Am I EVER gonna get my PPAF?? It's been 18 months and we are TTC!!

[mamaharrison]

DD is 18 months old now and BFs at her leisure (not looking to change anything about that, not even to conceive)--I would say she still gets 80% of her nutrition from my milk. I have had serious babyfever since she was at least 1 year old and now that we are REALLY TTC I am sad that I have had no PPAF. For the last 6 months I have boosted my moral by thinking well, surely by the time we are actually REALLY TTC (didn't want to TTC actively until she was 18 months old) Iwill surely have PPAF and be fertile then, right?! Well, I am NOT and I don't see anything in sight. I have had 2 months where I really felt like my body was gearing up for fertility, but nothing came of it--once in june '10 (DD was 11 months) and again in Oct '10--EWCM for a week and sex drive returned--but then everything just fizzled out.

*sigh*

I can't chart because I am too lazy and because it just gets me too consumed with TTC, plus there is nothing to chart now since I have no cycle anyways. I test every monday, just in case we are lucky enough to catch the first egg. I am seeing a DOM and get acupuncture weekly, have a clean diet, practice yoga, and am going to start taking some Maca root and try Maya Abdominal massage in the coming month.

Anything else I can do (please no suggestions of pharmaceuticals)?

When did you get your PPAF when Bfing??

TIA for the support ladies.Just feeling a bit down. really wanna see a BFP SOON!!

[Amatullah0]

Same boat, kinda. DS is, what 19, 20 mo now? still BF, still no O, though I've been meeting AF once in a while. I was monitoring other fertility signs(cervical signs), and DTD, just in case i DO get preg, wanna be able to figure out when I might be due! and taking preg tests every once in a while(now that we're not TTA and we've been TTC, I've been doing (dollar store)preg tests every 15 days if I haven't seen AF in a month. I too was WAY TOO LAZY to chart temps. One day, (maybe I got tired of not knowing if I even was Oing?) I decided to start temping. and its really fun, even though some days i'll get up at 5 and other days i'll get up at 7, I just make sure to mark that on the chart too. I use fertilityfriend.com, really cool charting software, and I even have their(free) ipod app) I think it makes it a lot easier.

Just noticed, you said your DD gets 80% of her nutrition from milk? are you sure that that is ok? 

(honest question, not trying to offend) my DS is one that absolutely needs his solids, and he will try to get water or solid food out of my breast until it starts to hurt me if what he really wants is water/solids. While it seems like from all of his eating time, 80% of that is spent nursing, I wouldn't say that he gets 80% of his nutrition from nursing. Just wondering if that's what you meant!

[sraplayas]

Hi MamaH--Oh, I feel ya.  I know you've probably read my posts in TTC while BFing, but hang in there. :)  Maybe vitex?  It worked for me last time but as you may know I'm still working on it with #3. :) 

[EonJourney]

It took me 30 months after the birth of DS to finally get my first PPAF. I was ovulating however for a few months before but no bleeding. I was charting and had other fertility signs to confirm O. DS still nurses avidly 4-5 x a day and nightweaned now for 4 months. I think nightweaning with the possibility of adding maca has helped me. Good luck!

[mamaharrison]

Yes, my DD goes days where she will only eat A piece of apple or A piece of banana. She is not into solids really and gets most of her nutrition from me. I don't supplement with vitamins, we just eat whole foods and a clean diet (vegan/ GF). On days when I am away from her and she is with my hubs she will eat a lot of solids for him (corn, onions, carrots, hummus, broccoli, raisins) He says she is an eating machine some days and that all her does is feed her, but not so when her 'mimi's' are available :) I wouldn't change anything about our BFing relationship at all, I love it and she obviously does, too ;)

I did speak with my DOM about this and she assured me that once my body was ready it would return to fertility. I have a liver/gallbladder deficiency right now that we are working on tonifying. She also mentioned that breastmilk is made from our blood (one reason why bfing mamas aren't supposed to 'give blood') and if you are bfing frequently your body doesn't have excess blood to 'spill' so to speak and none will be left over for menstration. This is why most womenw ill see a return of AF after a significant bfing change, such as, nightweaning or when toddlers begin to walk (and not nurse as frequently) or eat more solids. So, this all makes sense to me and I know that it really is in our best interest to just allow my daughter to regulate my body based on her needs....even though i really want to be pregnant now. It is not the right time :(
 

Originally Posted by Amatullah0 

Same boat, kinda. DS is, what 19, 20 mo now? still BF, still no O, though I've been meeting AF once in a while. I was monitoring other fertility signs(cervical signs), and DTD, just in case i DO get preg, wanna be able to figure out when I might be due! and taking preg tests every once in a while(now that we're not TTA and we've been TTC, I've been doing (dollar store)preg tests every 15 days if I haven't seen AF in a month. I too was WAY TOO LAZY to chart temps. One day, (maybe I got tired of not knowing if I even was Oing?) I decided to start temping. and its really fun, even though some days i'll get up at 5 and other days i'll get up at 7, I just make sure to mark that on the chart too. I use fertilityfriend.com, really cool charting software, and I even have their(free) ipod app) I think it makes it a lot easier.

Just noticed, you said your DD gets 80% of her nutrition from milk? are you sure that that is ok? 

(honest question, not trying to offend) my DS is one that absolutely needs his solids, and he will try to get water or solid food out of my breast until it starts to hurt me if what he really wants is water/solids. While it seems like from all of his eating time, 80% of that is spent nursing, I wouldn't say that he gets 80% of his nutrition from nursing. Just wondering if that's what you meant!

[mamaharrison]

Just to update: I got my first ppaf @ 5 days shy of my DD 19 month birthday. I am on my second menses now, too. Seems like I am back to fertile ;) We didn't change anything about our nursing relationship and I credit a clean veggie diet and weekly acupuncture to helping to gently bring back my cycles.

[sraplayas]

mamaharrison---Congratulations on your PPAF!!!  I am happy for you after so much waiting. :)