TTC/Pregnancy while Breastfeeding and Tandem Nursing: Information and Support

[Celesse]

Patch, you have a similar age gap that I have. We went down to one feed a day at one point during the pregnancy around the 18-24 week point. Was back up to 3 times a day (morning, nap time and bedtime) in the third tri. Then when DS was born and took over my knee and the proper milk came back she picked up her feeds to match the baby!

We had runnier poop as well. DD also wasn't bothered by it.

 

[blessedmomma]

jcg0506 no advice but wanted to give you i hope it works out that your LO can keep nursing

congrats summer rain

 

[AngieandKids]

Hi. I thought that I could join here!
I have a 6 month old and I am 12 weeks pregnant! Breastfeeding like normal! I was wondering if the new baby will effect the feeding of my other child?

 

[Nisakhamil]

Hi.
i'm new here..
been TTC for 2 months now.. I've exclusively breastfeed my 19 months old son. And my period only come on February this year and my cycle been regular until 3 months ago..
first month my cycle goes 38 cycle..then 48 cycles ( i swore i thought i was pregnant until my AF comes) and last month my cycles goes 36 cycle..this month i think i'm ovulating around 13-14th ..now i'm around 14 dpo and still bfn and no sign of AF.. my back is aching like crazy for the past week, runny nose,bloating and everything..
really confuse..is it because of breastfeeding?

 

[motherofboys]

Well I'm back on the B6 and back charting. I can't wait indefinatley for my LP to increase. But knowing its been too short all this time I'm deciding on a fresh start and not counting the last 2 years, so this is month 1

 

[caro103]

^^ good luck hun! hope this works for you!

bfn for me this morning, though hoping its too early yet, no signs of AF coming at all and my skin is terrible

 

[elociN]

Hi, I am sort of new here, especially to pregnancy while breastfeeding.

I was wondering if anyone here has experienced the same or similar symptoms while ttc or maybe falling pregnant "accidently before the return of their period pp.. I am currently breastfeeding my 18 mo (nearly 19 mo) baby and still have no period.I have heard that the older the breastfeeding baby is the more likely one is to ovulate before the first period.
With my older children my period returned at 14 and 15 months pp and i fed them for 2 and 2.5 years respectively.
This time, however, it is taking longer to return.
A few days ago I suddenly developed very tender nipples and i never get them apart from when I am pregnant. I sometimes get breast tenderness before a period but never tender nipples. They are so uncomfortable that I am fining it difficult to feed. It is definitely not thrush because I have had it when one of my babies was little and it's completely different.
I did a couple of IC tests, because I was wondering if i was pregnant, but if I was, I would have got pr 2 weeks ago and the test would have showed it up I think. I also had unprotected sex 2 days ago, around the time when the nipple pain started, so I am wondering if this could be my "new" ovulation sign and I could have got pregnant, as the nipple pain is getting worse.
We are not ttc but would not mind another one.
I am just a little confused about this pain and what's going on. Any feedback is very welcome.

 

[soph77]

Hi, I am sort of new here, especially to pregnancy while breastfeeding.

I was wondering if anyone here has experienced the same or similar symptoms while ttc or maybe falling pregnant "accidently before the return of their period pp.. I am currently breastfeeding my 18 mo (nearly 19 mo) baby and still have no period.I have heard that the older the breastfeeding baby is the more likely one is to ovulate before the first period.
With my older children my period returned at 14 and 15 months pp and i fed them for 2 and 2.5 years respectively.
This time, however, it is taking longer to return.
A few days ago I suddenly developed very tender nipples and i never get them apart from when I am pregnant. I sometimes get breast tenderness before a period but never tender nipples. They are so uncomfortable that I am fining it difficult to feed. It is definitely not thrush because I have had it when one of my babies was little and it's completely different.
I did a couple of IC tests, because I was wondering if i was pregnant, but if I was, I would have got pr 2 weeks ago and the test would have showed it up I think. I also had unprotected sex 2 days ago, around the time when the nipple pain started, so I am wondering if this could be my "new" ovulation sign and I could have got pregnant, as the nipple pain is getting worse.
We are not ttc but would not mind another one.
I am just a little confused about this pain and what's going on. Any feedback is very welcome.

I'm not really sure, sorry I can't be much help! My nipples are only slightly more sensitive now and my boobs are completely unchanged with this pregnancy - still soft floppy old breastfeeding boobs! I thought I would get nice big preg boobs again, but no! Maybe that will come later?

