tell me about TTC & pregnant while breastfeeding

[kfillmore]

Could you share experiences with trying to conceive while breastfeeding. Also how did it go for you breastfeeding while pregnant?

I have been reading conflicting info and would like to hear from Mothering Mamas. Thanks!

[kfillmore]

No one? please

[Dahlea]

It took me 5 years to hAve my first. I conceived my second when my first was just over a year, sill breastfed for like 95%
of his nutrition.

[gigismom]

we concieved our ds when dd2 was nursing at 2 1/2. my period had returned when she was 24 months. we were not ttc. dd2 nursed throughout my pg, during labor and for 6 months after he was born when she weaned just before she turned 4. nursing while pg and tandem nursing was not always wonderful for me but i did not want to take away from her what i felt was her right to bf and wean when ready. it was uncomfortable when she would nurse for the last couple months of my pg. after ds was born i had a serious aversion to nursing her because her mouth just seemed soooo huge compared to his! i recieved a lot of support here for sticking with tandem nursing and i am very grateful that i did. all of my kids have a beautiful loving relationship with each other. if i had to plan it, i would not choose to nurse during pg and tandem nurse again.... i would ttc after the current baby weaned. that's just my opinion, though

jen

[kfillmore]

Anyone else??


thanks!

[hildare]

we're ttc.. our dd is about to turn 1.
i think it depends on your cycles- are yours regular?
we haven't had luck till this point with ttc as mine still aren't.. my ob says that longer than 28-30 day cycles indicate no ovulation is happening.
i heard there's a good book out there called "adventures in tandem nursing" if you get past the ttc part and into the nursing while preggo part

[fruitfulmomma]

We've never actively ttc, but we use no forms of family planning/birth control and I bf them until around 4yo. I also have long, irregular cycles. I've nursed through pregnancies and tandem nursed. I got my period back with my oldest around 8 months and longer after each child, to about 15 months with my youngest. My children are spaced between 24 and 28 months apart.

[akind1]

Hildare: FWIW when we conceived DS my cycles were regularly about 35 days long (and honestly have been that way since I started menstruating at age 11. If longer than 30 days is annovulatory then . . we must've had a major fluke!)

DS is currently nearly 11 months and nursing for 95% of his nutrition. We aren't exactly TTC, we are more whatever (see the whatevering thread under family planning). While nursing my cycles have been extremely long (45 days is the shortest and 60 the longest) and obviously not regular. It is really hard to plan for a pregnancy with cycles like that. I plan to continue nursing while pregnant as long as it is comfortable for all of us - and will tandem too, should DS want to.

looking forward to seeing some BTDT mams responses.

[mckittre]

Can't speak to the TTC part, since I conceived as a surprise accident when my son was 13 months old. He was definitely still nursing lots, though. I'm 31 weeks now, and he's still nursing, though the milk dried up in the second trimester. I night weaned him, but still let him nurse other times, though I tend to limit it to a minute or so at a time, since dry nursing is not so comfy for me. We'll see how the tandem nursing goes.

[fruitfulmomma]

my ob says that longer than 28-30 day cycles indicate no ovulation is happening.

Just caught this and have to say that I've conceived 6 children with cycles *much* longer than that. Mine have always been between 6 and 8 weeks long, so up to 56 days long. The only time I've had "normal" cycles was between #1 and #2. It is one of the reasons that EDDs based on LMP are absolutely useless to me and why I have had multiple 42-44 week pregnancies.

[allisonrose]

I'm another one who struggled to conceive the first but not the second. Hubby and I decided to stop avoiding and became pregnant after 3 cycles of trying. Our son was about 19 months and was still nursing quite frequently. I would read about toddlers who nurse just 2 or 3 times a day and would be in awe. I was visiting my family around the time my son was 22 months. I was sore from the pregnancy and nursing was really not fun. I attempted to reduce the number of times my son nursed without much success. I decided to wean instead because I had help that I would not have later on. It was a tough decision.

He did rather well with the weaning process. One of the perks of weaning was that my son started sleeping through the night (even though he was nightweaned several months before complete weaning) and I am so thankful for the extra rest.

There is a nursing mamas TTC thread in the family planning forum if you want to check that out.

[MamaPhD]

I actually decided to wean DD before TTC. With DD's pregnancy, my boobs were sooooooo sore (I woke up at night because my arm touched my boob!) forever and I was really afraid to nurse through pregnancy. So I weaned DD at 18-19 months when we were ready for our second. Luckily, we were able to do it gently and DD was already down to nursing 1x per day (at bedtime), so it worked out. Then we TTC for like one week and got pregnant with our second. And guess what, super sore boobs are back!!! So even though I feel kinda sad that DD is weaned, mostly I'm glad I weaned her before this pregnancy.

[Marissamom]

The way our bodies respond to nursing hormones can vary a lot, that's probably why you've gotten mixed info. I accidently conceived when DD was 13 months, she was still nursing a lot at that point, but I would go up to 5 hours without nursing or pumping because of work.
Nursing while pregnant: I've definitely had a supply drop, though still have some milk. DD nurses a lot less, but I think that's mostly because she's on a more toddler nursing schedule. we did night wean, mostly because we wanted our bed back for a while, and when DD was moved to her own room she started sleeping through the night most of the time. It can get sore on days I'm more tender, but usually it's been okay.

[konayossie]

Just chiming with my TTC experience while breastfeeding. We started TTC when DS was about 13 mos. (April to the present). We have been unsuccessful, even though AF returned 5 weeks PP, and my cycles had gotten regular. However, I didn't realize until I started charting (not just noting AF start dates) that my LP was seriously short (6 days!). After going through a couple of cycles with the super-short LP, I got the MW to prescribe prometrium, but that has only bought me an extra couple of days before I start spotting. I'm pretty sure I've had two chemical pregnancies in the last 3 cycles on the progesterone, but it's still not enough for my body to hang on to the pregnancy (I base that on the fact that I got very faint positives at 8 DPO but then nothing on tests after the spotting started).

So, moral of my story is seconding what PPs have said. BFing hormones affect every woman differently, and even if you're having regular cycles doesn't mean that you're in the clear. Obviously my prolactin levels are still interfering in a big way with my progesterone levels. I definitely recommend charting from the get-go so you can identify any problems that may arise.