Am I going to have to completely wean....? (TTC#2)

Kestrel84

A big change in plans has occurred and getting pregnant between now and October would be PERFECT for our situation.  Only problem is that AF is no where to be found...

I night weaned a few months ago.  I've slowly reduced the  number of nursing sessions because I was just wanting my body/sanity back.  We finally found a perfect balance for us, which is just 1 morning nursing session.  Am I seriously going to have to give that up in order to regain my fertility?  Every time I dropped a session I kept waiting for AF to come and it never has.  

Anyone else have to completely wean to get pregnant?  How long did it take you to get pregnant after weaning? I feel kind of guilty taking away that last nursing session since we are both enjoying it.  But if we miss our window (and I realize that, even if my fertility comes back, we may miss it anyway) we will probably have to put #2 off for another 4-5 years....    

(Sorry I'm being such a whiner)

Harper'smom

I'm surprised that you can keep AF away with just one session. I wonder if skipping a day all together ( easier said than done) here and there would jump start AF for you. Is your body giving you any clues that you are ovulating?

jsugrin

I had to wean #1 in order to conceive #2.  I was quite surprised that I hadn't started AF on my own as I had to supplement about 50% due to crappy milk production.  Anyway I did something similar to you and weaned it down slowly in hopes of kick starting ovulation and then being able to continue to nurse but even at one feeding a day with my crappy supply it didn't work and I had to go cold turkey.

The upside, after my final feeding it took my 5 weeks to get a period.  I used OPK's from the time of my last feeding to try to catch my first ovulation but it didn't detect anything so I had one period, ovulated on my normal schedule and got pregnant that first cycle.  I also got pregnant first cycle with #1 so even though I was 34 when I got pregnant with #2 I was really lucky that it all happened so quickly for me.

Good luck!  I know it's not an easy decision to wean in order to conceive but like you we had some very concrete reason why it was more important to our overall family and my own overall health to cut short the nursing in order to attempt to get pregnant right away.

CD+AL

I dropped DS down to just two sessions/day (1st thing in the a.m. and at bedtime), and my AF still didn't return.  When we started TTC2, I ended up buying OPK strips online in bulk and taking 2-3 of them every day to try to catch my O (if there was one), and I was finding an O even w/o AF. 

As it turned out, I ended up taking B6 the cycle that we got our BFP2 to see if that helped.  It may have been the key or it might not have been.  Either way, I got my BFP and didn't completely wean DS, so it is possible.  (You should see the look on a dr's face when you say your last AF was April 2007.  You can really see the wheels turning.  )  Good luck!

ETA: Also, my 1st OBGYN said that even if you do completely wean, it can take 2-3mos or so for AF to return in some women, so make sure that you account for that possibility if you're really shooting for a specific month and want to have AF first.

Kestrel84

CD+AL:

I dropped DS down to just two sessions/day (1st thing in the a.m. and at bedtime), and my AF still didn't return.  When we started TTC2, I ended up buying OPK strips online in bulk and taking 2-3 of them every day to try to catch my O (if there was one), and I was finding an O even w/o AF. 

As it turned out, I ended up taking B6 the cycle that we got our BFP2 to see if that helped.  It may have been the key or it might not have been.  Either way, I got my BFP and didn't completely wean DS, so it is possible.  (You should see the look on a dr's face when you say your last AF was April 2007.  You can really see the wheels turning.  )  Good luck!

ETA: Also, my 1st OBGYN said that even if you do completely wean, it can take 2-3mos or so for AF to return in some women, so make sure that you account for that possibility if you're really shooting for a specific month and want to have AF first.

So were you actually ovulating for more than one cycle before you got pregnant - even without AF?? 

Either way, that's pretty awesome! I actually read somewhere that many women who ovulate before AF don't have enough hormones to sustain a pregnancy.  That got me a little discouraged but maybe I'll get lucky like you

  

Bride2b2004

This is a tough question, because everybody is different.  Some women do need to wean to get pregnant.  I did not (we were still ebf 6-8 times per day when I became pg).  Since you are down to 1 nursing session and no AF, it sounds like you might in in the group that needs to wean first.  

But it sounds like what you are doing is ideal for you and LO.  And since it is already July and you want to be pg by October (only 3 mo), I don't know if I would quit bf (which you both enjoy) to TTC because it will probably take at least a cycle for your system to regulate and you will have very little time to actually TTC (which leaves a small window for success)... it just seems like the cost would outweigh the benefit at this point.  I would hate for you to give up bf and then end up not pg or bf... IDK, it is a tough decision.  Fx that AF comes back for you ASAP!

Kestrel84

Bride2b2004:

This is a tough question, because everybody is different.  Some women do need to wean to get pregnant.  I did not (we were still ebf 6-8 times per day when I became pg).  Since you are down to 1 nursing session and no AF, it sounds like you might in in the group that needs to wean first.  

But it sounds like what you are doing is ideal for you and LO.  And since it is already July and you want to be pg by October (only 3 mo), I don't know if I would quit bf (which you both enjoy) to TTC because it will probably take at least a cycle for your system to regulate and you will have very little time to actually TTC (which leaves a small window for success)... it just seems like the cost would outweigh the benefit at this point.  I would hate for you to give up bf and then end up not pg or bf... IDK, it is a tough decision.  Fx that AF comes back for you ASAP!

Thanks for your input.  Deep down I am worried that I'm setting myself up for a huge disappointment.  But then I think I may regret not even trying...  Ack!  Decision, decisions... 

celiabwatson

I know a couple people who got pregnant again (one woman who had 2 oops babies without a period after the first) without ever having a post-partum period and while still nursing. I'm currently pregnant with #2 and still nursing several times a day, but I did get my period back 3 months before we conceived. You could try charting and see if you find that you're ovulating without a period. Even if it's true that it's harder to sustain a pregnancy under those circumstances the chances are better than if you don't try at all. I had no trouble sustaining this pregnancy while nursing and my son even upped his intake after I got pregnant.

Soon2BMrsN

I never had AF until about 6 weeks after DS completely (self) weaned.  I had 2 normal periods, then got pregnant again.

So, to answer your question -- maybe. 

CD+AL

W/o charting, which I couldn't do b/c of DS' irregular sleep schedule, it's not really possible to know if I was actually O'ing or not, but I was catching a +OPK for 3-4mos pre-BFP2.  B6 is supposed to lengthen your LP, which is also a problem for women that are BFing, which is why I started taking it when we weren't getting pg right away.