PP Hormone Changes and On The Lookout for Aunt Flow...

[~Adorkable~]

So I'm 5 month PP and in the last month have noticed a few waves of body and hormone changes and just wondering when my cycle is coming back and how much one thing has to do with the other. I know pretty much all these things are very normal.

Would love to hear and hang out with other ladies as we ponder our bodies and cycles, anyone want to join in on my guessing game of "when will our aunt flow come back to visit?"


Things I have noticed:

• Hair started falling out
• Psoriasis came back with a vengeance, had gone into total remission while preggo
• Milk supply waiving then lurching, I'm nursing twins and pumping and make plenty, but have had a few days here and there lately of very low pumping output and then yesterday woke up engorged like it was week one! Ouch!!!
• CM returning, a good change
• sex starting to feel good again, a very good change!
• Some cramping around my ovaries, similar to O pains and some slight early AF like pains, I have had this for more that two weeks so I don't think it actually means I have O'd yet.
• An old closed ear piercing going totally to hell and flaring up with no seeming cause

Anyway this is just all making me wonder how long I have, we have not dealt with birth control for the long term or even decided if and when we want more kids. It took us 29 cycles to get preggo so I'm not that scared of an oops but you know what happens when you say that....
Mostly in just looking to understand my body and learning to nourish it in the best way for whatever stage it is in.


What warning signs did you notice if your PPAF has already returned, if you are on the look out for it still, what have you notices that makes you think it is or isn't coming soon?

[northwoods]

[mamadiamond]

i got af back at 6 months pp. for about a month before that i had o-type cramping on and off, and return of cm. also had more skin breakouts than usual. and then i had wicked, horrible, made-my-husband-tremble pms right before af came back. the first few periods had some pretty bad pms and milk supply dips, but things are starting to even out. i don't know if my cycle will go back to pre-pregnancy "normal", or if this is the new normal. i've still got more pms and more acne than i'd like, but that may just be the way it is now. i'm hoping they will die down in a few more months.

[Stitches]

I got mine back at 5 months (which is a total bummer, I went 9 months with my oldest and I thought that was too soon).  I knew it was coming too, I started notcing fertile CM and got a few zits and just 'knew' because DD was sleeping long stretches from the very begining and I just wasn't nursing enough in the night to keep AF at bay.  And of course it showed up the day we left for vacation to Mexico.  When else?? 

[sacridote]

I'm sort of wondering the same things... I'm 10.5 mo PP. Last month or so I've had a few blemish flare ups, some HORRIBLE mood swings/depression, sore nips and dips in milk (and we're still nursing around the clock -- ugh), and most recently CM. If AF is gonna show up, I wish she'd just do it already. We leave on vacay on Friday... with my luck, that's when I'll get it.

[Intoit]

Originally Posted by ~Adorkable~ 

 Things I have noticed:

• Hair started falling out
• Psoriasis came back with a vengeance, had gone into total remission while preggo
• Some cramping around my ovaries, similar to O pains and some slight early AF like pains, I have had this for more that two weeks so I don't think it actually means I have O'd yet.

All this. I"m 3.5 months PP and haven't gotten AF yet but am wondering myself. I've noticed some mood swings as well. I was happy thinking I might have skirted the hair loss and that the psoriasis was just an allergic reaction to something 

[~Adorkable~]

i have been wondering a lot how the return of sexual interest correlates to the return of fertility, i'm sure in this complex world it is not always in lock step but i wonder how far apart they could be since they are probably ruled by the same hormones?

been getting friskier, been not using protection, pondering how stupid that could be....

[andromedajulie]

I got mine at 4 mo PP and was really ticked off! couldn't believe it since it was almost a year with my oldest, and since I was nursing on demand and frequently through every night so i thought it would be longer. alas, who knows? nature's the boss. i don't remember any signs because i was seriously caught off guard. I had a return of sexual interest pretty quickly after giving birth though. i actually think that wasn't related to the return of fertility so much as my good relationship, positive birth experience and just how my body was and had been responding all through the pregnancy. very different from my first baby and I suspect, somewhat random.

