Can one do a FET while breastfeeding?

etoyama · April 2012

I can't even believe I'm asking this, but tonight DH abd I started talking about our plans to TTC#2. And while I hated being pregnant (my body didn't do well with it), DH and I are turning 32 this year and we're starting to feel our age! We have some frozen embies and we would be looking to transfer them probably in the early fall. We'd do one at a time, since it's not safe for me to carry multiples. The problem is, I'd like DD to self-wean and she'll only be just over a year at that point. Is it possible to continue nursing while doing a FET? What about the kind of transfer where no drugs are taken? I should mention that I've not gotten my period since giving birth. I plan to consult with me RE obviously but I was just curious if anyone had any experience with this type of thing. Thanks a bunch!

LnR70707 · April 2012

Sad No. At least my RE won't. I finally made the call last week. We have our consult on May 11th in hopes that we can do a Sept FET. They won't do cd3 testing until the 2nd PP AF and I have no cycle as of yet. I'm weaning down to 1 nursing session and 1 pumping session next week and will hold with that until I get a definite answer. I'm hoping I can beg them to do my Sono while still BFing so we can find out if I need surgery again.

I had hopes of self weaning, but in all honesty, I wouldn't go through FET unless all my hormones were as normal as they could get. The IVF coordinator specifically told me there was nothing they could do as long as I was BFing.

etoyama · April 2012

L&R70707:
No. At least my RE won't. I finally made the call last week. We have our consult on May 11th in hopes that we can do a Sept FET. They won't do cd3 testing until the 2nd PP AF and I have no cycle as of yet. I'm weaning down to 1 nursing session and 1 pumping session next week and will hold with that until I get a definite answer. I'm hoping I can beg them to do my Sono while still BFing so we can find out if I need surgery again.

I had hopes of self weaning, but in all honesty, I wouldn't go through FET unless all my hormones were as normal as they could get. The IVF coordinator specifically told me there was nothing they could do as long as I was BFing.

Aw that's too bad

Thanks for the helpful info, though. And good luck with everything!

GypsyEsq · April 2012

Babydustdiaries dot com is a blog where the mom did it. She did a lot of research on the meds she was prescribed and gives a lot of resources. The knee jerk reaction of most REs is no but they are not breastfeeding experts and of course their success rates are at risk - as are your embies. The prohibition keeps a lot of people from second guessing a cycle that doesn't work. But, sometimes feeding and nurturing the baby you have here is more important. I did two injectable cycles for #2 while nursing a minimum of twice a day. My daughter was over two years old, my pp AF had returned, and my RE consulted with a renowned breastfeeding expert on drug interactions. The risk of it not working was on me but I did have my baseline labs done and I was truly at baseline. My first cycle was a c/p, the second was this pregnancy. GL!

etoyama · April 2012

GypsyEsq:
Babydustdiaries dot com is a blog where the mom did it. She did a lot of research on the meds she was prescribed and gives a lot of resources. The knee jerk reaction of most REs is no but they are not breastfeeding experts and of course their success rates are at risk - as are your embies. The prohibition keeps a lot of people from second guessing a cycle that doesn't work. But, sometimes feeding and nurturing the baby you have here is more important. I did two injectable cycles for #2 while nursing a minimum of twice a day. My daughter was over two years old, my pp AF had returned, and my RE consulted with a renowned breastfeeding expert on drug interactions. The risk of it not working was on me but I did have my baseline labs done and I was truly at baseline. My first cycle was a c/p, the second was this pregnancy. GL!

That is great to hear! Thanks for the helpful info, and for sharing your experience! ETA: I feel strongly about that. If I can't do a FET while nursing, then I'll just postpone pregnancy until G has weaned herself. I know not everyone would do things that way, but it's what feels right to me, and to DH.

Dragonfly1226 · April 2012

My RE won't. I have been getting AF since P was 12 weeks old, and I weaned at one year to cycle again. But my Cd3 labs have been all messed up so we still haven't been able to cycle.

LnR70707 · April 2012

GypsyEsq:
Babydustdiaries dot com is a blog where the mom did it. She did a lot of research on the meds she was prescribed and gives a lot of resources. The knee jerk reaction of most REs is no but they are not breastfeeding experts and of course their success rates are at risk - as are your embies. The prohibition keeps a lot of people from second guessing a cycle that doesn't work. But, sometimes feeding and nurturing the baby you have here is more important. I did two injectable cycles for #2 while nursing a minimum of twice a day. My daughter was over two years old, my pp AF had returned, and my RE consulted with a renowned breastfeeding expert on drug interactions. The risk of it not working was on me but I did have my baseline labs done and I was truly at baseline. My first cycle was a c/p, the second was this pregnancy. GL!

