# is CM a reliable indicator of O'ing?



## LionessMom (Mar 12, 2008)

i am ebf'ing a 7wk old baby. we co sleep, but not nap together. she sleeps 6 hours stretches at night. i got pp af at 7wk 1 day. 3 days long, used a couple of pads. but 1 week before that i noticed stretchy egg white mucus. today i have it again. since i so recently had a baby, would this be a return to fetility? am i o'ing? i never really paid attention to my cycle, i just took BC pills my whole life. so i am not sure what to look for. this time i am using just bf'ing as BC. should i rethink that?


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## MaerynPearl (Jun 21, 2008)

Yes, if you are getting your AF you have your fertility back. If you got AF you likely Oed beforehand. So be very very careful about DTD because if you get pregnant too soon after a pregnancy you can do some pretty bad harm to your body and put your next baby at risk for premature birth.

Even exclusively breastfeeding it is completely possible to get your fertility back right away... I did with both of mine at 6 weeks pp. I breastfed on demand, napped with the baby and coslept but my AF came back regular as ever. Seems nothing I do can keep it away!


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## teamsalem (Sep 20, 2009)

I used to get patches of EWCM when I was nursing and before I got my fertility back. I think it is possible to have it w/o actually ovulating, probably related to a surge of estrogen.


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## LionessMom (Mar 12, 2008)

if you do o when you have it, do you o before ,after, or on the day you see the CM? this isnt something i ever paid attention to.


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## HulaJenn (Oct 17, 2007)

There is no way to pinpoint exactly unless you are temping, but per norm, the EWCM comes before O and then dries up after O. But sometimes women can dry up prior, after or not get it at all and still O. I would definately say that if you are getting AF then you are considered fertile and wouldn't rely on that for BC. Even with EBF, some women aren't fortunate to keep AF away. (I was one of those with my first 2 DDs so I can sympathize! thankfully we got 9 months off right?)
Good luck!


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## DoulaLMT (Feb 6, 2007)

Definitely sounds like you are fertile to me. Per my midwife, going 6 hours without BF can bring back fertility, and EBF keeps AF away only 96% of the time prior to 6 months PP. You might be in that 4%. My fertility returned at 4 months PP the very first time DS slept 6 hours without BFing. He didn't do it again after that for months, but I was stuck with having AF back.







lol


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