated to have a kitten die in my arms, so sad I love animals and have a 16 yr old cat, she was a rescue cat, my fur baby!

Seattle, looks like your OPK is getting closer. I am not so experienced with them though having used them for only 2 months and tbh mine don't get gradually darker over days, it's more like nothing, then a faint line, then positive for 2 days.

I'm now 5DPO. If this is not my month, which I am pretty certain it won't be with my LP I will start vitex next cycle. Can I ask those who take it what dose they take?

 

[Leeze]

Hi Charlie! welcome.

I take 2 vitex a day, I'll need to check the dose as they're in the other room..its half whatever if says is the recommended.dose.

I'm BF 3 times a day on nursery/work days.and anything.from.about 5-7 times on other days. Kia loves mummy milk and its really hard to say no.to her as she tends to get upset.

I'm 11dpo and tested BFN today. I think I'm out. Feeling weepy today.

Seattle - I'd say your O will be tomorrow or the next day..keep.testing.and its good to do twice a day for the few days around O so you don't miss it

Kalyrra - hugs for you, I'm a cat-lover too x

 

[iow_bird]

Awww Kal, so sorry to hear about your crappy week. I would have been a sobbing mess.

I've had a hectic weekend, will pop on tomorrow and post properly xxx

 

[ttcinseattle]

Kalyrra, sorry for your crap week! I can't imagine losing a poor sweet kitten after all that work, and getting AF is just another layer of disappointment over everything.

Ladies on Vitex, what brand are you taking? And does the bottle say not suggested for pregnant or breast feeding women? I bought a bottle that has that warning on there, but it also has some other herb in it I wasn't expecting. I'm sending it back and will get a different kind for next cycle.

I think I've got a positive OPK today! This is from 12pm and I'll test again tonight, but won't be home until 9pm so I wonder what it will look like. What do you guys think of the bottom test? It's not darker than the test line, but it's close! I had a feeling this would happen so BD midday yesterday so DH would have extra time to stock up for tonight

 

[Radkat]

Kalyrra - So sorry about the kitten. I would have been devestated.

Charlie - I'm thinking about vitex too, esp since my LP is short. The bottle I have says consult your dr if pregnant or breastfeeding. But so does my bottle of B vitamins. I think they have to CYA.

Seattle - I bet your OPK tonight will be really dark. Looks good!

 

[Leeze]

Seattle - that definitely looks positive. Get BD-ing tonight! Yesterday would also be a good day. Fingers crossed you catch that egg.

AF got me today. I thought she was coming as I was a bit emotional yesterday.

I've decided that I'm going to try to eat things that improve fertility in the hope it gets my fertility fully back. I think my period is way too light still. So I'm going to try to cut right back on sugar and processed foods and eat lots more good fats and fresh fruit and veg. If nothing changes in the next few months then I'm going to try acupuncture. Anyone else going to try anything new or different ?
How is everyone doing? X

 

[kalyrra]

Seattle - looks good, get BD'ing girl! As far as the Vitex, what else was in it? (vitex is angus castus, but also goes by chasteberry and chaste tree, so if it's one of those, it's all the same herb.)

Leeze - sorry AF got you! I just told my husband I wanted to cut way back on the processed foods and start cooking with fresh ingredients instead.

I think LO is getting sick again. I'm crossing my fingers that it's just from teething, but his nose is running and he gets stuffy at night so he can't sleep. he's also coughing a bit. I spent the last 2 nights in the recliner with him.

CD 5 today. I think the wait to ovulate is just as long as the TWW! lol

 

[Radkat]

Leeze - Sorry about AF. This is the diet I'm trying to follow. If you don't feel like following the link, it's full fat dairy, lots of fruits and veggies, whole grains and cold water fish. Limited refined carbs/sugar (I'm not doing great on this one. Ice cream last night and cookies the night before) and no soy. I'm also doing extra vitamin C and a B complex. I also take a prenatal and omega 3s, but I've been doing that for awhile.
https://natural-fertility-info.com/fertility-diet

Kalyrra - Hope your LO feels better. Mine has had a cough for 3 weeks. I keep thinking it's getting better, then it ramps up again. I agree with waiting to ovulate is just as bad as the TWW. If this cycle is like last I still have another 10 days to wait for O day. Boo.

Seattle - How'd the rest of the OPKs look?

 

[ttcinseattle]

Radkat, that's the same website where I read about Vitex! It sounds like we're following a pretty similar diet - including the cookies and ice cream, lol. I usually keep our house stocked with fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, but I did refrain from baking when they ran out last week

My OPKs are still VERY positive I tested last night around 8pm and it looked a little lighter to me, but I'd been at a restaurant so maybe drank more water than usual. I was expecting to see a temp rise this morning, but didn't have one, so I did a test with FMU and the positive was even darker than yesterday. Then another at 2pm and same thing - turned positive within seconds, whereas yesterday it took a minute or so before the test line was really showing up. So what does this mean? Is it just positive today? Or has it been positive both days? I read they could be positive for up to 3 days but that that was really rare - and I have no idea what that means. We've done the dance the last 7 out of 8 nights and I guess should still keep it up?? I'm getting exhausted

I'm also wondering at what point I should consider having my progesterone tested if that's a concern?

