Anyone who is ttc having trouble with their cycles due to previous bc use?

[ImSoTired]

Rachel I had similar sleep issues with Cait and we are only just working them out now. I got black out curtains in her room and she sleeps in there for naps now as she just couldn't go and stay asleep in the swing. I feed her in the rocking chair, burp her and put her in her crib, sometimes awake and sometimes asleep. Sometimes she'll go right down and sometimes she'll fuss for a little while. Sometimes she will play and refuse the nap all together and I'll be struggling to put her down an hour or so later. She goes to bed at 9-930 and wakes once in the night for a bottle and then sleeps until at least 730...but usually more like 830 or 9. I try to put her down on the 2 3 4 schedule (loosely because I really only do the 2 and 3) which is 2 hours after she wakes for the day and three hours from whenever she wakes from her first nap. It works most days. Babies Shaelyn's age really shouldn't be up that long but I had all the same issues with Cait and they are getting better all of the time. At least you are getting some sleep at night now!

Michelle I was the same way. I was always very nervous and afraid hearing the other women having miscarriages and everything but it's unavoidable, it's going to happen to some women...but in the scheme of things it's only a few and it most likely won't happen to you. Hang in there, I know it's scary but try to keep positive and just be patient and every milestone will come and things will be fine. I'm happy you got in touch with your specialist and got the medication situation straightened out so hopefully now you're feeling better about it. That's a beautiful positive digi also! It always made me smile when I'd get a positive test! Enjoy every minute because no matter how uncomfortable and nervous you are, you're going to miss being pregnant when your baby comes...even if just a little, and even though you'll love your baby more than anything you'll miss that pregnant feeling. You're more than welcome to chat with us whenever especially now when everything is so new and things are making you worry. Let us know how your bloods go and when your appt is. It's all very exciting and I can't wait to do it again, myself!

Everything is ok here. I'm just waiting for cait to nap so I can put some laundry away and do a few things. She's currently in her crib fussing but she sounds sleepy so I'm hoping soon.

 

[Rachel789]

Michelle-its normal to be a little uneasy early on but as Steph said odds are everything will be just fine. I second the advice of enjoying your pregnancy. I really miss being pregnant, it was such an amazing thing to experience. Embrace every moment of it good and bad!

Steph-When Shae does nap it is in her swing. I try to put her down in her crib and she just lies there wide awake. At least in the swing she will eventually sleep. I really want to get her used to her crib because I would like her to be sleeping in her own room by time she is 6 months old at the latest. Today she woke up for the day around 7:30 and didn't take a proper nap until after 1:00! She had a couple quick naps for a few mins after she feeds, she typically falls asleep feeding or while I am burping her. But aside from those naps she was up from 7:30-1:00. Its crazy! She has been asleep about 2 hours now so at least she takes a long nap once she finally falls asleep. If I could put her down without getting a burp out she would probably nap great. The problem is she falls asleep while feeding, then I try to burp her and need to wake her to get her to burp. Then she is wide awake. I don't know what we will do but I am sure we will figure something out, we have to!

 

[Lovetoteach86]

Okay so yesterday I called the doctor to see if they had my blood test results, after putting me on hold for a few minutes she came back on the line and said that she has to put the results in a different format and sent them to my fertility specialist for a review and then she would call me back. That is one quick way to freak out a pregnant lady! That made me think that maybe something was wrong and they wanted a second opinion on it. So I waited thirty minutes and was thinking to myself, this is the same lady that told me that I ovulated with a progesterone level of .96, let me just call my fertility specialist myself, and get their review of the results, before she tells me something wrong and drops a bomb on me. As soon as I started dialing my fertility specialist, the nurse at my obgyn calls me back and tells me that my HCG level was 25 or 26, something JUST past the pregnant marker, and that my progesterone is high. My progesterone was 24.6, and that was 14dpo, the day my period was due. So my blood test was positive, but I am still VERY early on, which of course I knew, because I knew I was pregnant before the tests could even pick it up. I am not sure what high progesterone means, some googling produced comments about twins, but then some comments from mothers that said they had high progesterone with single babies. I will take one, or two, as long as they are healthy and happy! I took another set of blood tests yesterday for my HCG and progesterone, so on Monday, or Tuesday at the latest, I will be able to compare the two results and see what the fertility specialist thinks. Most importantly, I will be able to set up my six week check up! SO very happy I only have to wait about two more weeks.