[Lemoncello]

I shouldn't have read this thread the other day...AF just arrived this afternoon, 7 mo PP!  I was sort of wondering if it was coming sometime soon, and I had several of the same "symptoms" as the OP, including return of my psoriasis (although that happened over a month ago.) But I was hoping it was all just coincidence, or my imagination! However, DS has been sleeping longer stretches at night more regularly for about a month, usually doing a 6 hours stretch at some point, some nights longer, which means I am not nursing as much overnight. Oh well, I guess now I have to figure out what we are going to do about preventing. I'm still struggling with PPD, although it is not severe at this point, and DH and I agree that we want to wait a couple of years before thinking about another baby. Hmm...time to head over the to "Family Planning" section and do some reading! 

[LeaPea]

Mine just returned this week, and LO is just shy of a year old. I had been experiencing cramping for the last two months, but I knew it was coming this month when I started getting all emotional. I'm not usually an emotional person.

[trekkingirl]

I was AF free for a year with my second child. My first child I only breastfed through the first few weeks and we really struggled so I think I got AF pretty quickly. My second child was a good sleeper from the start as is my current LO. She nurses frequently during the day but we go a long while at night. I work a five hour a.m. shift five days a week and usually pump once, sometimes not at all. I am expecting to not go a year again without AF but the longer the better really. We aren't planing to have more children and have always used withdrawl successfully for BC and still do. Oh my baby is almost 5mo old.

As far as sexual desire, I've always felt that having a baby makes me feel that much more in love with DH. We had a hard time waiting the recommended 6 weeks pp. My OB said that when you have a newborn sex is the last thing on your mind so just use condoms for BC. DH and I had a good laugh at that one because at that point we were already back in the swing of things on a steady basis.

Not sure if drive has anything to do with AF?

[~Adorkable~]

7 months PP today and still no sign, we are feeding directly from the breast most al lthe time now, a huge thing for us that have pumped and nursed around the clock since day one, so im guessing that two babies nursing directly is going to hold it off for a while longer.

all that being said im looking to get a iud put in this month

[WifeofAnt]

I've been having similar 'symptoms' for a few months now.  My hair started getting greasier, my acne started coming back, my milk supply is even doing that weird thing.  I had cramps around 6.5 months that I could have sworn was AF coming back but she never came.  DS is now going on 8 months and I'm charting.  No ovulation yet and just random crazy CM.  If DH doesn't deploy next week I'm going to go get Implanon... eventually.

[~Adorkable~]

hmmmm, is Implanon the new Noraplant?  wonder if it has the same issues?

[WifeofAnt]

The original Norplant had 6 small rods.  Norplant II (also known as Jadelle) has 2 rods.  Implanon is just one and also uses a different hormone.  Norplant was discontinued in the US back in 2000 for quality assurance issues (some had less hormones).  In the UK, Implanon is being replaced by Nexplanon to make it easier to insert.

[~Adorkable~]

wnted to mention that AF finally found me. based on a normal LP i O'd within 2 days of my babies turning 1 year old.  i have now had 2 AF and that first complete cycle was 40 days, my normal is 31-32.  before my first AF i had nearly 2 months of ovary pain, i think i may have has a persistent lutel cyst, since that side was also a bit enlarged.  but my next cycle seem to go by without a hitch.

as for timing, it fell into place when i moved my babies into their own room for the start of nights, they still come to bed with me most night by some time i nthe early morning, but i do think that distance in the first part of the night made the difference. they did also start eating more solid foods so it was probably a combo.

we have gone back and forth a number of times as to if we want more kids so are currently using protection and still figuring our BC plans

[trekkingirl]

I recently got mine back and unfortunately they have been 10 days apart.