What are the chances??? ***Warning - TMI***

I don't know if this is a question, a vent, me looking for someone to calm me down or quite what, but i think it needed to be here and i desperately needed to get it out. and i didn't know whether to put it here or 'your body after baby' - Mods please move if required.

AF came on Sunday... at approximately 12:42pm.
I was disappointed, in fact feeling quite ripped off... breastfeeding delaying the return of a period and all that jazz... Even more so when i read the non BFing women can go up to three months with no return... and what i lasted 5 weeks??? Anyway... that doesn't matter.

Apart from the initial darkish red onset which wasn't enough to soak through a few pieces of one ply toilet paper (we were out at a boy-mates place), all i've had is a tiny bit of spotting like five spots since, and slight pink tinge when i wipe. It stopped altogether after 8pm last night. Then a slight bit of spotting and slight pink tinge late afternoon today.
I've had some cramps, but not recently, so been waiting for 'pseudo AF' to eventuate... but it hasn't and now i'm worried.

I was under the impression the first AF post baby was generally heavy and messy? Am I misinformed? Is it just my body readjusting?

Alexander has been a 6in24 feeder since birth (bar day 1 cluster feeds) & has a dummy - could my prolactin levels just started off "too low" to delay ovulation and menstruation?

We DTD last at at 4wks2day. So it would have been 7days on Sunday... Do you think this is implantation bleeding?

Is implantation bleeding consistent with each pregnancy - ie. I didn't have it last time?

Could AF just be coming slowly? It's been three days now...

DF and I were obviously super fertile originally to conceive on the pill and with him having Glandular Fever... it makes this whole theory even more possible...

Can someone tell me the stats of conception in first month after birth??

Assuming it is now say 10DPO - how early can I test?

Oh... and one last question... what the hell do i do???
I'm a mixed bag of emotions right now...


ETA: I bet now that I've sat here and got it out of my head... AF will turn up.

Hi Ashant,

You have a right to feel a bit cranky and ripped off about AF returning so soon.

Although my AF took 6 mths to return (lucky for me huh), the return of AF the first time was only spotting. There was most certainly no heavy, messy carry on for me. I actually went to the doctor to ask what the spotting could be - and he told me that if AF arrived in another months time, then it was likely that the spotting was AF.......and he was absolutely correct.

Get along to see your doctor if you are concerned.

On a personal note - I think you are probably feeling a little down/anxious because of all of the wild changes going on in your body and also the environmental impacts that new bubs have on their mums. Try a spot of lavender oil on your clothing - its very calming - it always helped me ;).

It may not really be AF yet. The same thing happened to me and it went away.

My Lochia stopped at 3 weeks and then somewhere between 4-5 weeks I started bleeeding again. I was told it was AF but it was pretty light and very little cramping. It only lasted a few days. Then sure enough 3 weeks later the same thing happened. I was so bummed as I too am BF and did not want AF back yet. That was almost 3 months ago though and I have not seen her since. I think my body was just adjusting to all the hormone changes.

I have fully b/f all my babies, and always got AF straight away.... hence some of my babies being sooo close!!! But it does just sound like AF gearing up honey.... I started just like you, and within the month, full blown... Check with the doc to ease your mind babe....

AF can do all kinds of weird and wonky things when you are BFing, and I think pretty much every mum has been in your shoes worrying about another pregnancy so soon! After Marieke was born, my first period was very heavy, whereas after Emily, it was at about 5 1/2 weeks post partum :angry: and fairly light. Since then, I've had some months relatively normal, some missed, and some really light. Get a bunch of pg tests for those stressful days, and POAS to ease your mind. :)
All the best!

I took a good 10wks to get my AF back after Alister and he was only BF for a few days (milk never came in) and even now they are still all over the place.

Its possible, but also just as impossible that you're pg kwim? Sometimes it is so hard to know for sure once we've had a bub what AF is going to be like - in my case it was heavy and longer, but it isn't like that for every woman either. If could have been AF and only been short and light because you are BF. If you are worried, do a test in about 3 days time I reckon.

Implantation bleeding isn't consistent with each pg either - I only had it once out of 4pgs.

OMG ash i was going to post this same thing, i stopped bf and didnt get my period, but DTD 2 weeks ago 2day and had a bit of brown spotting a few days ago, pink yesterday and totally gone 2day, im worried about being preg again as well! have been having slight 'funny' feelings in my belly ect..
would also like to know how soon we can test!?
i hear u on the mixed bag of emotions

butterfly*kisses: "I think you are probably feeling a little down/anxious because of all of the wild changes going on in your body and also the environmental impacts that new bubs have on their mums"
DAMN STRAIGHT... one minute i was happy, the next minute i was flipping out... i'd be perfectly calm and have every explanation under the sun for it and then BAM i was a mess. Thanks for the tip too, DF has taken to give me a massage with lavender oil since and it has worked an absolute treat. :)

Twin Sister: It was only there for the tiniest bit and i didn't think lochia would come again so 'fresh' IYKWIM... but I have taken it on as a possibility. It also afterwards became like my lochia was as it finished... So, i'd love it if were but it's no big deal as I have my 6wk check Wednesday and i'll get the MP then.

