pregnant or TTC whilst BFing

[purplelou]

I am BFing my now 14 month old and would love to get pregnant again. I am 41 so time feels like it is running out for me.

does anyone have any positive stories for me?

I havent seen the return of AF btw since having my daughter

 

[cflower04]

Are you still breastfeeding at night?

 

[Brieanna]

I got my period back when dd was about a year. We started ntnp for awhile but then started trying more seriously.

We got opks and started using them and I got pregnant within a few cycles. It turned out I was ovulating wayyyyyyy later than I thought. I think bfing might shorten your lp? With a 28-33 day cycle (it only took a few cycles to become more regular once they started again) I was ovulating around day 21! Unfortunately that pregnancy ended in mc, but after waiting for a cycle we started trying again and got pregnant with this one right away.

I am not sure if I was ovulating when we were ntnp because I was just loosely trying to dtd at least around cd 13-15, so if I had used opks it might have happened a lot faster iykwim?

Oh, btw, I do/did on demand exclusive nursing, started blw around 6 months and we co-sleep, which all effects your cycles. She is still nursing a few times a day and also several times a night. My twin sister got pregnant a few months after her dd was born (and went on to tandem nurse) and she also was exclusive bfing and cosleeping.

I have heard about people not getting their cycles back until after they completely weaned and also about people who have had 4+ babies without ever getting a period between them so everyone is different!

Just be prepared, if you do get pregnant and are still nursing your milk could dry up (my supply has decreased from a few weeks ago but my sisters never did), your nipples could get sore (mine were excruciatingly sore from first trimester until second trimester) or your daughter could decide she doesn't like to nurse (I think the milk changes taste sometimes, although my dd did the opposite and started nursing MORE after my bfp!).

I understand about time running out. Women in my family tend to have VERY early menopause (around age 35ish) and I want at least 3 children so I definitely have a little clock ticking in my brain all the time, lol.

Good luck!

 

[Teeny]

I conceived on my 6th attempt whilst breastfeeding. I did cut down to just two feeds then one when I conceived then stopped at 9 weeks.

it's not impossible to conceived before ur af comes back but obviously tracking or waiting for ovulation is more difficult. is lo still feeding at night? how much does she feed in the day? my af came back at 7 month pp, but it was a week after I had left her for a full 24 hrs and she had expressed milk and I pumped. just the lack of the skin contact stimulated my first af, it took a while to come back fully after that tho!

good luck xxx

 

[Celesse]

I conceived #2 when #1 was 12.5 months old. It happened with no AF in between, a few weeks after she started STTN and I went back to work.

I conceived #3 after one cycle. I had the first AF a few weeks after stopping tandem nursing and #2 starting to STTN. It ended in MMC, but I conceived again, whilst still BFing #2 off that miscarriage cycle.

I am still nursing now at 15 weeks pregnant, though my milk has dried up.

 

[purplelou]

Thanks ladies, at least there is some hope.

Cflower - my LO usually has one feed at night (sometimes two)

To give you some idea, I usually feed in the morning first thing, then if go to work. I don't pump anymore, I do feed at lunchtime when I come home and then again in the evening when I get home and then as I said, once usually at night.
My LO was a really bad sleeper until about 10 months old and I was feeding several times in the night till then. I sort of hoped that having her sleep (and feed less) better would get my cycles back.

To be fair I do offer LO milk in the mornings, maybe I should just wait till she 'asks'?

 

[Celesse]

I'd reckon your best chance at getting fertility back would be to drop that night feed. Is she co-sleeping or in her own room? You could try daddy going in and offering a drink of water. I really worried about dropping our night feeds with #1, but in the end all I did was not go to her one night and after 10 mins of low impact whinging she went back to sleep and didn't wake at all the next night.

 

[Teeny]

it's up to how u feel about dropping feeds. if ur ok with a don't offer don't refuse, then go with that and see how u feel.

but as Celesse says, the night feed can be the key. I stopped offering at 12 1/2 months and instead cuddled her and put her back down. next might she slept thru. but I def felt she had been ready for a while, I was just waiting for a good time for me to do it I case she reacted badly.

