6 weeks to get pg and no pp AF

[hoping4just1more]

Hi guys. Haven't been on in almost 9 months seeing as though that is when DD was born.

I know there are probably many threads about TTCing while BFing but I am in a bit of a bind and lets just say clomid is really tempting me at this point.

I have no pp AF because I am still breastfeeding and DH's deployment date just jumped up by about 3 months. I know I will not get a period until I completely wean DD because that is how it has always been for me. But I am no where near ready to stop BFing and neither is she. Now here we are wanting another child but there is just no way I can make my AF start before he leaves even if I were to completely stop breast feeding right now.

This happened to us last time and I did actually have enough time to use birth control pills to start a period and do a round of clomid. That was under care of a physician though. I had also already stop breast feeding our other DD of my own achord before the desperation to concieve. I just couldn't get my body to start a period.

I have seriously thought long and hard today about using the clomid again but I can't bring myself to consider since DD is breast feeding and only 9 months old.

Any ideas ladies? Please don't tell me to wait for mother nature either because I know I have that option but that is only something I will consider as defeat. We really want another child asap but like many military families out there deployments seem to stand in the way of hopes and dreams.

I am not really wanting to take clomid and I am also not thinking it is a very safe thing to do. Anyone know of a more natural way to achieve ovulation? We get pregnant VERY easily so I am confident all I need is just one egg lol. And we can get the job done.

[kalamos23]

How long will he be deployed for? If it's a shorter deployment, would you be willing to wait until it's up? You could try an abrupt change to your nursing pattern, sometimes that is enough to bring back AF. For instance, try going a 5+ hour stretch either at night or during the day.

Otherwise, at this point, even if you did start a period, and if you did ovulate (since the odds of ovulating before PPAF are lower, the likelihood of your LP being sufficient to sustain a pregnancy is probably low. I think Clomid is not safe while breastfeeding, but I could be wrong on that, and don't have a Hale's handy to look it up. In your position, I would probably wait - I know it's not what you want to hear, but it probably would be the easiest/best for your current DD rather than abrupt weaning. I totally get wanting to have another though, we got pregnant very easily with DD (first try!) and are now on our 13m TTC #2 with 2 losses while breastfeeding our now 23mo DD, so I totally get the desperation though, and I wish you luck.

[karmab]

i would have to say i agree with kalamos. even if you go through everything you can think of, you are fighting mother nature big time, and no matter how easily you get pg, you are going to be jeopardizing your bf'ing relationship and im not sure about the health or safety of that sort of thing for you or your baby, with no guarantee. how long is the deployment? if it is more than 9 mths would you want to have the baby without him there anyway? if it's less than 9 mths, i would say definitely wait it out anyway, by that time you may be physically ready again.

[hoping4just1more]

No, unfortunantly this deployment is same as all the others. 12-15 months. And the clomid is out of the question. I did some internet searching and found there aren't signifigant studies on it and BFing so it is the farthest thing from my mind right now. Can't make one child unhealthy trying to conceive another.

But one of my fellow military wives did point something out to me I overlooked. Although it is probably not going to happen before he leaves, there is always R&R and if it is at least 5-6 months out then there is a good chance I will have stopped BFing by then and naturally gotten my period. So that brings me hope.

We can always wait until he gets home, it's just that by that time I will be pushing 30 and we wanted stop having children by 29. We are kind of feeling the pressure and like this is our last shot.

[Soul-O]

My current pregnancy is the result of a timely R&R visit . I had a miscarriage about 3 weeks after my DH deployed, so I ended up having about 4 months of charting cycles prior to conceiving during the R&R. I was able to pinpoint ovulation with enough accuracy so that we could plan the R&R to coincide with when I thought I would ovulate. My nursling was 23 months old at the time of conception, so nursing was a 2x - 3x per day event by that time. It's been very tough to deal with the pregnancy on my own, especially with four kids to care for in addition to myself, but I'm glad we didn't have to wait for the end of deployment. Good luck in your quest to conceive!

[hoping4just1more]

Thanks Soul O. Same boat here. Four precious little ones and hoping for #5. I bet it is/was (are u still pg? or did u give birth already) hard with 4 and DH overseas. I was kind of thinking maybe it won't be so bad to wait for R&R so that he can possibly be home for the birth should I get lucky and have the DS we so badly want. And oh what a suprise and a joy it would be to give him such great news while he was overseas and needed the boost. I guess things happen for a reason. This is his 5th deployment so I know he is kind of burnt out on the whole thing and it would lift him up so much to get that kind of news.