Purplemamma: Oh :( Someone from my Babybuddies thread suggested it's because we have much more nutritional diets these days and are perhaps more capable of caring for ourselves and babies after birth, so over time we have grown out of our periods needing to be delayed?... IYKWIM. I can't seem to quite articulate what i want to say!

Cricket: Oh I will!! I have two in the cupboard already now... I can just imagine me deciding to freak out every now and then... Ahh if only HPT's were reusable... they're so damn expensive and at times it's just hard not to test... :lol:

Trillian: "Its possible, but also just as impossible that you're pg kwim?".
That's what i thought... i think??, i really just needed to get it out. And Anthony wouldn't talk about it... so i was stressing myself silly because he didn't want to acknowledge it, if that makes sense.

_JeSs_: I'm still unsure on how soon to test. The HPT's i bought say test at least 19 days after the last time you had unprotected sex, if you don't know when your AF is due. I think you can test 12-14DPO though.

Anyhow... I did a test and it was BFN, so i've stopped worrying for now. It could have been too early... as such i might test again before i start taking the minipill just in case.

Thanks all for your support. :hug:

Yeah, investigate the mini pill hon, it's not worth the stress. Oh gawd that baby is precious - I love your ticker photo.

ash i did a test too and it was negative but i might wait another week or so and do another one! im sure we're fine lol!

I never wanted to use the pill while breastfeeding - we used condoms for 14 months while breastfeeding. We never DTD without protection as too many of my friends have fallen pregnant while breastfeeding to take the risk.

I still had lochia bleeding for 5 weeks so it could be the end of that. If you are feeding more than 5 times in a 24 hour period then it is unlikely you would become pregnant but yeah test again in a week just to put your mind at rest!

It sounds like lochia to me - I had it on and off for the full 6 weeks, and didn't get
AF for about a year.

I doubt very much you could get pg when your baby is only a few weeks old.

Sally - we are extremely fertile in the first weeks after birth - in the first three months we can be more fertile than at other times when we are TTC!! Generally BFing will counteract this but it doesn't all the time.

Nai - i have been BFing at least five times a day - but it does of course differ with everyone and there is also always conflicting advice from EVERYWHERE under the sun. For instance my mum has always got her period back within six weeks even though BFing, except this time but she's put that down to feeding twins.

Anyhow. DR. today had the opinion that BFing is only an accurate measure against ovulation if you're feeding every 3 hours, so i had to discuss Alex's feed patterns (4 HRLY, 6-8 overnight), and when i mentioned the spotting i was made to go for a BT. So will know tomorrow for sure.

Thanks everyone for your ideas, reassurance and support, guess i'll be posting tomorrow just to update.

How can you possibly be "extremely fertile in the weeks after birth" if you are not ovulating? The reason BFing suppresses fertility is to give our bodies time to recover from pregnancy and birth before doing it again. It is extremely unusual to ovulate so soon after birth, especially if you are BFing.

ash i have read that too that your really fertile after birth! :) because everything is still all 'open'.. and you can deff fall preg while BFing
if you read other sites it says that its very easy to fall preg in the 1st months after birth and that the whole BF contraception thing is a myth!
i know a girl who has a 3 month old baby, and wasnt getting her period so she didnt think she could fall preg, but she did!

I have fallen preg 3 times within months, and been fully breastfeeding!!! Lucky i wanted a big family!!!:cryinglaugh:

Ash, just letting you know that at about 6 weeks this time I got what I thought might have been my first period since the birth (and yes felt completely ripped off in the process LOL), but here we are at 9.5 months without another appearance. Sometimes the lochia stops, but there is still a bit to be expelled, and it happens a few weeks later. Makes you think that AF is on her way regularly, but it might not be the case.

FWIW, some women don't get their cycles back if they are producing ANY amount of prolactin. I don't seem to at the moment, with my third she was on one feed a day and I didn't get my cycles back until I completely stopped (which was annoying because we were TTC at the time).

There is hope that it wasn't AF or implantation.

Best of luck with the results hun. Whatever will be will be. :hug:

Best of luck tomorrow - I hope you find out what's going on.

Ash, any news babe???:)

there we go purplemama's the proof :P hehe!!

let us know soon ash!

Your very quiet Ash, hope all is ok babe....:)

Well going on my own experience - I have had two children and with both of them I had lochia for the full 6 weeks - you cannot surely be serious that you can ovulate 6 weeks after giving birth while your body is still adjusting its post-partum hormones. I can understand some women might get their fertility back in a couple of months, but not before you've even had your first checkup.

My midwives and docs also said no intercourse for 6 weeks, because everything isn't closed you can leave yourself open for infections.