Kalyrra, I hope your LO is feeling better and that you're able to get some sleep tonight

 

[Leeze]

Thanks for the info on diets ladies. I agree re how hard it is to resist ice cream! Also diet coke for me. I'm not really into tea or coffee but do like a diet coke a few times a week. I cut it out last time when TTC but am finding the idea harder this time.

My DD has also got a bad cold and wants to nurse more often than usual. I joked with my OH today about wanting to have a day off sick tomorrow. I work part-time so my idea was to send my LO to nursery while I could have a day in bed! Bliss!

 

[Leeze]

Ps Seattle - I think your O day is.today. I read somewhere that we're moat likely to.release.the egg in the afternoon. Your surge could still be very high yesterday as your body was getting ready. You could BD again tonight or.even tomorrow morning but if you.already BD'd lots of days leading up to.today then you'd have a good chance.x

 

[charlie15]

Sorry AF got you Lezze.

Seattle, looks very positive to me! I get 2 days of positives and according to my temp I O on the 2nd day.

I have browsed that same website too, mainly for info on vitex. As for diet and TTC, I don't really have a sweet tooth but I love my coffee and tea and cheese! I probably should reduce my tea and coffee at least!

Well I am 8dpo today and feel as sick as a dog! I had a massive temperature spike today too. I have no idea what that spike ciuld mean as i have never temped before so I don't know if I have a bug or if this is a good sign, will probably know in 2 days! Luckily OH is home today so I am in bed, I just feel awful, nausea and dizziness! I am thinking I have a bug as last time I didn't get sickness until 6 weeks. I also have my first day back at work tomorrow after mat leave hope I feel a better tomorrow!

 

[ttcinseattle]

When are you going to test, Charlie? Hope you're feeling sick for a better reason than a virus! Rest up!

No temp increase this morning which has me a little worried. I went through my charts over the last few months and my temp spike always seems to be CD17. Technically that's today but since AF got me so late at night, maybe I should be calling today CD16. Almost positive I O'ed yesterday though. No more twinges. Will be interesting to see if OPK is positive, but I'd guess it might be as it catches LH on the way down. Does everyone else's temp spike the day after O? I really hope it spikes tomorrow. I'll be stressed out until I see that spike.

Edited to add I just took an OPK with FMU and it is just as dark as yesterday.

 

[Leeze]

Fingers crossed for you Charlie. Hope its a lovely BFP on the way and not a nasty bug. Seems to be a lot of bugs around at the moment. I hated.going back to work after mat leave. Such a horrible feeling. Its a whole year since I've been back now. Its not as hard now but I'd still prefer not to be there! Hope your first days and weeks back arent too hard. What childcare have you got planned?

Seattle - I've never done temps so cant advise you there. But sounds like you got a good strong O this month. Maybe its 2 eggs! How would you feel about twins?

LO and I have both got a bad cold. I'm in a grumpy mood and have been eating a ton of chocolate today. So much for the healthy diet. I did eat a lot of raw carrots today though!

 

[charlie15]

Well it's definitely a bug as I have a temperature of 38 C. I have to say though I was actually hoping it was a bug, not that I don't want a BFP, but if this was caused by pregnancy I don't think I could handle it! Last time I had pretty mild ms from 6 to 10 weeks and was mostly very tired and constipated!

Not sure when I will test, maybe Thursday if AF doesn't arrive then.

Seattle, my temp dipped on O day then went up but slowly, nothing dramatic. This is my first month so I have no idea what is normal for me.

Leeze, I am dreading going back, just really hope I feel better tomorrow. I am lucky with child care as me and OH are sharing. So I will work 2 long days a week and he works a 10 hr day, 4 days a week. It means less time together, but it won't be for ever! Hope you and K get better soon.

 

[ttcinseattle]

After 2 positives I finally got a negative OPK yesterday at 8pm (still pretty dark, but def not a positive). I did also get my temp spike this morning. I threw a couple theoretical high temps into FF for Thursday and Friday to get crosshairs, and FF calls Monday O day. But then I remembered I was unsure of my temp yesterday because of waking to pee in the early morning, so I played with that temp a little to see if it changed the crosshairs, and with just the slightest change it changed my O day to Tuesday. So who knows?! We def have he BDing covered either way.

I'm an absolute ball of stress, though. I'm going back and forth on whether to use progesterone cream. DH doesn't think I need it since we've cut back on nursing so much, but I don't want to be scared to nurse my son. From what I've read the cream won't do harm even if you don't need it. I just don't want to mess anything up. I know I shouldn't be stressing this much. Hopefully the holiday tomorrow will distract me some!

 

[Radkat]

Charlie - I'm so sorry you're sick. That's the worst. Good luck on returning to work. Be happy you had a year with your LO. Here in the US it's lots less! I went back at 14 weeks. Not that that helps you feel better, I'm sure!

