Do I have to throw out LAM now? Probably TMI...

[b_light]

So, Eden regularly sleeps 10 hours without waking (don't hate me...my 3 year old is still a terrible sleeper). Well, she'll wake, pass gas and fall back asleep without making a peep. No nursing, but she does sleep next to me.

That means I can no longer count on lactational amenorrhea, right? The cap on sleeping is 6 hours? Dang.

I still don't have my period back though. My cervical fluid is all over the place though. Definitely not dry all the time like I was soon after postpartum bleeding stopped.

How's everyone else doing on this front?

[kitteh]

No period yet, but I've already started to think about birthcontrol options even though Ela isn't sleeping anywhere near 10 hours at a stretch. She still eats every few hours, but I just don't trust breastfeeding to keep me from getting pregnant again, so I talked to my Dr and decided to go with Mirena. I had it inserted last Thursday (so almost a week ago) and so far I have had a tiny bit of spotting and cramping but nothing bad.

However, I've just had a slightly uneasy feeling about the whole thing, so I got online and did some more "research" tonight and I'm surprised by what I found. My Dr told me that the level of hormone released by the Mirena was such a low level that it only works locally on the uterus. Well, according to the internet that's not true and it does in fact get into the breast milk. On top of that, the risk of uterine perforation is apparently increased for breastfeeding mothers, although I was "sold" the Mirena as an ideal form of BC for use while breastfeeding. I haven't been able to find actual numbers on the general risk of uterine perforation or the increased risk for bf moms. But even if it's really really low, if I happened to be one of the unlucky few I'd be screwed because I have no insurance and certainly can't pay for ultrasounds and CT scans and laproscopic surgery. Besides the fact that these complications can lead to infertility. I really wish I'd known all of this before I had the Mirena inserted!

DH and I talked about it tonight and although we REALLY don't want to get pregnant for at least another 2-3 years, I think we'd be more able to deal with an unintended pregnancy than the complications of perforation. And infertility would absolutely KILL me. We're sure that we want at least one more.

So now I'm leaning towards getting a diaphragm instead. I feel bad having the Mirena removed so soon after having it inserted though (we didn't have to pay for it, I'm covered under CA's Family PACT program.)

[kitteh]

Sorry if that's a bit off topic! Maybe I should have posted a new thread? But it seemed relevant, so.

[Mawood]

I am almost 11 weeks postpartum and haven't had my period yet. The night stretches of feeding are definitely getting longer and I wouldn't trust it as birth control either. Haven't had much desires yet anyway. I had an episiotomy and still feel it a bit at times. I think we might just use condoms. I feel pretty strongly about not taking any hormones at tis point - not just because I am breastfeeding but also because I just don't like to mess with hormones anyways.

[marinak1977]

I'm 15 weeks PP and no AF yet, but my plan is charting to avoid. I use mostly cervical position, mucus as an indicator, and it's been pretty clear in the past. Better than the pill or mirena (I've had both)

[jillmamma]

In the past, I have not gotten AF back till 15+ months pp, and then have a short luteal phase till about 2 years pp, so I am not really worried about it. Besides, DH is pretty careful about using condoms, so it would be pretty unlikely to happen anyway. We are not PLANNING any more, but would manage if we did.

Maybe you could do like us and just use condoms till you figure out more long term?

[scheelimama]

I'm at exactly the same place as you Brandy, baby sleeps 10+ hours at night routinely, no ppaf, but not dry dry all the time, sometimes I am, sometimes I'm not. My ppaf with my others came back at 7, 12, and 10 months. The one that it came back at 7 months also slept through the night from 8 weeks on. So, I probably still have a few months, but I'm not taking any chances and haven't since he started sleeping through at around 8 weeks old.

[gabeyho]

i am afraid to even use LAM this time. We so want to permanently TTA, and by now I have met so many women who rely on LAM and have gotten pregnant, and even though it's not typical for me to get ppaf until around 9 months, it could be different this time and my cm is all over the place and seems to be leaning to very fertile quality. I wish I was one of those who get ppaf right away so I didn't have all these months of waiting and guessing. AND, since contraception is out of the question for us, I fear a few months worth of mostly abstinence. NOT looking forward to it.

My advice, as long as I've been charting and as many women as I have talked to about LAM, is if you are serious about TTA then DON'T rely on LAM. Just remember that the method is highly successful, but user failure is what you need to watch out for.