TTC with PCOS while breastfeeding

[stybar]

I'm new to the message boards. I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and conceived my daughter, who just turned 2, on a combo of Metformin, Clomid, and a prolactin-lowering agent. (My prolactin was borderline high at the time.)

We are now seriously thinking about ttc baby #2. I am still breastfeeding my daughter, but my cycles have actually been shorter than they have ever been in my life. Most of my recent cycles have been 32 days, and they used to be all over the place--from 36 to 50-some days long.

So...I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this improvement in cycles after a first pregnancy. I am especially curious if anyone with PCOS has managed to successfully conceive while still breastfeeding. It's been a really important bond for my daughter and me, and I'm not sure we are quite ready to wean, though I realize I may have to in order to conceive again.

I look forward to hearing from others--thanks in advance!

Anna

[kristenok18]

Anna,

Welcome! I didn't find out I had pcos until recently, after ttc#2 for 2.5yrs, so I can't really answer that part of your question. Are you charting and using opks? My cycles were actually more regular after ds was born (once they returned, that is), but I wasn't really charting then. By the time we started ttc, when ds was 2, my cycles started to get more and more erratic. Last summer my dr told me I wasn't ovulating, and I was pretty indignant as I had been charting faithfully. All the signs said I was ovulating, but he asked me to use opks for 2 or 3 cycles to confirm ovulation. Which is when I found out I wasn't ovulating most of the time, despite what my charts were saying. I was still nursing ds at the time, too. I don't really feel like my nursing had any affect one way or the other...the first dr we saw after ttc for a year agreed that weaning wasn't an option (ds was 3 at the time), because based on how much time ds was actually nursing during the day (3yos are pretty efficient nursers!), the dr didn't feel like it was affecting things that much. My advice would be to get some opks and confirm that you're ovulating before you make any decisions about weaning. If you're ovulating on your own, then your nursing dd wouldn't really be an issue.

okay, it's too late for me and my brain's foggy. Hopefully some of that made sense!

Kristen