period regularity postpartum

[Sarahfina]

How long did your periods take to fall into a regular pattern postpartum? I had my first pp af at 13 months, then not another for 8 weeks, and now its been almost 5 weeks and still nothing....

Sarahfina

[Nathan1097]

Are you nursing? That would contribute. I never was very regular while nursing, but I did get a period at around 9 months pp. My sister never had a period after her twins, I believe, and yet got pregnant again. I've read on boards of moms going in for their six-weeks pp check and finding out they were expecting again! Some people are fertile right after a birth or miscarriage as if it were a period- two weeks later they ovulate. It also depends on your age I would think. I never had regular periods until I was 30-something and then wham- every 28 days. If you're on hormonal birthcontrol, that would contribute also. Also, being in a normal weight range is a factor. When I was 20 lbs lighter, my periods stopped altogether, and when I gained again my periods returned.

[GradysMom]

been wondering myself

Hey thanks for starting this thread. I've been kinda afraid I was prego but I'm not really showing the signs except an irregular period...

My story is that prior to My first and only ds I had a 30-31 day cycle. I had him in August and then I'm pretty sure I ovulated in Nov, ovulated again in December and that was followed by a full - long and bloody cycle. Now it is late February and I think I just ovulated making my cycle more like 5 weeks.

I am assuming nursing has everything to do with it because ds was an irregular nurser in the fall due to colds and growth spurts. Now his appetite is much more voracious.... So I have been hoping that was the only reason I haven't actually had another full cycle yet.

: I would love to hear more about this

[1babysmom]

I'm just barely over 12 months PP. My first "AF" was at 4.5 months PP (yeah, it sucked), and then again around 7.5 months PP, and then I had some spotting around 9.5 months PP. THEN, I ovulated for the first time at 10 months PP, so those first 3 times were anovulatory bleeding. I'm not on CD 60-something and haven't ovulated again yet, so I'm not sure if this cycle will be ovulatory.

I guess my point is, if you're not ovulating either, then your cycles may REALLY be up in the air because there's nothing to regulate them at all (at least ovulating gives you a luteal phase, which even though it may not be consistent in length, DOES give you some predicatbility).

[Sarahfina]

I do think that I am ovulating, I am not taking any birth control (we use condoms) and I am still nursing on demand (and the demand is high!!) day and night. But I kind of thought that once your af returned, the nursing wouldn't affect it that much...so if my dd nurses LOTS she could help to supress ovulation and menstruation?? Interesting...still no af this time around. I hate irregular cycles, it always leaves room for pregnancy suspicion!!

Sarahfina

[1babysmom]

Originally Posted by Sarahfina

But I kind of thought that once your af returned, the nursing wouldn't affect it that much...so if my dd nurses LOTS she could help to supress ovulation and menstruation??

Not necessarily. Once again, they key is ovulation. You can still have anovulatory AF's with no ovulation in sight, and those ones are most commonly the AF's that are few and far between. And nursing won't necessarily have any affect on your AF's if they are anovulatory. I'd definately track your cycles in some way if you want to know if you're ovulating. It's common to feel like you are several times before you actually do.

I hope you can get things figured out!

[Ummy]

I want to know more about this because my ds started solids and I just had my cycle returned in late Jan. Here it is in March and yet still no period. I don't think I can be pregnant because we take precautions and you can't really get pregnant right after your cycle even if you don't use anything. Is that true?

I have a lot of discharge and I think it's coming but it's not. Is it common for the periods to be irregular when you're nursing?