Breastfeeding and Trying to Conceive?

[ctsiouts]

Ok, I may be jumping the gun here since my husband and I have not even had sex since my daughter was born in August. BUT I (we) really want to have another baby that will be very close to my daughters age. She is now 10 weeks old and I plan to breastfeed until she is 12 months or until she weans herself, whichever happens first. I haven't gotten my period yet and probably won't while breastfeeding, so I hear. So is it possible - or rather, likely for me to get pregnant anytime in the next 6 months if I'm actively trying? I know it will be hard on me but I'm NOT crazy! What is the best way to go about trying to get pregnant again while breastfeeding? Any suggestions/experience/resources will be appreciated!
Thanks!
Christy
daughter Anya born 8-9-02

[egoldber]

It is certainly possible. I didn't get a period until after I weaned 100% (I breastfed and supplemented). But one of my friends (who exclusively breastfed and is still breastfeeding at 15 months) got hers back at 3 months. So it will depend a bit on you and your body. You can also conceive BEFORE your period starts, so make sure you are using protection until you're ready to start doing the baby dance. :) But if you guys are having sex and not using bith control, then it is certainly possible (perhaps even likely if you conceived easily the first time) for you to become pregnant while nursing once your cycle has returned. This happened to a friend of mine. Her second is due this December and her two will be 14 months apart. But she would NOT have planned it that way.

I would urge you to talk to your doctor since nursing and pregnancy are both trying to use the same scarce natural resources at their disposal (YOU!) to support a life. You should probably take some additional vitamins and supplements and be especially careful to eat a good diet.

Also, if you look on the ParentsPlace message boards, there is a nursing while pregnant board that may be helpful.

And can I just say WOW. When my DD was 10 weeks, my DH and I were doing the "maybe one baby is enough for us" talks! But we are now looking forward to trying to conceive baby #2 sometime next year. And now that Sarah is a busy active 14 month old, I am really grateful that she will be at least 2.5 before we have another. My only concern is MY age, since if we decide to have a third and keep the same spacing (2.5-3 years between babies), I will be 38/39 when trying to conceive that baby.

HTH,

Good luck!

[Rachels]

Take a look at *Taking Charge of Your Fertility* by Toni Weschler. It has some good info about fertility and bf. And I agree with Beth, talk this over with your doctor. I just read some new studies that show a higher rate of birth defects in the second baby when pregnancies are less than 10 months apart. You'll want to be religious about folic acid, but your doctor may have other suggestions for you as well.

-Rachel
Mommy to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[jojo2324]

I have read a little about pregnancy and bfing; the main concern is that bfing releases the hormone that causes contractions (Oxytocin, right? Argh, I should know this by now!) which you don't want to have happen obviously. I would love to hear what you decide as DS is now 4 months and I would like to start trying again this spring (he'll be about 10 months). Of course, DH wants to wait another three-four years, maybe longer! We'll see :)

[twins r fun]

You guys are amazing! My twins are nearly one and I have so far had NO desire to get pregnant again and cannot imagine wanting to within the next year. It's not even because of the fear of having 3 kids close in age-it's having to go through the pregnancy and those early months again. I do want another child but it will have to wait until the memories of being pregnant and the echoes of the crying from 0-3 months fades! DH of course wants to know what's wrong with stopping at two kids!

Nicole

PS Joanne-does this mean Gannon's crying is getting better?!

[ctsiouts]

I know, I know, I sound like a nut. BUT I had an extremely enjoyable pregnancy. I did feel nauseous at first but nothing near the horror srories I hear about. I also had a 3 hour epidural free pitocin induced labor - from start to finish. I am kinda nervous that this pregnancy and delivery will be worse because I can't imagine it being any better than it was the first time. And now I am having SO much fun being a mother, despite some trying periods so far. I know its got to be 10 times worse when you have two, but I think I can handle it.
I also plan on being a SAHM for a while and figure I might as well take advantage of not having to go to work while pregnant, for me that was the worst part.
With DD, I was really hoping I would end up with twins. That way I figured I would be forever finished with the entire pregnancy thing since I had only wanted 2 children. Also my husband is a twin and they have such a special relationship (his mom actually had 2 sets of boy twins, can you imagine?!) But now I realize I would like to experience pregnancy again, also infancy. And I want to have another one before my daughter is old enough to realize that she used to be the only child around, maybe we can avoid a lot of initial jealousy.
I am going to definitely talk to my doctor - I wonder if I have to make an appointment for that or if I can just call. And I am going to look at the pregnant + nursing board, thank you for that!
Christy