Thanks for the info! While I'm not the type to lie to my doctor (blogger, not you!) this does give me a little backup for at least weaning closer to FET. I never thought I'd say not having AF sucks.

AimeeL85 · April 2012

A lot of REs won't do anything while you're nursing (which is ridiculous). We just TTC'ed #2, and I had to do research and convince my RE to allow me to do natural IUIs while breastfeeding. She was adamant that I simply could not get pregnant while nursing. Well, I'm pregnant.

The one FET I had in the past was unmedicated (this was pre-DS). I'm not familiar with what drugs are used in the medicated cycles.

IMO and based on the research I've done, as long as any drugs you need to take are compatible with breastfeeding and you have regular menstrual cycles with ovulation back IF necessary (I don't believe this would be necessary for a FET, but was necessary for my IUIs).

One thing I will say is that it seems to be a knee-jerk reaction of REs to say "no" to this, but breastfeeding is not something they are very informed about in general. My RE laughed and said "Breastfeeding is natural birth control. I can't believe you didn't know that." Well, no, it's definitely not when you're nursing a 15 month old and have had regular periods back for 10 months.

Sorry for rambling; my experience talking to my RE about it was just a frustrating one, but in the end it worked out.

Here is a website I found very helpful; do as much research as you can for your specific BFing/fertility situation, and if you truly believe you should not have to stop nursing to conceive in your situation, stand your ground with them.

https://babydustdiaries.com/2010/06/breastfeeding-through-fertility-treatments-ivf-and-fet/

AimeeL85 · April 2012

duplicate

Imanurse03 · April 2012

I think high levels of estrogen can drop your milk supply. For a FET, your E2 levels wouldn't be as high as they would be during a fresh IVF. But I have no personal experience w/this. Good luck!!

t.bird · April 2012

my RE said no. they said it had to do with the levels & such (testing & what not)

however, i got my period back @ 4 months PP after brynn & i started TTC#3 right away. i went for testing for my FET @ 7 months (still breastfeeding) & all of my levels were completely normal. no elevated prolactin or low estrogen.

my RE had no idea i was still nursing.

i weaned down to 2 session per day for my actual FET in Aug/Sept just for my own peace of mind. i didn't get ku that cycle but imo it didn't have anything to do with the fact that i was still bf'ing. women do it all the time.

i was reassured it wasn't that when my last FET in march didn't work either.

so yes- i think you can do an FET while still bf'ing. my FET's are pretty low key (no drugs outside of estrace & progesterone) so i wasn't worried about my milk containing anything bad. but obviously it differs for each woman. good luck!

kme930 · April 2012

I don't have experience with this, but just wanted to say one thing. One of my original diagnoses (and a fairly common one at that) was high prolactin. Before having ever had a baby, my body had kinda decided I was in BFing mode. I was on medication to control that until I got pregnant the first time. My guess is many REs believe you can't get pregnant while BFing because high prolactin (BFing hormone) is a common cause of infertility.

So there are two concerns: the impact of the medications on BFing (which you can minimize by doing a more natural FET) and the impact of BFing hormones on your lining, etc.

Just wanted to throw that out there. It's certainly possible to get pregnant while BFing - we've all seen lots of examples, but it's another thing working against you.

GypsyEsq · April 2012

KME is right, higher than normal levels of prolactin can be a concern and interfere with implantation. When I had my baseline levels drawn I specifically asked if they checked for prolactin, they don't normally unless there has been a previous diagnosis of elevated prolactin so I reminded them that I wanted that tested as well. Easy peasy, and it was normal.

AimeeL85 · April 2012

I agree with the others about the prolactin. Your levels will likely be back to normal by then, but call and ask for your results when they draw your blood. My RE said my prolactin would be "way too elevated" to do treatments if I was breastfeeding. My research told me they would likely have returned to normal. When I called, the nurse told me that a normal range was between 3 and 30....mine was 3.5!

perry7285 · April 2012

this is something that i have wondered about since i'm also very committed to BFing (still BFing my 19-month-old). i think the PPs have given you lots of good information, and there's just one thing that i want to add. you might want to consider whether your body needs a rest after BFing and before pregnancy, especially since you had a tough pregnancy before.

i had a brutal pregnancy where i felt like hell the entire time. some of that was stuff out of my control (like gestational diabetes), but i have also wondered if i went into pregnancy with my body being depleted because i had just recovered from two bouts of pneumonia. i want to go into my next pregnancy with my body rested and nourished. so i've decided that i'll stop BFing three months before starting my cycle (we'll be doing a fresh IVF). carrying a baby is hard work and making milk is hard work, and i want to give my body a break before i start that cycle over again. so that might be something to consider--both in terms of its effect on your success TTC but also in terms of its effect on how healthy you are during pregnancy.

good for you for giving your LO all of that BFing nutrition, and good luck with whatever you decide.

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