 

[Rachel789]

I know in regards to hcg blood tests what is important is that every two days your levels double. So the number itself doesn't matter just that it at least doubles. And for progesterone I remember that my specialist liked to see numbers of 20+ so I think your levels are perfect! Mine was 18 so my dr put me on a supplement. When you go for your 6 week appt will you get a scan?

 

[Lovetoteach86]

I think they said something about a scan. I will ask on monday when they call for the results.

 

[Lovetoteach86]

I got my second blood test results back today. They said that my HCG levels for Wednesday were 29, and my levels on Friday were 92. They said my progesterone levels look good, but they want to test my progesterone every week to make sure the levels continue to look good. Then they set my ultrasound appointment for August 19th, which is actually three weeks away instead of the original two weeks they told me before. I feel so much better hearing that the levels increased though, so maybe I can breath for a day or so before I drive myself crazy some more.

 

[ImSoTired]

Fantastic, Michelle. I'm happy your levels more than doubled. My doctor wouldn't tell me the numbers because he said women analyze them too much and he didn't want me to worry. I of course worried anyway but then we saw the baby's heartbeat and he said it didn't matter. I hope this next few weeks fly for you and you see a fat little bean with a nice heartbeat! I can't wait to see the pics!

 

[Rachel789]

Great numbers! Must be nice to get reassurance that all is well.

 

[ImSoTired]

Michelle-its normal to be a little uneasy early on but as Steph said odds are everything will be just fine. I second the advice of enjoying your pregnancy. I really miss being pregnant, it was such an amazing thing to experience. Embrace every moment of it good and bad!

Steph-When Shae does nap it is in her swing. I try to put her down in her crib and she just lies there wide awake. At least in the swing she will eventually sleep. I really want to get her used to her crib because I would like her to be sleeping in her own room by time she is 6 months old at the latest. Today she woke up for the day around 7:30 and didn't take a proper nap until after 1:00! She had a couple quick naps for a few mins after she feeds, she typically falls asleep feeding or while I am burping her. But aside from those naps she was up from 7:30-1:00. Its crazy! She has been asleep about 2 hours now so at least she takes a long nap once she finally falls asleep. If I could put her down without getting a burp out she would probably nap great. The problem is she falls asleep while feeding, then I try to burp her and need to wake her to get her to burp. Then she is wide awake. I don't know what we will do but I am sure we will figure something out, we have to!

This will probably correct itself but it'll take time. Cait was a lot of the same. She always fell asleep while eating which made breastfeeding difficult for me as I would get full and have a sleeping baby in my arms. I'd put her down and she'd wake right up I'd feed her again and she'd fall asleep in my arms...again... When she got a little older she began staying awake throughout feedings (but by that time my supply had depleted a lot and she was on bottles more so than breast feeding) but she was still used to sleeping in my arms. I remedied that by putting her to sleep in the swing. It can't hurt to try putting her in her crib everyday for at least one nap and seeing if she won't soothe herself to sleep. One day she may surprise you and fall right off to sleep. Now, I got her to keep from sleeping in the swing by feeding her a bottle and rocking her in her dark, quiet room. I put her in her crib and sometimes she is awake and sometimes she goes right to sleep. Usually within 15 minutes of whining (not really crying) she falls asleep. She will sleep for 30 minutes to 2 1/2 hrs for her morning nap and the same for her afternoon (though usually only one of them in longer than an hour). We didn't get any kind of sleep organization until after she started sleeping in her crib at night and that was at about 5 or 5 1/2 months. Up until that time we had a very relaxed approach and therefore no schedule. It was tiring but it's all so much better now. I think as Shae gets bigger it'll be easier for you to get her to sleep on some sort of schedule. For now just try and get her to sleep as much as possible. And good luck and too. You may have noticed it gets easier with time. It will just keep getting better and easier.