[jojo2324]

It is a bit better, thank you! We figured out the reason he was so fussy (especially at night - haven't conquered the daytime yet)was because he was tired and couldn't fall asleep without my boobs there. We're working with it. Of course we had just kind of gotten into a groove in the last week and then he got his first cold yesterday :( I think Mama is more upset about it than he is. And now I'm feeling a bit under the weather, so it should be loads of fun! At least we get lots of cuddle time.

I can see that if I had twins first I might be a little...exhausted! I do want children fairly close in age. I joke that the sooner they're out of me, the sooner they're out of the house. :) I also wanted 5 children (at one point, long before labor and being a mother). During labor I was screaming that one was DEFINITELY it for me. Now I'm back up to three.

I did not by any means have a difficult pregnancy. I was sick a lot, for a good four months, but I hear that it's worst with the first. My labor was hard, but I went in there with no mindset at all, no birth plan, no idea what on earth I was about to do. (I'm sorry, they should really punish whoever thought of the "pinching the knee to simulate a contraction" idea.) Gannon was a trial run. Now that I know what labor is, I really want to try the next time to work with my body and experience it, not just scream and yell and get there way too early, etc. Who knows, maybe I will, but at least this time I'm prepared. Not at all opposed to the epidural or trying to be an earth mother, just looking to have a different experience.

And I just want to add this in regard to first children and getting them accustomed to the idea of siblings: I must have been really dim-witted, but I honestly cannot recall there being any mention of a new baby coming into my world. My brother and I are four years apart. My mom says she never told me because it wasn't such a big deal then, preparing for the arrival. Granted I was four, so maybe she did tell me and I can't remember, but I really don't think she did. All I know is that one night our neighbor with the red hair took care of me and then my parents came home with this bundle. And I think I made mention of his egg-shaped head.

Sorry so long, have to go master the snot baster, as DH likes to call it...DS hates it!

[mamahill]

All I can really say is go get 'em tiger. DD is 6.5 months old and I congratulate myself on only now being able to say she will have 1 or 2 siblings someday without wincing. I had a superb pregnancy (people get sick?! lol) but a nasty labor/delivery/recovery. I have a friend whose babies will be 14 months apart who had to wean DS at 6 months b/c her milk supply dropped drastically with the new pregnancy.

I'm 3 years older than my sister and my mom said that she not only told me about it (at her 6 month check-up I demanded the doctor give her the baby NOW), but I was excited for it. My brother is 2 years younger than that sister and my mom said that I, at 3 years old, was much easier to accept and help out with the new baby than my sister was at 2. And growing up we were and are best friends (not that we didn't have fights ;)), and I don't think having us closer together would have strengthened our bond. Just food for thought. Good luck. Like I said, go get 'em tiger. I applaud you. :D

[Shirale]

In regards to getting your period while nursing- I nursed full time until my dd was 10 months old and only recently began to cut back and now we are down to 2 full feedings a day, one at night, one in the AM. That said- I got my period back when she was about 4 months. Full time. Another friend of mine stopped nursing her son at 15 months and got her period for the first time a couple months latetr. So every body is quite different.
I applaud you for being so excited about having another! I have a friend who minutes after delivering her first literally couldn't wait to get pregnant and do it again! (can you believe it?!) and so less than a year after her son was born she had a girl! Having 2 under a year is kind of exhasting apparently, b/c she is not jumping quite yet! I, on the other hand, have no fears of going through another Labor (even after a 21 hour horror ending with a c-section)but the idea of getting pregant again literally petrifies me. I definitly want other kids, but I think I have to wait until this fear receeds somewhat! (I had an even worse pregnancy than labor...) Anyhow, sorry so long winded, everyone is different!