2 month old sttn....affecting my fertility?

[waiting2bemommy]

so dd has been an amazing nighttime sleeper since about 3 weeks. we do cosleep, and she also naps on our bed and I sometimes lay with her since we don't have a crib, so that promotes nursing, but even still she definitely doesn't eat every two hours at night. a typical night for us is a couple hours of cluster feeding followed by her sleeping from maybe 9:30 PM until 3 or 4 AM, then nursing on and off for an hour at most and then sleeping until 7 or 8 AM.

we basically just "pull and pray" but about 3 weeks after dd was born we got a little sloppy. I had been counting on bf'ing to stave off ovulation and fertility, but twice since dd's birth I've felt like I was ovulating...the mild cramping/pain in one side and all that. Then 2 days ago I started getting really long, stringy mucus and now it's all wet and runny (which is how I am when I'm pregnant...copius amounts of substances coming out.) I looked online and discovered that breastfeeding is only reliable birth control if the baby nurses every two hours???

so now I'm scared....I didn't want the IUD and I already have issues with depression and don't want anything hormonal, and SO hates condoms, so we were stuck with pulling out. Now I'm worried that it's not enough. any thoughts? is there some magic birth control out there that I don't know about? or (heaven forbid) could I already be pregnant AGAIN?

[engineer_mom]

I totally get about you worrying. And trying to find the perfect birth control.

My body has been acting so funny and my baby doesn't sttn. I swore I was preg several times already. nauseous, funny tastes, mucous, etc...
I actually started charting my symptoms over the last month because I think there is a pattern (shorter than my normal cycles). I'm get lots of CM and it seems like a lot of fertile looking days according to them.

I bought OPK strips to try to find out if I am ovulating. But I don't know when to test!

I have been using a saliva microscope. And have had a couple of partial ferning days but there is no pattern. This is my main method right now.

But I am getting so worried about another pregnancy. And I hate abstinence, which is sooo effective. LOL
My last pregnancy was prior to a post partum period so I totally know that it can happen. And I really don't want it to happen again so soon.

[Mrs-Mama]

If she is sleeping that long at night (yay ), then I would definitely want to use some form of birth control. You said you hate condoms (so do I) but I love my diaphragm...it doesn't feel nearly as in the way.

I have started ovulating again after my babies start sleeping longer through the night (even 4 hours or so).

[akind1]

My AF returned at 4 months PP, and DS has always been a good sleeper. and I am sure fertility returned with it, as I felt I was O'ing about 2 weeks before, so knew AF would be on her way. It wouldn't hurt to get some opk's or hpt's (or both) to try and figure out what is going on.

hope you figure out what is up!

[waiting2bemommy]

Originally Posted by akind1

My AF returned at 4 months PP, and DS has always been a good sleeper. and I am sure fertility returned with it, as I felt I was O'ing about 2 weeks before, so knew AF would be on her way. It wouldn't hurt to get some opk's or hpt's (or both) to try and figure out what is going on.

hope you figure out what is up!

how do you know when to do the ovulation test though without a period to go off of? I guess I'd basically have to do one every day until it read positive, right? Are the dollar tree ones reliable? the dollar tree pregnancy tests are fine, I know because that's how I found out about dd!

[jodi5]

My three month old is sleeping 8-9 hours at night so I worry about the same thing. I will say that my second child slept 8-10 hours at night starting at 2 months old and my cycle did not return until 11 months postpartum which was the same as when it returned following the birth of my first who slept in 4 hour increments for a lot longer.

One thing you might want to consider is the breastfeeding protocol of the Marquette method. It uses the clear blue easy fertility monitor. The instructions for the method are online and they have a forum where you can ask questions. I was able to get a monitor on eBay and test strips there for much cheaper than in stores.

Good luck!

[bubbledumpster]

Originally Posted by waiting2bemommy

I didn't want the IUD and I already have issues with depression and don't want anything hormonal, and SO hates condoms, so we were stuck with pulling out. Now I'm worried that it's not enough. any thoughts? is there some magic birth control out there that I don't know about?

yes! there is! it's called VCF (Vaginal Contraceptive Film). i have issues w/ depression also and both SO and I dislike condoms. VCF costs about the same per go-round as condoms. they have a film version which you fold up and place over your cervix where it then disintegrates. the only downside is you have to wait at least fifteen minutes for it to fully disintegrate, but they last for three hours. they also have a foam option, which i haven't used yet.

you can usually find them near the condoms or the douches @ the store.