 

[ImSoTired]

Michelle I hope you are doing well! I see baby is apple seed sized already! The first few months that ticker is super fun but then around 26 weeks or something it sort or stalls out and you're like a papaya forever....or something like that, I can't really remember. lol

We're doing well here. I feel a little sick and queezy. And sleepy...but Cait is doing very well. Crawling and standing and beginning to creep along the furniture. She's napping right now and has been for about an hour so far, which is lovely. I really should be cleaning the house but I'm sitting. Too tired. I'd love to exercise also, but I'm just so tired. I need to sleep in a few days. I'm also hoping DH and I can go on a date night soon as I really want to spend some 'us' time with him.

I had a weird AF the last few days. I've been bleeding every two weeks since May and I was spotting for 2 or 3 days and then I had 1 day of really light bleeding and it was over. I'm not complaining about how short it was...but it's just so confusing. The mini pill doesn't have as many hormones and side effects as the full hormone pill but it's still screwing me up. I'm considering not taking it anymore. I don't know what to do

 

[Rachel789]

Thanks for the advice steph, it makes me feel better. Things do get easier and easier so I'm sure the sleep situation will too.

Sorry to hear you aren't feeling well. But glad to hear Cait is good! I used to exercise at least 4x a week but since having Shae I don't have the time or energy to. Hopefully one day I will start a routine again. I am hoping my mom comes over Saturday to babysit so we can have time together.

That's weird about your afs. I haven't gotten mine yet. For now we are just using condoms because I don't want to go back on the pill.

 

[Lovetoteach86]

Your right about the ticker, it's fun to watch the baby grow into bigger seeds and fruits. I got excited to see that the baby is no longer a poppy seed

That is weird about your periods, I am so glad I don't have to think about my af or wacky cycles for another 9 months. I think I am going to go with something besides the pill, my body is so screwed up I don't want to chance going through that again as my body never did regulate itself after stopping the pill. I waited two years, and still my body kept telling itself that it already ovulated when it never did. I don't want babies back to back, but I do want them one to two years apart just because I am worried about my fertility declining the longer I wait. Also because my siblings and I were spaced four years apart, and we were never really that close. My husband and his sister were fifteen months apart, and they are extremely close.

 

[ImSoTired]

Thanks for the advice steph, it makes me feel better. Things do get easier and easier so I'm sure the sleep situation will too.

Sorry to hear you aren't feeling well. But glad to hear Cait is good! I used to exercise at least 4x a week but since having Shae I don't have the time or energy to. Hopefully one day I will start a routine again. I am hoping my mom comes over Saturday to babysit so we can have time together.

That's weird about your afs. I haven't gotten mine yet. For now we are just using condoms because I don't want to go back on the pill.

Thanks. I'm feeling a bit better. I think all of my symptoms are just due to being tired and out of shape. I used to exercise at least 4x a week as well but when I got pregnant I was so afraid to exercise too much because I didn't trust my body to hold the bean in. I should have kept at least moderately exercising. I still have no time to really workout. I could maybe get 10 min here or there but not a half hour to an hour like I need. If we continue getting good naps out of Cait I may start working out soon! I can't wait because I want to drop 30 lbs like now! And one of these weekends Dh and I are going to have a date night...I just don't know when. I know it'll be great though! In November we have a wedding to go to and Cait will be 11 months so I'm hoping to make that my first night away from her.

I didn't get my period until May and since I've had it every 2 weeks. It's so frustrating. DH and I are both not fond of condoms and the pull out method always worked for us so we may just resort to that. I'm so tired of these pills messing me up. After I have a second baby I won't care but I want to start trying next year sometime. I'm considering quitting the mini pill and taking vitex and when I go see the ob/gyn in October I'll tell them I don't care to continue the BC. Or maybe I'll just cancel my appt and stop taking it all together...

