Question for all you breastfeeding moms who are ttc....

[squeakermansmom]

we're not ttc quite yet - will probably try in the next 2-3 months. However, this is my first cycle charting and i'm really kinda bummed by what i've seen so far. I ovulated really late CD27 which is weird considering my cycles are always between 30-34 days. i've had AF back since 9m pp and ds is 27months now. either i'm having a wacky cycle for the first time since af returned and it just happens to be occuring on the first cycle i charted OR i have a really, really short LP.

anyway, wanted to know from all of you EBF moms - how do you think EBF has affected your fertility??? anyone notice a short LP? low progesterone? frequent cycles of anovulation mixed with ovulatory cycles?

ds is still bf'ing but is mostly nightweaned. he only nurses 3-4 times a day - hardly enough to make a difference, or so i thought. i don't want to wean him, but i'm terrified that i will not be able to conceive if i don't. obviously, i'm not going to even consider weaning him until we're ready to ttc, but i'd like to find out as much as i can now to improve my chances when we are ready. thanks so much - any advice or insight would be great.

[mimim]

I answered ya on the nursing mamas thread.

The short answer is yes to all your questions!

[Lousli]

I honestly don't know what my cycles were like before I got pregnant with my first, because I never charted and got pregnant immediately upon trying. My dd is 32 months old, and I don't think her breastfeeding is affecting my cycles much at all. I was able to get pregnant in three months, and I ovulated all three cycles. My LP was short one of those cycles, only 9 days, but normal length the other cycle (12 days), and then I got pregnant the third. That being said, I know a lot of women who are affected by breastfeeding, so it is a good idea to check into it.

I suggest continuing to chart for a while, and see what information you can get from your charts. if anything there is suggesting low progesterone or anovulatory cycles, you can talk to your doc, midwife, or the ladies here for suggestions.

Good luck!

[Forevermama]

Yep, yep, and yep! The increased prolactin can most likely cause decreased progesterone, delayed O, and short LP...making pregnancy pretty hard (although not impossible) to achieve. I guess it's natures way of letting your body heal and get it's healthiest before cooking another little one

My LP was just a mere 7 days this past cycle, and I didn't even O until CD27 That short of an LP makes it pretty darn near impossible for me to conceive while BF'ing. I can bet my progesterone is way low as well.

Anyway~ HTH!

[padomi]

Ha! Before I got pg w/ dd, I was ALWAYS 28 days in my cycles. Beautiful, textbook cycles. So predictable - never a day late. Now, I can't make heads or tails of it at all. I just laugh (sadly) when I look at my chart. Each cycle is different, completely different.

[squeakermansmom]

thanks for the replies - i think you're right lesley - i need to just keep charting and see what kind of pattern i have. my dh will tell you - i tend to obsess about things before they happen (which is partly true ) however, i also just want to be as informed as i can so that i can do whatever needs to be done to make it happen. YK?

i wonder if any research has been done to look at bf mom's and fertility. assuming af is back - i wonder if - on average - it takes longer to conceive when nursing as opposed to non-nursing moms. hhhmmm....off to google....

[Mizelenius]

Jodi, I'm really interested in the replies as well! (Though like I said in the One Thread, your chart is looking suspiciously like . . .uh . . .you know!)

I didn't chart before DD, but my cycles were boring and normal. Conceiving DD meant going of BCP and getting PG the first month trying. Ah, those were the days!

I was barely nursing DD (1-3 times per day, but sometimes for an hour) but my cycles involved 4+ days of spotting prior to AF (normal LP but the spotting is bad). My spotting continued even when I took progesterone, so I did wean DD, as you know. My friend hypothesized that even if I wasn't nursing much, I was lactating, and the prolactin hormone could be messing with things. It'll be interesting to see if the spotting stops after a few months of no nursing . . .

Anyway, I think there is such a range of BF and fertility, so it's hard to say anything conclusive . . .hopefully it will have little to no impact on your ability to conceive!