Bit TMI question and contraception or lack of after baby

Hey there,

Been struggling with this contraception thing. Bit of background info:

Have cat 4 endometriosis (3 surgeries) and was diagnosed with PCOS early last year. I was put on metformin to help with weight loss and other symptoms, but I was not TTC, I was actually on the pill but having a 2 week break from it because of migraines. I'd only been on the pill for 3 months, and not used naything before that and had not conceived or had a period in a long time. Anyway, I lost 15kg over a month and DTD only twice and by some miracle I got pregnant. Now I have baby Leo :)

Now I am fully BFing and I can't use condoms (long story). I went to get the mini pill but my doctor wouldn't prescribe it as he has a moral issue with it. He is a retired OB and an excellent dr ( I am very fussy) and his problem with the mini pill is one of the way it works is if you do conceive, that it makes the vaginal environment unsutiable for implantation. He says he coudln't live with women unwillingly having miscarriages from a pill he prescribed. His suggestion was condoms or trust BFing with the proper criteria (night feeds, etc).

I was going to go to a different dr just to get the script, but I remember having problem with the mini pill before, mood swings especially and the baby's not liking it. I talked to DP about it and said it's mini pill, condoms (but could't DTD very much with these) or we just trust BFing. DP surprised me last night and said he would be okay with trusting BFing. So we did. I fully BF my baby, no comp feeds and he has night feeds, and I haven't had AF yet.

Anyway, today I am getting ovary pain and EW CM. Is this just a physchological thing because I dTd last night and am paranoid about pregnancy, or is this normal after childbirth (6 weeks ago) OR am I actually ovulating? I mean, it would be next to impossible because the only way I ovulated before was on metformin timed with losing a dramatic amount of weight, and I hadn't ovulated for around a year before that (no AF). I am not on metformin now and I am more heavier now as I've just had bubs, around a size 14/16 as I haven't lost the baby weight yet. So I'm thinking ovulation is impossible.

So is EW CM normal after a baby, afte rthe bleeding has stopped for 2 weeks or so?

Anybody?

Also I'd love to hear if people think that trusting BFing for contraception is a good idea?

Tara, I have noticed quite a bit of EWCM when BF both my kids. The first time I didn't get AF for 8 mth this time round I thought I had AF back at 7wks, had another breakthrough at 11wks but so far at 17-18wks nothing more so I'm assuming it wasn't AF. I too had O pains around 6wks and I think it's just your ovaries shifting back into position.

I got EWCM about 4 weeks after DD was born (fully BF for 4 months), before my lochia had completely stopped even, and AF showed up 2 weeks later. I dont have fertility issues though so not sure if you're likely to O or not given your previous difficulties with Oing etc. but you CAN ovulate, even if fully BFing, soon after birth.

I found my supply dropped on the mini-pill, though i was having issues there anyway.

If it's a condom allergy have you tried the hypoallergenic ones?

Bec

Tara, this is a topic I have just recently dealt with too. Firstly, as the others have said, the EWCM is normal. I had it both times and AF took 7 months first time and 6 months second time to return.

On the contraception side, I did rely on bfing at first. After Jack I started the mini pill for a short while but had too much bleeding so stopped. We wanted another baby anyway so we just went with the bfing. Jack wasn't feeding through the night, but I was bfing exclusively for 6 months. It seemed to work, AF returned at 7 months and 3 cycles later I conceived Tom (we were TTC).

After Tom, we didn't want another baby yet, but after my experience with Jack I was confident in relying on bfing for 5 months - I was bfing exclusively and Tom was feeding at night. Also after my experience with the mini pill I didn't want to take it, and DH won't use condoms. Again, it seemed to work, no pg and AF returned at 6 months. Then began my dilemma (actually it started at 5 months bcos I got too paranoid about relying on bfing by then) - what to do about contraception. After much research (with my GPs help and my ob over the phone), I decided on a mirena. It's an IUD that releases low levels of progesterone, much lower than the mini pill so it's considered quite safe while bfing. A gynae inserts it, so you pay for that, but the cost of the Mirena is PBS, so the same as 3 months worth of minipills, and it lasts for 5 years. It also can be easily removed at anytime (by a doc) and fertility returns straight away. There is a thread on BB already about this. Some people have bleeding, others don't and love it. FOr some lucky women AF stops altogether, and AF is supposed to be much lighter if you do get it. I've only had mine nearly 3 weeks, so too soon to tell, but so far I'm loving it. My ob gave me lots more info on it, so I suggest you get a consult before making a decision, but it could be something to think about for you.

GL!

Hey, I have the Mirena too! I was one of those who had a lot of spotting etc. and it's now been in place for 7 months and it has all calmed down. My AF is FAR lighter than before, though it hasn't stopped, i just get pink then red then brown spotting the week i'd normally have AF (got it right now, just an everyday type liner in and it's day 2 today, my heaviest day!).

Bec

yay! It's normal!:) Now that's a relief. I thought that the sky would fall in before I would ovulate just like that when I'm fully BFing, just had a baby and have two infertility conditions.

I was reading about the most recent study done on BFing and contraception last night and I can see why my dr said it's okay, apparently the study showed under the right conditions that it's 98% effective. These are fully BFing the baby, no comp feeds, no dummies even; no AF; and the baby is under 6 months old.

I'm not sure about the mirena, I guess I've heard nasty things about IUDs and I'm sure they have improved dramatically. I guess the biggest concern is that it might affect my adhesions and endometriosis and cause the breakthrough bleeding. The reason I didn't use it before (after DS1, so over 8 years ago) also was that the dr told me at the time that it works more to stop fertilized eggs implanting over stopping ovulation. I'll have to do some research on this mirena though, sounds possible.

After reading many websites last night about BFing, I feel confident with my fertility issues to trust that for the first 6 months, I guess it's about what to do after that. I feel silly even worrying about it because Leo was probably a once off baby due to the conditions at the time, a sheer miracle my dr has said and I probably would never conceive naturally or with the aid of metformin again (my earlly pregnancy scans even showed a large endometrioma on one of my ovaries that had ruptured) because the endo has extended. But there's always a minute chance I guess.

I want to have another baby one day, but so far DP is not loving that idea LOL>

LOL Tara, you did 14 hours of labour and it's DP who's reluctant for another!!

I think I read that same study, if I remember correctly it also says night feeding as one of the conditions. Jack slept through most nights but it still worked.