 

[ImSoTired]

Your right about the ticker, it's fun to watch the baby grow into bigger seeds and fruits. I got excited to see that the baby is no longer a poppy seed

That is weird about your periods, I am so glad I don't have to think about my af or wacky cycles for another 9 months. I think I am going to go with something besides the pill, my body is so screwed up I don't want to chance going through that again as my body never did regulate itself after stopping the pill. I waited two years, and still my body kept telling itself that it already ovulated when it never did. I don't want babies back to back, but I do want them one to two years apart just because I am worried about my fertility declining the longer I wait. Also because my siblings and I were spaced four years apart, and we were never really that close. My husband and his sister were fifteen months apart, and they are extremely close.

I agree on the spacing. My brother and I are 3 1/2 years apart and we could be closer...I want to try again starting next summer sometime and Cait will be over 2 when the baby is born. Hopefully the'll be close and be able to play together. And then we're done... no more babies. If I can't get my tubes tied I'll go on BC forever. I won't care about my cycles ever being normal again.

 

[Rachel789]

I originally wanted to start trying for number two when Shaelyn turned 1. But it is so much work that we decided to wait until she is closer to two. I want a break in between breastfeeding and getting pregnant again. My brother and I are 3 years apart and as teenagers my friends and I hung out with my brother and his friends so it was not too big of an age difference but 4+ years would be pushing it. It would be nice if Shae was out of diapers by time we have #2.

 

[Lovetoteach86]

I fully agree about the diaper thing, don't know how we are going to deal with two in diapers if it comes down to them being that close, but hopefully the second one will see her big brother/sister not wearing diapers, and want to follow suit as quickly as possible.


As for me, yesterday I felt great at 5 weeks + 0 days pregnant, but I had some brown spotting. Not a lot, but enough to worry me. Looking it up, and talking to a pregnant co-worker, brown spotting early on is completely normal, especially since five weeks is right at the end of the little apple seed finishing implantation, but it still worries the crap out of me. I have to go in for my weekly progesterone blood test today, and I plan on calling the fertility specialist and letting them know too. I just need reassurance from both doctors that is normal, and I am making sure to pay attention to if it turns red. So far not even a hint of red. Fingers crossed it's just old blood making it's way out. Actually, I was surprised that I haven't seen any spotting what so ever before now, I was half expecting a little spot or two here and there, but I was NOT prepared for it to actually happen.

 

[ImSoTired]

Michelle, I spotted on and off until about 12 weeks pregnant. It usually happened after sex for a few days or occasionally just because. It was a touch on the red side a few times also. The first time it happened I went into see my OB/GYN and he checked it out and said that I had an irritated cervix and he told me to lay off the sex for a little while to be safe. He also told me that having an irritated cervix is common in early pregnancy and a bit of spotting can come after a sneeze. He said during flu season when many pregnant women sneeze or cough they spot a little and he always has a rush of women coming in at that time. It's probably nothing, but definitely bring it up at your appt or give them a call. You're probably just fine.

 

[Rachel789]

I know spotting can be normal in early pregnancy and brown blood is old blood so that's good. It very well could be from implantation and its just now making its way out. Just let the dr know, but I'm sure it will be just fine.

 

[Lovetoteach86]

I called the doctor up and told them, they said it is completely normal and didn't sound concerned at all. I have been sneezing a lot the past few days, so that is probably pushing some of it out into the open. I really haven't seen anything today as far as spotting goes, so I think I am fine. Today is my day off and DH ordered me to do absolutely nothing. Don't mind if I do! I did go get a progesterone blood test done today though. I have to get them done once a week until they tell me otherwise, good thing I don't mind needles. I am just glad they are doing some kind of monitoring.

 

[ImSoTired]

Great, Michelle! Enjoy your days of relaxation! You'll need them to grow that happy bean and to conserve energy for labor and a baby! I think that you've probably spotted because of sneezing and everything is fine. I'm glad you got in touch with the doctor and they reassured you. It's great that you are feeling good about getting the bloods done and confident about them and your doctors. I think everything is going to be just fine for you! Keep that positive attitude! And definitely relax while you can!