[contactmaya]

Hi, im interested to hear how your cycles returned whilst breastfeeding.<br><br>
I read somewhere in a LLL forum that at first ovulation returns, but with a short luteal phase and then the luteal phase returns to normal.<br><br>
With my first child breastfeeding, i was at the short luteal phase stage, and took progesterone to be on the safe side with the conception of my 2nd child. That was 23months pp. I was ovulating day 17-20, and had a luteal phase of 8 days.<br><br>
Now i am ttc'ing for a third. I am at 24months post partum, and my ovulation date is earlier, 15, then this month was day 13. I have been taking progesterone so i dont know what my true luteal phase is like.<br><br>
That is why i am asking.<br><br><br>
Did anyone here chart their cycles, even if not ttc'ing, and have an idea how it went for them? I would be interested to hear different stories. Did your luteal phase get longer when and if you started to ovulate earlier? Did it remain the same? Did you have to completely give up breastfeeding to get your true cycle back.... ???<br><br>
Maya

 

[*~megan~*]

I have been charting my cycles just to see what is going on. I am almost 21 months PP. I got my first PPAF at 8 months PP, and we were/are as ecological a breastfeeding pair as you can imagine - frequent demand nursing, cosleeping, etc. I charted CF only until about 12 months PP when I started temping again. While I have been Oing consistently between CD's 19-21, I have not yet had an LP longer than 6 days. For comparison's sake, my pre baby cycles always had ovulation at the same time, but an average LP of about 11 days.<br><br>
I was using NPC when I conceived DD, though it was not to increase fertility but to combat other hormonal imbalance issues I was having. DD was a happy coincidence. Incidentally I have been debating going to see my doctor about possibly returning to the progesterone as the mood swings and skin problems are coming back. Progesterone helped those tremendously but I am scared of 1) damaging my milk supply by using it and 2) possibly enhanceing my fertility before my body is naturally ready for another baby. Have you noticed any supply problems while using the cream?

 

[closedaccount15]

First I am still nursing my 3 year old and just recently got pregnant, just by checking CM. i didn't get my period back until DD was 18 months. I know my periods were shorter, like 22 days, but I don't know when I ovulated because I wasn't charting. I think when my DD was around 2 1/2, my periods started to get longer and my luteal phase went to 14 days. I didn't chart per se, I just watched for CM<br><br>
I felt implantation (bad cramping out of the blue) on the 7th day after Ovulation, and tested the day of my period and was pregnant. My daughter is 3. I didn't wean her, but she nurses like 3 times a day (4 if you count before and after her nap as 2)<br><br>
Now my DD did have some eating issues and didn't really start eating until she was 2 1/2, so she was eating more food and less breastmilk around December, she was still nursing at night up until March. But I know in Oct when she was still heavily nursing, my luteal phase was 14 days.

 

[contactmaya]

...in answer to your question about progesterone affecting supply-it has the same effect that your normal period would. In my case, it decreases supply marginally, but insignificantly. I kept nursing right through my pregnancy, and ds1 is still an infrequent nurser (1/week) The supply though goes down drastically in the first trimester. Some women get sore nipples, some dont, some cant stand it, some dont mind. For me, it went pretty easily. But by that stage, we are talking about alot more progesterone. A cream, or even a pill is nothing compared to what your body creates naturally once pregnant.<br><br>
As for your body not being ready...good point, but my 2nd pregnancy went very smoothly. Taking strong prenatals helps with that. The other thing is, i still dont know for sure if my luteal phase was long enough at the time i conceived ds2, but the progesterone made me feel safe to nurse ds1 on demand. Ive heard also that progesterone is good for the fetus too.<br><br><br>
Thanks for your replies, i look forward to hearing more!

 

[lunamegn]

I'm still nursing my 2 1/2 year old, but my cycles returned (unfortunately) around 11 months. They were never regular. For the first 3 - 5 cycles they were 40 days or more. The luteal phase was usually about 9 days up until about 9-12 months ago. One time my period came a week early! They neve regulated. I'm currently pregnant.

 

[justKate]

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