Leeze - Hope you feel better too!

Kalyrra - How's your LO?

Seattle - Glad you got the BD covered regardless of which day you O'd. I totally know what you mean about the progesterone cream. I'm considering it too. My OH just wants me to stop nursing. He doesn't really say that, but that's where all of his arguments are going. I'm definitely going to keep it up until January, after traveling for the holidays.

So I'm on CD 11, so I'm going to start OPKs again. Last month I O'd on CD18, so I'm starting a bit early, but I've got a ton of the cheapies, so we're good there.

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it!

 

[kalyrra]

Seattle - I would find out if you needed to use the cream from your dr first before trying it. It might just be me, but I get a bit nervous when it comes to altering hormones. (by the way, according to the opk instructions, you shouldn't use FMU for testing! It's not the same as pregnancy tests, you don't want highly concentrated urine.)

I know it's easy to get stressed about TTC, and every month that goes by it seems to get more frustrating... but on average, it takes normal healthy couples anywhere from 6 months to a year to conceive. Just because you go a few months and nothing happens doesn't mean anything is wrong with you! It's difficult to get the timing when you have such a teeny tiny window to work with. Not to mention, it sucks when it seems like everyone else can get pregnant just by looking at their OH. *sigh*

Charlie - hope you feel better soon!

Leeze - sounds like my house! LO has a bad cold, and I have a slight tinge of one, and I've been eating junk too...

Radkat - We must be O'ing relatively close to each other. If my cycle is like last cycle, I should O in about 8 days or so. Maybe I should cut out my diet soda and start drinking lots of water. (I don't drink a lot of diet soda, just a little here and there, don't want LO getting caffeine! lol)

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

 

[charlie15]

Well I had to call my boss this morning as was still ill with a temp of 39 C Luckily I have a good boss and she knows me well, So Saturday will be back to work! I felt s bad but there was no way I could work with how I was feeling, after 2 days in bed I am now feeling almost normal! But AF got me today, a day early which I am guessing is because I was ill. It's a bit frustrating though as I was temping this month to really see what was going on with my LP before I started vitex, as I have heard if you don't need to take it, it can lead to anovulatory cycles, and with this virus it kind if messed up the end of my temps and cycle oh well on with the next month....

Seattle, I think your BDing should cover you well. Is this the 1st month you have used OPKs? I found the 1st month confusing, but once they were positive and then not it made more sense to me for the next month, which I hope you don't need! I am in a similar dilemma to you about the progesterone cream, except for me it's vitex do I or don't I? Why do you feel you need progesterone cream? Is it for your LP? For me vitex is for my LP, but we are down to 2 bfing sessions a day, but only for the last 2 weeks and I have only just increased my vit B up to 100 a week ago, so do I give vitex a go or leave it another month? Seattle what are you currently taking?

 

[ttcinseattle]

Charlie, so sorry about your illness and AF And your temping getting messed up, that's so frustrating! A month is a long time to have to say well, hopefully I'll get a better picture next month.

Yes, this is the first month I've ever used OPKs and the 4th month I've temp'd. I had a chemical last month, and I'm suspicious that low progesterone due to DS's heavy nursing could be to blame. My temps in August (first cycle back) were fairly all over the place, September dipped below baseline, but actually looked okay in October, so maybe the pregnancy just wasn't meant to be. I'm only on prenatal and vitamin D currently. I held off on B6 and Vitex this month out of fear that they'd delay O. But I am seriously thinking of them for next cycle (if necessary, fingers crossed not!) to help regulate the estrogen to progesterone levels. I'm down to nursing 2-3 times per day, but like you only for the past few weeks, so hard to say yet how that's affecting me.

Kalyrra, I've read you're not supposed to use FMU because it can cause you to miss the surge or get a false positive, but once I got my first positive in the afternoon I just kept regularly testing to get a complete picture of when the surge ended - and to feed my pee on a stick addiction I tested positive yesterday both with FMU and in early afternoon, so I'm confident the FMU test wasn't a false positive.

Radkat, I'm so excited to hear when you O! Seems like the tables have turned and now instead of being the only one here not DPO, I'm the only one in the TWW! What are your thoughts on progesterone cream? I just read about Hypospadias risk with progesterone pills and that scared me, but I haven't come across anything regarding the cream and birth defects.

I probably should just contact my doc, explain my concerns, and see what she says, but everything I've read says to start the cream right after O, and at this point in my cycle I don't think progesterone would test very high regardless. It seems like you wouldn't really test into a concerning area until you actually knew you were pregnant, and maybe then it would be too late? I found this link gave me a pretty clear picture on how the levels work, but I'm still not clear on what to do

https://www.babymed.com/fertility-tests/progesterone-levels

On the one hand I keep thinking if I'm this unsure I should just let nature do it's thing and hope that cutting back on BF is already making a big difference. On the other hand I think it doesn't sound like the cream can hurt, so better safe than sorry. I've never been so 50/50 on a decision in my life!