Community post

Hi ladies!

Aisha - Ooo, I bet it was af!! Probably just super short/light because you are still breastfeeding!!! FX it is cause a 29-30 day cycle would be AWESOME for you!!! :D Oh, and also, tell me more about this toy! LoL!

Elle - Glad you had a plan for this month! Hope its a lucky one, as always I am rooting for you!!

AFM - STILL no af.... had cramps for 4 or 5 days, then today really havent had any which was odd cause we bd'd this am... so very unsure as to what is going on. If af doesnt show after all that cramping I may test again just incase I O'd late.... wishful thinking I am sure! LoL! So nothing new here, just waiting!!

xx Joy

Since so many of us are breastfeeding, I thought I would do some research on fertility while breastfeeding. Here's what I found:

Many women when they first start menstruating while breastfeeding will have irregular periods. This is often a sign that they are not ovulating yet. It is normal to not ovulate for the first several cycles, especially if the baby is still exclusively breastfeeding (no solids) and if the baby is still nursing at night. This is likely where Joy is at.

After a while, ovulation will commence but even then pregnancy can be difficult as the lining of the uterus is often unsuitable for implantation even if fertilization occurs. This can be marked by a shorter luteal phase and lighter periods. This may be where Victoria and I are.

Eventually, full fertility will return and will be characterized by cycles mimicking those that you had before you were pregnant. However, since Victoria and I always had funky cycles, I'm not sure how we will know when we are at this point.

Making a sudden change to your breastfeeding pattern (cutting out a feeding, night weaning, or weaning altogether) will speed up the transition to full fertility. However, it is not necessary to do this to return to full fertility... it will just take longer.

So I think I'm going to stick with my ntnp plan until I wean. That way I won't be upset if I fail to get pregnant (like I would if I were actively ttc) and just keep an open mind that my fertility problems are because I'm taking good care of my little boy!

To elaborate on the We-Vibe sex toy...I love it. It's basically shaped like the letter U. The two ends vibrate with nine different vibrating modes. Before making love, you insert the smaller end into you. This places one vibrating head against your g-spot and the larger end rests against your clitoris. Then you make love normally but as your man does his thing, he pushes the vibrating ends against you for extra stimulation for both of you. It's VERY nice. I wouldn't use it around O time though just because I would worry that when I remove it that it may pull out some of the little swimmers. And it is rechargeable so you don't waste a fortune on batteries. Here's the link for the one I have (and no, I am not paid to recommend this lol) http://we-vibe.com/we-vibe-ii

Hi ladies!

Aisha - Good information to have! I did some reading as well and everything I saw said basically that anything is considered "normal" for cycles while breastfeeding! (Lovely... so I think probably all of us who are bfing are having problems because of it, not because of anything else at least for now!) I am just gonna ntnp for now and see what happens.

AFM - I think I am starting af!!! :D I had some "spotting" today... it was brownish tho.... only had af once in the past year thought and I could've sworn it used to start as pinkish not brown cause brown is supposed to be old blood, right? Is brownish to start normal?? if not what the hell is this?? lol! Guess we will see what happens tomorrow!! Hope it is af tho!

xx Joy

Joy- I didn't always have spotting before periods (mine usually came full force from the beginning) but on the occasions when I did spot it was always brown for me and never pink. So hopefully this is AF!

Hey guys!

I haven't been on here for almost a year, but in a couple weeks ill be stopping birth control and we will be TTC #2! We had our beautiful daughter Gabriella April 11, 2012. She is 1 years old now and the most amazing thing in the world. I'm a stay at home mom.

Joy, I'm so incredibly happy to see about your baby boy!! How incredible! I haven't read through all the pages, but I read recently. My First AF was more brown and spotting like than anything! It didn't seem like an AF at all. It started about 6 weeks after I finished breastfeeding. So sounds like AF to me?

I'm not sure ill be on here much, so busy! And I'm also in touch with my CMP birth club girls almost daily. Amazing what the CtP and CMP websites have done for me. Looking forward to being back on here again!

I am new to this site and would love to join your group..... Here is a little background:

I am 34 almost 35 (Sept)
Divorced, have two beautiful kids 12 yr old boy 7 yr old girl
Had two miscarriages

Found my childhood sweetheart almost two years ago and we have blended our family together with my two kids and his 9 yr old son. After a miscarriage of an uplanned miscarriage in March 2013 we now know we want a baby of our own.