 

[purplelou]

I'd reckon your best chance at getting fertility back would be to drop that night feed. Is she co-sleeping or in her own room? You could try daddy going in and offering a drink of water. I really worried about dropping our night feeds with #1, but in the end all I did was not go to her one night and after 10 mins of low impact whinging she went back to sleep and didn't wake at all the next night.

she is in her own bed now. we did try co-cleeping before becasue of the terrible sleep, but it didnt work for any of us.
dh can go in usually and reassurre and she will usually go back to sleep, but if she wakes 3 times in a row within a fe minutes thats when I usually go feed, but maybe we can try some water instead
thanks for the idea! x

it's up to how u feel about dropping feeds. if ur ok with a don't offer don't refuse, then go with that and see how u feel.

but as Celesse says, the night feed can be the key. I stopped offering at 12 1/2 months and instead cuddled her and put her back down. next might she slept thru. but I def felt she had been ready for a while, I was just waiting for a good time for me to do it I case she reacted badly.

Im not sure about the cuddling and put down. LO is so used to daddy doing that (or just reassurring) she is used to mummy coming and feeding. I think we created a bit of a habit there. but we can only try and if she slept through that would be amazing!! thank you x

 

[Teeny]

it's up to how u feel about dropping feeds. if ur ok with a don't offer don't refuse, then go with that and see how u feel.

but as Celesse says, the night feed can be the key. I stopped offering at 12 1/2 months and instead cuddled her and put her back down. next might she slept thru. but I def felt she had been ready for a while, I was just waiting for a good time for me to do it I case she reacted badly.

Im not sure about the cuddling and put down. LO is so used to daddy doing that (or just reassurring) she is used to mummy coming and feeding. I think we created a bit of a habit there. but we can only try and if she slept through that would be amazing!! thank you x[/QUOTE]

I know what u mean, I always just fed her, it was the quickest way for me to get back to bed. but she took to it no issues so ur lo might surprise u. it might not work but u have nothing to lose if u give it a shot. if lo is very resistant and upset then feed her and try again at a later date! xxxxx

 

[purplelou]

oh dear...we tried last night, dh was standing by with a cup of milk. she fed at 7 and then into bed and off to sleep and then she woke at 11.00. I cuddled and gave a feed - but she was only comfort sucking I think. popped her back into bed and then she woke about every 1/2 hour after than. DH was brilliant, sometimes she self soothed, but mostly he needed to go in and reassurre. we both thought it best if I stayed away otherwise Im sure she would have just been thing ' mums here, why isnt she giving me what I want?'
anyway it was a stressful night.
she settled really fast on each occasion but only for a little while.
she completely refused a cup of milk (although normally she likes it)

I got up with her at 5.30 and gave her a feed
she was overtired and so upset then

I dont know if I want to do that again. not really sure where to go from here.
thanks for all the advice ladies x

 

[Celesse]

She might be more ready in a few weeks time. Even now they can change very quickly very suddenly. If its not possible to drop the night feeds, maybe the lunch time feed would reduce her over all milk intake to a level that would allow fertility to start making its way back.

Its a bit of a balancing act when your ready to be pregnant again, but your baby is preventing your body from allowing that! You have the needs of the existing child, versus the needs of the family and potential child.

Have you had any signs that your body might be approaching fertility? My first signs were patches of egg white mucus. Not enough and not long enough for ovulation, but enough to show me that my oestrogen levels were managing to rise a bit.

 

[Teeny]

I agree, she doesn't sound ready so wait a while and try again at a later date. some women find their lo holds onto the night feed the longest so as pp said, maybe drop a lunch feed, then ur body would have a break during the day.

what u have learned is that lo doesn't need the feed in terms of nutrition, it's more comfort, which obv is fine as that's part of what they get from bf'ing. but for me, knowing she wasn't actually needing it for food helped with the rest

xxx

 

[purplelou]

thanks ladies I will try that next I think.
Honestly if I was 10 years younger, Id probably just carry on feeding her as long as she wanted, but I am very aware time is not on myside.

thanks so much for the support!

 

[I Love Lucy]

I just recently got pregnant while still nursing my DS. My AF returned in September when he was around 6 months. Got another AF in November which made it around a 60 day cycle and then got pregnant in December. STTN and introducing solids can help bring your fertility back sooner though some woman aren't able to get pregnant at all until they wean entirely. My DS still isn't STTN though when I got my AF back he was going at least 6 hours before he would wake up to nurse.

Some things to remember when trying to get pg, your LP may be shorter which could mean the baby doesn't have enough time to implant. If you do get pg your nipples can be extremely sore (thankfully this hasn't been the case for me), some babies will refuse to nurse because the milk tastes differently so you may have to wean entirely, your milk supply might be lower. I had one breast that always had a slower let down and a lower supply. My DS now has no desire to nurse off that breast now that I'm pg so I'm pretty much only able to nurse off one breast so I look a little lopsided.

Good luck!

 

[purplelou]

thanks Brittany - and congratulations on your pregnancy x