[~Adorkable~]

just wanted to let you know that i really feel how you feel with the deployment. it took us over 3 years to get preggo from when we wanted to because of a 9 month school TDY and a 12 month deployment. it was infuriating!

there is many a baby that is the result of a R&R, i say look forward to that. that way he can be home for the birth and help you as you have your hands full with 3.

i know its hard, it was so so hard to look at the calender and see all the cycles that went by, but maybe for you there can be some comfort that you have a good nursing pattern with your LO and focus on that.

i wanted to have my kids a long time ago, but i'm 35 now and he's 40, we are having our 1st (and 2nd for that matter!) in the military, we take what we can get.

[karmab]

adorkable- twins?! how did i miss that? that is awesome. i have twin boys and they are such a gift.

hoping- hehe... i wanted to be done by 30 too. im 42 now sometimes life has other plans for you!

[~Adorkable~]

Yep twins, clearly di-amniotic thankfully and hearts beating strong!

[EdnaMarie]

I am so sorry but we are in the same situation. We were trying for five months with no AF and nothing happened. Just got my first AF so we'll see how it goes. That was 13 months post-partum. We still have more time than you before our deployment.

"We can always wait until he gets home, it's just that by that time I will be pushing 30 and we wanted stop having children by 29."

I am smiling. My first was born when I was 29, second when I was 31. The second was easier than the first . It might seem old but honestly, when you reach that point, you won't feel a day older than 21. Seriously. I'm not sure if it's a family history of a specific disease at a certain point, but unless it's that, I really think you will not mind having children in your thirties.

It's when you have your first baby after 30 that they are more cautious.

Good luck to both of you.

[hoping4just1more]

Well hopefully I will be forever young lol. But the age restriction has nothing to do with actual age issues. It's just that my oldest is 11 so I have been a mom for quit some time now. We made the 30 year limit so that we could still have some time for our children to grow up and get out but be young enough to enjoy some travel and happiness with just us two. As much as we love our family we really really miss the days when it was just he and I.

[karmab]

ummm... my oldest 2 sons turn 22 in 4 days! baby A starts law school in the fall. then i have a 13 yo and an 11 yo. now i've married an amazing guy who doesnt have any kids. my favorite aunt had 2 after 40, so did my oldest sister. so we are giving it a shot. but believe me, when i had my twin sons, i neeeever would have believed i'd still be wanting to start all over again at this point in my life. i thought how nice to be a young mom, and then move on and still be young when the kids are grown and enjoy traveling and ... but here i am. it will all happen as it should, for both of us, i am sure of that!

[gumblossom]

This is going to sound quite silly, but I'm just trying to think laterally...and I realise it is something that may cost alot too...Have you considered doing IUI while he is gone? If he could give sperm and you have it frozen until you are ready to ttc?

I'm sorry if that sounds crazy, but I was just thinking how awfully hard it would be having your DH away so long, so having to wait a long time before you could ttc again.

I wish you all the best.I am a mum of 5 and understand your desire for one more.

[EdnaMarie]

I see. I just thought the age-limit was about age for bearing a child, not age for kicking a child out of the house so you can travel LOL. The sperm preservation idea is not a bad one.

[karmab]

i had the same thought, initially, "i wonder if she could freeze the sperm?" but i didnt say it because as i thought about it, ugh, i just wouldnt want to do that, if it were me. here's why, and this is just my two cents, so that's all it's worth....... but, here you are with 4 young kids, including one that is very young who you are nursing, and you are about to be on your own for more than a year. that has got to be some kind of tough as it is, very difficult both for you and the kids. if it were me, i would concentrate on making the best situation for the kids, especially enjoying the special time with the infant, because they get big very fast and you can never get that back. your dh is going to miss out on the whole pregnancy experience and the birth and the newborn time if you get pg now. and when he's gone, if you are jumping through all kinds of hoops trying to get pg with inseminations in the middle of that, wow. and it's still a longshot. and what if something goes wrong and he's not there. as much as i want a baby (and i want it now too,) that does not sound like a good time. you are young enough you have the option to wait, take this time to lavish attention on your littlest one, devote yourself to all the older ones and then do this together with your dh when he gets back and can be a part of it.