Went off the pill in March when I found out I was pregnant......was sick and it didn't work. First time that ever happen...lol. And decided not to go back on it. I am going get an ovulation kit for this month to see when I am ovulating. I know I am just been on the pill so long not sure how it is all working right now...lol.

Looking forward to hearing your stories and sharing mine.

Allison! Nice to hear from you again! How long did you breastfeed? It seems a lot of the old BYOB crew is TTC #2 or pregnant with #2!

Mommatobeeof3- welcome! I'm sorry you had a miscarriage recently. I hope you will find this group to be as supportive as a lot of us have. Looking forward to getting to know you.

Afm- cervix seems lower... not much else going on. O guess today is CD5... I'm still just thrilled at the possibility that o had a 29 day cycle! Woot! Though I still think I'm not fertile yet. My two afs have literally been drops of blood. This tells me that my uterine lining still wouldn't support implantation even if I get a fertilized egg. But that doesn't matter. I'm just related to possibly be having a regular cycle. I know the lining thing will resolve itself soon or when I wean D's.

Hi ladies!

momma - Welcome! Always nice to have someone new join the group!! So sorry to hear about your m/cs :( I had 2 myself and pregnancy #3 was the lucky one that brought my my ds :) Where are you in your cycle right now? Good luck!

Allioak - Welcome back! :) Wow hard to believe you lo is a year old already!! Congrats & good luck ttc #2! This is actually my 2nd af since ds was born... first one was when he was 3 mos old, then had a 54 day cycle and have discovered this is indeed af lol! But thanks! Think my cycles are just screwy cause i am still breastfeeding exclusively.

Aisha - Thanks hun! Yep it was af!

AFM - Cd 2! I am officially on af.... why did I want this again?? lol! stupid cramps!!

hope all is well!
xx Joy

Joy, I hear you about AF! I can't wait to not have it again. My first AFs were all screwy, and I ended up going back on birth control pills when she was 6 months old because AF was messed up and my PCOS was acting up again.

Aisha: So glad to see you on here again too! I exclusively BF for 4 months. I had planned 6-12 months, but my daughter had unbelievable reflux and cow's milk allergy. At 4 months she was diagnosed with cow's milk allergy after lots of blood in her stools. I had to give her formula for 2 weeks while I removed cow's milk from my diet, and pumped. Since I already eat gluten free because I have Celiac disease, at the time I was really struggling to do cow's milk free as well, and raise a baby, and pump constantly. So I kept her on her formula, and she healed tremendously fast! It was very emotional for me to deal with. I was also suffering from migraines at the time and while BF I couldn't take any strong medicines without pumping and dumping. She's off formula now, and has outgrown her cow's milk allergy! However, since, my husband has been diagnosed with cow's milk allergy and celiac disease too. So now since we are learning how to do everything gluten free and without cow's milk for him, I'll be able to give it up easily for the next babe! I barely have cow's milk now, except for a bit of milk in my tea, and the occasional grilled cheese. I hope to go longer for the next baby.

How long are you ladies BF for? Update me on who has had another or is pregnant or TTC again! I would love to hear :)

AFM: 14 more days till my TTC cycle starts! Been taking my prenatals for a while now. Planning on doing EPO and Preseed again. I have my yearly OBGYN appointment the end of this month, right before I ovulate, so hopefully everything checks out okay!

We are trying to sell our townhouse right now and move to a single family, so we are very busy! AND we are taking baby girl on a vacation in a couple weeks and it will be her first plane ride! Exciting :) We are enjoying the weather a ton right now! Spend lots of time outside each day, and she even loves the grass now. She was terrified at first! We water the flowers together every day, and take long walks. She's getting her 5th tooth right now, so she's extra cranky, I feel so bad! And she took her first steps last week, so big girl now! Her first word was "dog," too, which is great to see her starting there and coming up with more words and understanding more of what we say every day. She loves to clap, and point to things, and move furniture around? She's strange this one!

Anyways, glad to be back on here to TTC!

hi ladies! haven't been on in a while still in that boring countdown to Ovulation :< have taken my last Clomid pill just waiting for the Ovary pains and I will get to that is my plan this cycle, to BD every day I have the Ovary pains and for 2 days afterwards. Will again be using digital OPKs to give me an idea of when I do release that illusive egg.

See the specialist in a couple of weeks for the next 3 cycles of Clomid and I guess find out what happens next if it doesn't work.

I can't believe I am on cycle 9 of Clomid now I foolishly got excited when I was told I could go on it I honestly expected to be pregnant by now! I though "3-6 months maybe and I will finally be pregnant" .. well apparently not lol