From Spotters TTC thread to BFP! Success at last!

[daydream]

Hi ladies, just checking in to see how everyone is doing! I hope well.

For us, H has really picked up his language, and now tends to repeat everything we say. It's really fun to hear him interacting with us. We also got one peepee on the potty that seemed to be intentional, so that was pretty cool, but we're just informally doing the potty so that he's not scared of it when the time comes. We are also dropping the morning bf. He has seemed less interested in feeding from both breasts, and I honestly have no intention of being lopsided. So this morning he just got milk from the fridge. He seemed fine but did have a moment of panic and ran towards the bed wanting my milk. So I just cuddled with him on the floor while he drank his bottle. He's a busybody, so that was shortlived and then he was on to playing with his toys. I hope it continues to be easy to drop this feed. Then I'll only have nighttime feeds. I suspect H will want to keep that for a while longer, which I'm fine with as well. I'll be out of town for work for two separate weeks over this summer, so I am curious to see if that impacts the night feedings too.

As for NTNP, I've noticed that every other cycle has been around 33 days and I'm suspecting those are anovulatory. This is one of those cycles. I'm taking OPKs just to see what is going on with my cycles but no fertile signs at the moment. We'll see I guess.

 

[Gobolino]

Hi all!

Daydream...I had a good chuckle about you not being lopsided!
To H for using the potty!!! They must be soooo cute when they start to talk. J babbles on a lot, even to strangers!! So funny.

Question: he's 11 weeks, and I'm EBF (or BFE hehe). Anyway. Dear AF popped by yesterday with no warning (=spotting). And is in full flow today. Too early?? Is this normal?????

 

[daydream]

Gob - awwww those early babbles are so much fun! J must seem like a totally different baby now, do you feel like he's losing his newborn-ness?

And I'm sorry about AF! That doesn't seem fair at all! It seems like the timing of AF can differ between everyone. Still definitely within the range of normal though. Did you have any cramping? I think my first AF wasn't too bad, but my second was a doozy: very heavy and bad cramping. It's gotten much better now though.

AFM - After whining yesterday about not ovulating this cycle, I got an almost positive OPK last night, so I expect todays will be positive. Also finally getting some fertile signs, so that makes me feel better. I just hate thinking that my body isn't working right. Not that I'm set on TTC right now, I just want some reassurance that I'll be fertile whenever we are ready.

 

[Chloe597]

I hope dropping the feed goes smoothly, daydream! Do you find when you pump, that you are getting a lot less than when you were EBF? When i went on vacation and was still doing morning and night feeds, i think i only got about 1 oz pumped total, once a day. It was crazy! I stopped BF on May 25, and sometimes i squeeze my boobs just to see if i still make milk, and it is still there! I can't believe after this much time not BF I can still produce milk. probably not much, but the pipes have not dried up either!

I hope your cycles return to fertility! I too am watching mine. I think I will go off the minipill around october. But the hormones in that don't see nearly as strong as the hormones in regular bcp. And congrats on the potty! We have gotten gabby on it many times, but she just sits there and then says 'no no no' sigh....

Gob, not sure what is normal, but I think not everyone is lucky enough to have AF stay away when EBF, so i wouldn't be worried. But yay for no spotting before AF! Enjoy your babbling baby I miss the gummy grin that gabby used to give, and how tiny she was. She is a giant now! just had our 18 month checkup (2 weeks late), and she was 32.5" tall and 26 lbs. Hard to believe she was once 19" and 6lbs!

 

[daydream]

Chloe - Yes the last time I went out of town, some nights I would only get 1-1.5 oz. So I have no clue how much H is drinking at night, seems like it can't be that much. I wonder how long it will be before your milk dries up, so interesting that after a month you can still produce some!

 

[Gobolino]

Glad to hear daydream! Yes...he's changing so quickly (too quickly!) but he is sooo much fun at the moment...I'm so in love!
Af ok, no cramping, no spotting. Just very black (sorry)
And Chloe....yes the gummy grin is the best!!!!! Soooo cute!
Funny about Gabby on the potty. A mind of her own!!!

 

[Sbmack]

Glad to hear everyone is good!

Yay, H for going on the potty and talking more! I pee in front of Stella all the time because I'm wearing her. Also my mom watches her when I'm at work and she cries if she leaves the room so she brings her and sits her on the floor while she pees. She keeps saying how S is going to potty train earlier because she's already teaching her what it's for. Ok, Mom. We'll see

About pumping.... I am going on a work trip for 5 nights in August. We will still be breastfeeding. Daydream, I think I remember you going on a business trip and pumping. How did you transport? Did you keep it in a fridge and freeze when you got home? I'm afraid we will have to supplement while I'm gone since I don't have a stash anymore. I've used all but maybe 6 bags because I'm not producing as much as she's eating when I'm working I've been pumping at night after she goes to bed but I'll get 2-3 ounces then...

Gobs, sorry AF returned. Some get it once and it goes away again. Maybe that will happen. We need to see more pictures of little J!

