# pregnant while nursing & before period returns?



## laurelavenue

Any mamas out there who have gotten pregnant again while exclusively breastfeeding & before your period returned? If so, how many months old was your baby? Were you trying to conceive? And how did you realize you were pregnant?


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## mama2noah

bumping this one up...I would love an answer also!


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## Effervescence

Kind of wondering if this applies to me right now...

AF didn't return until DS #1 was 13 months old. DS #2 is 8 months old...is it reasonable to expect that AF/fertility would follow a similar pattern?

Sleepy and nauseous ... wondering if I should test! (I never did pee on a stick with DS #2 -- just counted my 18 high temps and that was it.)

PS: Some people call that "catching the first egg" -- you might try searching for that phrase.


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## dziwozony

HA! i'm watching this one too...my ds is 6.5 months old, breastfed around the clock, no menses for me yet...but the past week i'm hungry _all the time_ & tired more often. we've said we wanted 2, but ummm....a bit earlier than preferred! thinking of taking a test.

other mamas...would love to hear from you!!!


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## theatermom

Yup, twice.

With ds#3, ds#2 was 17 months old, caught the first PP eggie.

With dc#4, ds#3 was 22 months old, caught the first PP eggie.

We weren't actively trying, but we weren't preventing, either. We knew that our chances were reasonable because of the ages of our kiddos, and we wanted more, but weren't trying to "plan" them, if that makes sense.

With ds#2, ds#1 was 26 months old, and I had one cycle (ovulatory) before the cycle we conceived. We were actively trying.

I have heard/read that the longer it takes for your cycles to return, the more likely you are to release an egg before bleeding (as opposed to having an annovulatory cycle/bleeding first). I obviously react strongly to the presence of breastfeeding hormones in my system.

Oh, and I always have really intense, crazy dreams in the 2ww, which is my only clue/symptom until ms sets in around 6 weeks. I've always tested early because of the crazy dreams.


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## 1babysmom

One of my good friends did...at 4 months PP and exclusively AND tandem nursing. She was feeling crappy so decided to start charting in case she was going to start O'ing, the BD'd ONE day and then the next day her temp rose...she'd O'd AND conceived!


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## Effervescence

Quote:


Originally Posted by *theatermom* 
Yup, twice.

Oh, and I always have really intense, crazy dreams in the 2ww, which is my only clue/symptom until ms sets in around 6 weeks. I've always tested early because of the crazy dreams.

What is ms?


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## gaialice

Morning sickness


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## kdf

This is the thread I have been looking for.
I am almost 9 mths pp and no AF. With my ds I was 5 mth and it came back. I am hungry all the time ( which isn't great b/c I am on weight watchers and I can't stick to my program), I am crampy, tired, and moody.

We did use anything three times that we had sex so now I don't know if I should test.
I keep thinking that my AF is coming but I have been like this for a week +. And I am kinda feeling sick too.

I didn't think I was ovulating b/c I didn't notice any cm. I still nurse lots at night.

Should I test?
Oh I have been having crazy dreams too and lots of pregnancy dreams.


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## Effervescence

So, have any of you given in and tested yet?

I keep seeing references to dollar store preg tests here...do they sell them in Canadian dollar stores? I'm only aware of the $10-20 tests in drugstores.


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## theatermom

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Effervescence* 
So, have any of you given in and tested yet?

I keep seeing references to dollar store preg tests here...do they sell them in Canadian dollar stores? I'm only aware of the $10-20 tests in drugstores.

I don't know about Canadian dollar stores, but you can get reasonably priced preg. tests online -- definitely much less expensive than the drugstore variety (especially if you tend to take a lot of tests!).


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## herwitsend

I have a big stash of dollar tree tests. I have taken a couple over the past few months.


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## LotusBirthMama

This is the thread for me! DS2 is 9.5 months old, no PP AF yet, but I have been noticing fertility signs, mainly EW CM. We are not using any protection and for the last week I have noticed:

I can't stand nursing. I wanna crawl out of my skin due to just a general "off" sensation. Its not thrush or anything.

I've had a vague stomach ache and abdominal achey-ness.

I have zero appetite.

I POAS about 2 weeks ago and got a neg. so I am not gonna throw any more money away. Its making me crazy though! I keep second guessing everything and just WONDERING...all day long!


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## sostinkinhappy

Not me, but my dear sis is working on 8 years with no period, lucky her. She has always caught the first PP eggie, which generally has shown up when the wee-one that she is nursing is around 20-24 months.

Me on the other hand, my period comes back within 8 weeks, even with co-sleeping & exclusive breast feeding--not even a pacifier. Last time it was 10 weeks, but not only was I nursing my little guy but I was pumping for a friend who had just adopted a new baby. What's up with that?


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## maureen73

Hello Ladies,

I was exclusively nursing my 7 week old daughter when I got pregnant with my DS (who is 7 weeks today and sitting here nursing while I am typing). My period had not returned. Flashing back, I got pregnant with my daughter while exclusively nursing my son, at 7 months however I had gotten one period back when I got pregnant that time. So YES YES YES it definately can happen.


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## kdf

So I tested. Negative. But with my dd all the tests were negative. If I am not pg then I don't what is going on. My gums started bleeding when I was brushing my teeth today which only happens to me when i am pg. I guess I will test again in a few days and in the morning,


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## maureen73

KDF...Have you noticed any changes with your milk supply? That was the first clue that I had looking back. Hannah was 6 weeks when I conceived again and she was nursing a ton and my milk supply was awesome. After the baby implanted my milk supply definately started to dwindle. I was so confused because never in a million years did I think I was pregnant. But sure enough I tested around 5 weeks (Hannah was 11 weeks at the time) and I was definately pregnant (u/s showed 5.5 weeks).