I take it the ICs were neg? Try again in a couple of days. I remember when my first son refused breastfeeding at 10 months, i got my first af 2 weeks later, so i think I Oed and that changed my milk, which he wasn't a fan of! With this baby, I had 2 ppaf before falling pg.

 

[soph77]

Well I'm back on the B6 and back charting. I can't wait indefinatley for my LP to increase. But knowing its been too short all this time I'm deciding on a fresh start and not counting the last 2 years, so this is month 1

Good luck hun!!! I hope the B6 works quickly for you x

 

[elociN]

Thank you for your reply Soph77
My kids never showed any change in behaviour when i got my periods before, and my middle one continued bf for a year after my period returned. Nothing could put her off
This time it's really strange. because I don;t really know when and if I od'd I can only go by unprotected sex dates, so I would be either 16 days or 2 days after the event. i think in the case of 16 days something would have showed up. However I did 2 IC today and i think they have evaps. very very very faint almost not there very fine lines, my son saw it too. But it can't be even if i caught ovulation this time i'd only be 2dpo. Confused ,...in other words

 

[Celesse]

16 days post sex could potentially be 12 or 13 DPO and still be pregnant and wouldn't necessarily show on an IC yet. I think its 19 days after unprotected sex for a BFN to defiantly be a BFN as opposed to a tested-too-early.

I got pregnant first pp ovulation (so no AF) when #1 was 12 months. I was watching cm and started opk's when ewcm appeared so it was very intentionally pregnant.

 

[Tacey]

Thank you for your reply Soph77
My kids never showed any change in behaviour when i got my periods before, and my middle one continued bf for a year after my period returned. Nothing could put her off
This time it's really strange. because I don;t really know when and if I od'd I can only go by unprotected sex dates, so I would be either 16 days or 2 days after the event. i think in the case of 16 days something would have showed up. However I did 2 IC today and i think they have evaps. very very very faint almost not there very fine lines, my son saw it too. But it can't be even if i caught ovulation this time i'd only be 2dpo. Confused ,...in other words

I found that my test with my second didn't show up until 14 dpo, and even then it was really, really faint. The first time, I got a positive at 9 dpo that was more obvious. I'm not sure if breastfeeding affects it. Maybe worth trying again in a few days. I certainly found that my hormones were all over the place for a good few months before I was fertile, which caused all sorts of weird symptoms!

 

[elociN]

Thank you all for replying. I usually tested early with all of mine and got a bfp. With my first baby we were trying but I tested after i missed my period and got a very strong BFP.
With my second son (first one was stillborn, sadly, so we started trying again) I was testing super early, and that's how i found out that I was pregnant before him (3 months after the birth of my first baby) but sadly lost it at just over 5 weeks. So the following month I was pregnant with my son and found out using FRER at around 10dpo.
With both my daughters I found out before 14 dpo also using FRER, with the youngest ICs were negative but FRER was positive at 10dpo.

I have never ttc or tested while bf so still a bit confused. I am convinced I see something on my IC but its probably just me imagining things.
I will prob wait and test nxt week.

 

[cookielucylou]

Just checking is it safe to continue bfing all the way through pregnancy?

 

[Ozzieshunni]

Just checking is it safe to continue bfing all the way through pregnancy?

Of course!

 

[cookielucylou]

Thankyou I got a bit worried a few days back as I heard nipple stimulation is supposed to be a natural way to bring on labour.

 

[Celesse]

I found in the third tri I had to quit feeding for longer than 10 minutes as it gave me really strong BH that carried on after I finished the feed.

But then at 38 weeks I switched to trying to get DD to feed as much as possible, (in addition to the whole eat a curry and a pineapple, shove some EPO up the foof and bounce on a ball have sex and go for long walks whilst drinking RLT kinda thing). When labour did start it was several hours after DD had gone to bed with no extra feeding that day.

 

[roomaloo]

Yay got my bfp! Bfing my 9 mo who is a monster so I hope my supply doesn't drop too much. Just out of interest, do you need to up calories any more if breastfeeding and pregnant?

 

[cookielucylou]

Congratulations

 

[Jaymes]

Yay got my bfp! Bfing my 9 mo who is a monster so I hope my supply doesn't drop too much. Just out of interest, do you need to up calories any more if breastfeeding and pregnant?

CONGRATS!!! And YES, but not in a bad junk food sort of way! You need to up your good nutrient rich food calorie intake! If you crave sweets eat fruit, crunchy salty, eat nuts or raw veggies... AND DRINK! I am terrible about drinking enough water, but you have to keep up your liquids for both the babies. I've managed throughout, and I think I was pretty well dried up for a while (most of 2nd tri and part of 3rd,) but my DD didn't seem to mind.