fertility after having first/or any pregnancy?

[Harley Quinn]

I think it depends a lot on the reason(s) why it took so long to get pregnant the first time, but recently I have had a handful of friends get pregnant quickly after having some form of infertility issues with the first.

And I'm included! My first son took just over 12 months to conceived, second baby was 2 months (miscarried at 5.5 weeks), second son was 2 months, and this pregnancy... was not even trying!

The moral of the story is, do NOT assume it will take a long time again. If you don't want to get pregnant, use some form of birth control.

 

[Dinah93]

What about lactational amenorrhea? If you exclusively breastfeed on demand, don't have more than 4 hours or so in between feeds, and don't introduce bottles or pacifiers, then for the first 6 months it's effectively birth control. The effectiveness is between 98 and 99.5% if you do it properly!

My midwife told me if she had a fiver for every woman who has come in saying 'but I was exclusively breastfeeding, I didn't think I could get pregnant!' and has ended up with an Irish twin, she wouldn't be a midwife anymore she'd be lying on a private beach somewhere sunning herself. She told me even for exclusively breastfeeding mums the effectiveness seems to be around 70% in actuality and if I wasn't ready for another one use another method! (FYI I used natural fertility tracking, my body always ovulates on day 16/17, had done for 4+ years without fail, then one month it threw a curve ball, ovulated on day 10 and now I have a son )

A very good friend tried for 8 years for her first, including 6 cycles of IVF, her second was a natural pregnancy when the first was 13 months old, given her husband works offshore 2 out of every 4 weeks that's pretty good going!

 

[bumblebeexo]

My DD took over a year ttc, so we started trying for #2 when she was 1. I fell pregnant after 4 months but ended in chemical pregnancy and then fell pregnant again 6 months after that. I have very irregular cycles and only had 2 periods between the chemical and this pregnancy!

 

[rosegarden620]

I don't have any experience in the the "conceiving quickly after birth" topic. The age gap between the oldest and baby is 9 years and the age gap between the middle and baby is 6 yrs. but I've heard and read it is fairly common to be highly fertile after delivering.

I just wanted to say that I'm not doing birth control either. I got depo after my first, it took me two years and a miscarriage (blighted ovum) to get pregnant. I was on various forms of bcp for nearly 5 years. Depo screwed me BIG time hormonally ! Took my body forever to get normal. The IUD was in me for two years before I got PID from it- barring me from further IUD use. The pill was ok...but it puts you through so much.... Weight gain, moodiness... Off it I feel ... Like me!

That's all lol ☺️

 

[luz]

It took me 9 months and 2 cycles of clomid to get pregnant with my first. We didn't use any bc after because we assumed i would need to use cliomid again to get pg. My period returned at 6 months PP and I got pregnant shortly after he turned 1. With my 3rd pregnancy, my period came back 6 mo pp again, and i was pregnant the next cycle. I don't know if i'm getting more and more fertile, or if the timing was just right. In any case, once my period comes back after this baby is born, we are using some form of bc to ensure we don't have 4 under 4!!

 

[Tattoo]

It took twenty months to conceive our DD. I put it down to the fact that I'd been on the pill for almost ten years, with no gaps. That's got to have some effect on your body!
After DD was born in December 2012 we used condoms, until July of 2014 when we decided we'd like another baby. I fell pregnant on the very first try!

 

[Lara310809]

I understand not wanting to use hormonal birth control after your experiences TTC, but I know a few people that had difficulty conceiving and then were quite fertile he second time around. I'd suggest just using condoms or withdrawal method, as they require no hormonal interference. Neither of them are 100% but neither are the pills etc. at least it's not pumping your body full of chemicals that could potentially hang around for a while after you stop taking them.

 

[donnarobinson]

Board hopping i tried for my first for three years . We ntnp from when he was born and i got pregnant when he was 16 months . I got pregnant again when ds2 was 8 months old x

 

[Kirsty3051]

We conceived our son on our first cycle trying. My son is nearly 7 weeks old and I've already had a period and ovulated once. I'm not sure if my cycles are going to be regular but they returned early even with me breastfeeding x

 

[xMissxZoiex]

I had IVF in 2013 lost my son in 2014 but then got pregnant naturally in April (MC in May) and then got pregnant naturally again!, I'm currently almost 27weeks.

So in my experience our fertility was dramatically improved. I won't be going on any contraception either just trying to be careful

 

[counting]

First- had a difficult time conceiving. I did have an extremely large uterine polyp that was interfering with conception. This time- I got pregnant, without trying, without having gotten my period back while breastfeeding my first. So I'd say for me, I was much more fertile after having LO!

 

[Kaylakin]

Since you asked about those who had fertility issues with the first one, I'll chime in. I did IVF for my son. I didn't want to go on birth control of any kind after having him, but I had heard stories of people being more fertile afterward. It definitely depends on why you were infertile to begin with. I have unexplained infertility. For me, it was just as hard or harder (5 IVF cycles) to get pregnant with this pregnancy. I wish it were true for me - could have saved thousands and thousands of $$