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## kdf

Not really a decrease but dd is way more fussy when i am feeding. She will eat for a bit and then scream and then go back to nursing again and scream and so on. She usually doesn't do that. I know that it could be different things. But I have noticed that change.


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## maureen73

Hmmm...sounds like me all over again







I had just gone back to work and started pumping. I know that my milk was dwindling definately from the amounts I was pumping but the first clue again was that Hannah would want to nurse constantly and got so frustrated that it made me wonder what the heck was going on....flash forward and I sure do know what that was. I am an exclusively breastfeeding momma to a 2 year old, 1 year old and newborn







who never got her period back either time! Please keep me posted!


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## kdf

Another neg so I guess I am not pg. But it is good to know that other moms got pg without a period since now I really want to start trying.


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## LotusBirthMama

Quote:


Originally Posted by *LotusBirthMama* 
This is the thread for me! DS2 is 9.5 months old, no PP AF yet, but I have been noticing fertility signs, mainly EW CM. We are not using any protection and for the last week I have noticed:

I can't stand nursing. I wanna crawl out of my skin due to just a general "off" sensation. Its not thrush or anything.

I've had a vague stomach ache and abdominal achey-ness.

I have zero appetite.

I POAS about 2 weeks ago and got a neg. so I am not gonna throw any more money away. Its making me crazy though! I keep second guessing everything and just WONDERING...all day long!









Yeesssss...I quoted meself! Well, I figured out why I was feeling the way I was....AF showed up this morning. I was all squeals of happiness until the horrible pain set in....







I feel like absolute crap.....


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## jwpsgurl

I am in this boat...I just found out a few days ago that I am prego, DD is 6.5 months old, and I never got AF back. We were very hopeful that we would get pregnant, but it didn't seem very likely to us that it would actually happen or not this soon anyways. We are overjoyed, except that I really want to continue to nurse DD, but I am afraid that my supply is going to diminish. I posted in BF Challenges, but no suggestions yet.


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## peacelovingmama

Me too. DD is only 7 months and breastfeeds day and night. No AF yet but just got a bfp!


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## EarthyLady

I believe it's pretty normal to feel crampy off and on as your hormones swing back and forth. With both of my kids I started feeling like AF was trying to make a return starting at 6 months pp. However, I didn't actually get my first period after dc#1 was 18 months old, and dc#2 is 20 months and I still haven't gotten ppaf.

I was just reading this evening what Sheila Kippley (author of Natural Child Spacing) said on this

Quote:

Sheila's research concludes that the risk of pregnancy prior to the first menses returning runs about 6% for women following the natural child spacing program.
Taken from this article: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/...planning/89029


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## Queen of my Castle

I was watching this thread too- and I tested this afternoon and got a neg. It's a small whew- it would have been a little close for us, but fine. I have an almost 8 mos old who nurses day and night too- and no af yet. My body has been doing some weird things lately though- I've been nauseous on and off, my nipples are sore and I've been crampy, exhausted and moody. It may be af coming though! Not too fun in the meantime!
A


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## CookieLady

Still no Auntie Flo, while nursing my 10 mo ds. I am obsessed with getting pregnant. I'm reading TCOYF, but my temp is the same daily for weeks... any medical ways to jumpstart ovulation?


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## ccasanova

This was definitely me with baby #2! My first born son was 3 months old and I got pregnant! Yes, I was exclusively breastfeeding on demand 24 hours a day.







So I never had a period, but something told me to go out and get a pregnancy test. I love a womans intuition!!!

I seem to be very fertile though, because i got pregnant every year without trying, lol! Except for the 4th, which I had a Mirena in. I have it out now and am on my 3rd cycle so I"ll see how long I can keep from getting pregnant!

Editing to add that back then when I kept getting pregnant, I had no knowledge of charting or knowing my bodies signals of fertility at all, so who knows when I started showing signs. But 3 months PP is pretty quick, I think. My neighber was 1 month PP and got pregnant again! So her kids are 11 months apart!


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## jwpsgurl

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ccasanova* 
This was definitely me with baby #2! My first born son was 3 months old and I got pregnant! Yes, I was exclusively breastfeeding on demand 24 hours a day.







So I never had a period, but something told me to go out and get a pregnancy test. I love a womans intuition!!!

I seem to be very fertile though, because i got pregnant every year without trying, lol! Except for the 4th, which I had a Mirena in. I have it out now and am on my 3rd cycle so I"ll see how long I can keep from getting pregnant!

Editing to add that back then when I kept getting pregnant, I had no knowledge of charting or knowing my bodies signals of fertility at all, so who knows when I started showing signs. But 3 months PP is pretty quick, I think. My neighber was 1 month PP and got pregnant again! So her kids are 11 months apart!

Were you able to keep BF'ing your son, or did you end up having to supplement??? My DD is 7 months old and I really worried about losing my milk


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## happy_wife_&_mama

unfortunately I was very mainstream and naive back then. I listened to everything my ob told me including that I had to stop BF'ing immediately for the risk of miscarrying (sp?) the baby I was carrying.







: My poor ds had to go on formula


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## jenneology

I'm glad to find this thread b/c I've been asking the same questions. I've noticed fertile cm a couple of times, and maybe even had sex during the four day window, wondering if I could be pregnant (and kind of hoping too) but wouldn't know based on any signs. I figure it could also be too early to notice any drop in milk supply, or MS, or acne like the first pregnancy. Unfortunately, I'm in the boat where I would love to be pregnant but DH is not enthusiastic about the idea.


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