I can't believe Gabby is 18 months! They really do grow so fast. I hope coming off the mini pill goes smoothly. Yay for more babies

I've had two AF's so far. I spotted the first time but not the second. The second was longer than they used to be too. I did opk's to see if I was working like I used to and it seemed like I was. Maybe my LP is longer now which would be great. We aren't trying, but didn't use a condiment the last couple times we dtd. So I guess we're NTNP.

 

[Chloe597]

There must be good potty vibes in the air, because i put Gabby on the potty this morning (she went to sit on her baby potty on her own, so i asked her if she had to go poo poo, and she didn't say no, so i took that as a yes, and i moved her to the seat i bought to put on the real toilet). She sat there for a bit, and i told her if she had to go pee pee or poo poo she could go now on the big girl potty, and she just started to pee! Usually she wakes up with a pretty dry diaper, and then as soon as i change it, she pees in it, so she pretty much always goes in the morning. She was so happy when she got praised for peeing, it was too cute. I hope she wants to use it more in the future. We are definitely not starting hard core potty training, but i quite often take her into the bathroom with me when i pee, in hopes of making her comfortable with the purpose of the potty which would then make potty training easier. So proud of her! I will have to try to make this a morning routine now.

SB, good luck with your business trip! I had a week long business trip as well, but that was around the time gabby was 11.5 months, so I had DH mix in regular milk with my milk because i too didnt have enough of a stash by then to hold her over for 5 days. You might want to mix some formula in with the breast milk so that it doesn't taste too different for her? I did a lot of pumping and dumping because i didnt bring a giant cooler, but my hotel had a fridge, so for my last 2 days, i saved 24 oz (all that would fit in my bag with ice packs) and then brought that home and froze it. Good luck with your NTNP! those condiment's really get in the way of that Autocorrect i assume That gave me a good chuckle

 

[daydream]

Chloe - Yay for peepee on the potty! H hasn't done it since, but we still sit him down on it before his bath. That would be a good idea for us to do it after we change his nighttime diaper. It's a good sign she wakes up dry! Should make things easier whenever the nighttime training comes.

SB - Yes I did a business trip while pumping. My first trip I brought H, so that was different. My second I had enough of a stash to donate whatever I pumped while I was out of state at their local milk bank. So I haven't actually transported with a ton of milk. I did end up with some that I put in a lunch bag sized insulated cooler with ice packs. They will let you fly with it, they just run the liquid through a tester machine. Otherwise, you can ship it home, which will probably be easier. Get a cooler and buy some dry ice in the location you are at. Then you can just ship via UPS or USPS I think. My work would have paid for the breastmilk shipping, so you can always ask to see if your work would too.

 

[Sbmack]

Thanks for the tips, ladies! I wondered about the dry ice.

Yay Gabby!

 

[Sbmack]

I haven't posted any pics in a while and Stella is getting so big so...

 

[Sbmack]

Sorry for the Stella spam. I can't figure out how to load more than one.

 

[Sbmack]

Last one

 

[daydream]

Stella is such a doll!! She is so adorable and she's getting so big and looks like a ton of fun

 

[Chloe597]

oh wow, SB, 8 months old already?? She is getting big! And still so happy Has she shown any interest in crawling yet?

Not a lot going on here. I haven't been able to get gabby to pee on the potty since that 1 time. She will sit on it, and try to flush it, but that's pretty much it. But I'm ok with that. We might also switch her daycare, so i'm not really looking forward to that transition. She is pretty apprehensive already at her current daycare, because she recently switched rooms and i dont think she likes the teachers in that room as much. She used to love going to daycare, and now she is not too happy about it. Here are a few newer pics of gabby. Her hair is getting curly and wild. I have to figure out how to control it so she doesn't look like she was raised in the wild So far my best option has been to just wet it and brush it in the mornings before we go out.

 

[Sbmack]

Thanks, ladies!

Chloe, it looks like Gabby loves the water. That water toy thing looks cool. It must be tough to switch rooms. I bet they get attached to the teachers.

Stella still isn't crawling. She will lunge forward when seated and be on all fours momentarily. She loved standing and can stand on her own next to furniture. She pulls herself up to kneel and sometimes crawl when I sit her in her crib.

Hope everyone is well!

 

[Gobolino]

Loving the pics!!!! Stella is sooo cute!!! And Gabby is gorgeous...so grown up! No longer a baby!!!

 

[Gobolino]

My turn now....Juan is 3 months old. Time flies! We went through a rough spot a few days back, but these last two days he's been behaving like a champ! No complaints...he's so good, really.

 

[Gobolino]

Last one....he's getting too big for this!!! When did you change to the more "sitting" chair?

 

[jodspods]

Hello!!

Loving the recent photos!! Hope everyone is well!

We've started weaning and it seems to be going ok. Grace is more blw inclined than purées! Last night she was in her cot in her own room for the first time, tonight, she's still awake and won't go down! Very happy and smiley though so I'm sure she knows what she's up to. We're trying to sell our house and get somewhere bigger so wanted to wait til we moved but she's been really unsettled at night and I think the crib was too small! Last night was a success so hoping tonight is ok when she finally goes down.

Gob - we had Grace in her big buggy at just over 3 months as she was too nosey for lying down and growing too big!

Here's a couple photos too! X