Though I must say, the thing that shocks me the most is that you have the energy to DTD with a 6 week old baby! LOL

Any news Ash? Hope everything is going OK.

SallyJ, I know 5 women who have babies less than 12mths apart - two of those had two babies in the same year, 10mths apart. I was actually told to at least attempt DTD before 6wks so if there were any issues I could discuss them at my 6wk check up. But naturally if you have lochia that would be offputting.

Sally- I dont know how its so either but I was told the same thing at the hospital after having DD (Like an hr after having her LOL) that it would be best to DTD before my 6 week check up incase there are problems providing that I wasnt bleeding (Unless I fancied that)but to make sure DH wore a condom as your very fertile after having a baby (1st 6-8 weeks).

Ash- How are you hun??

Hi everyone i have been out for the day (and night!).
BT came back negative!
I guess we are 'pleased' with the result, but also disappointed. If it weren't for all the other things we've said we'd do first it would have been perfect.

I didn't have any tearing or stitches so i was told that i could DTD whenever i felt comfortable and like Lindsay said, providing the bleeding had stopped, which mine did at 2 weeks, if i "could" before my six week check up in case there were any problems.
As for the energy he feeds four hourly and goes six-eight hours overnight, with a very helpful DP so I'm very lucky to have the energy.

Of course my luck is about to change as DS has developed Reflux :( But that's a whole other thread!!

Thanks everyone for your advice and support. What would i do without BB, lol!!

:

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Well going on my own experience - I have had two children and with both of them I had lochia for the full 6 weeks - you cannot surely be serious that you can ovulate 6 weeks after giving birth while your body is still adjusting its post-partum hormones. I can understand some women might get their fertility back in a couple of months, but not before you've even had your first checkup.

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I know a woman who found out she was pregnant again at her six week check-up. It does happen!
As far as desire goes, we find it so wonderful for stress relief, we can hardly wait to resume DTD! So we might be the next couple you hear about with babies 10 months apart. ;)

Glad to hear that all is well Ashlea. (at least, aside from the reflux.)

ash, oh i was the same! im doing another test in a week or so to be sure, but i really wouldnt have bothered me if i was preg again, would be quite good to have kids so close together! and HE wants one too lol and was quite disapointed when i told him i wasnt preg LOL.. weird

im sure u's will have another one when u are ready!

Well i'm glad all is ok, and i'm sure #2 will be on its way when your good and ready!!!;)

I have only bled for a few days with each of my babies, and the longest it has taken to dtd again was a week, due to stitches!!!:rolleyes: the soonest was 4 days, after Za. He was a hour labour, out of hossie the next day, and no bleeding after 3 days. I guess i'm just lucky... I think!!!:lol:

So these women who were pg at the 6 week checkup, were they breastbeeding or bottlefeeding? This is the exception rather than the rule. Hospitals will tell you to use birth control no matter what, they are just covering themselves. I know many women who have one or more children and none of them (who were breastfeeding) had their fertility return earlier than 4 or 5 months. A friend got pg with a 5 month old but she was bottlefeeding. My own DH & his sister are 14 months apart, but were both bottlefed.

There are good natural reasons for this, if the baby has its milk supply interfered with by a pregnancy they may not thrive (I am talking evolutionary reasons here not the availability of alternative food).
Regarding DTD within 6 weeks of giving birth, obviously advice has changed since the last time I delivered, but it certainly used to be strongly advised against. And as I said before, I am amazed & impressed that you'd have the energy with a weeks old baby!

Editing to add, don't forget the lochia is not just red, it is also white, so bleeding for a couple of days does not mean lochia is ended.

Editing again to add, Ashnant, enjoy your new baby, and hope you do manage to fit in all those things you said you'd do before ttc for your second.

Hmmm seems i was destined to get AF back quickly regardless of how high my prolactin levels were / how much i was BFing... for the last twelve days we've been feeding 2 - 3 hrly (as opposed to four before) and she's still decided to make her return...

I really would like to know why this is so different and varied across different women. Not fair!!!

I'm with you on that one! Surely it would be much more fair if after going through labour, delivery, night feedings, etc, etc, we were allowed at least a one year break from AF. :( There should be a rule! ;)

Ash i feel your pain. My AF came back at 6weeks on the dot only a week after my lochia stopped - i had it at my six week check up and it came back 4 weekly from there so i guess it was really AF. I BFed DD fully for 4.5months, then supp'd with FF until 7months then weaned her. I think some of it might be genetic.

SallyJ my mother had her first 3 kids in 3 years and both times was pregnant already at her 6 week check-up. She fully BFed each baby until her milk went, both times at about the 16th week of the next PG, she continued to feed as long as they would suck even without milk but both boys were impatient and refused the breast once it was consistently empty. She said the midwives insisted, even after her second was born, that BFing would cover her.

As Barb will tell you, BFing is only a good contraceptive IF AF stays away. If AFcomes back all bets are off and they don't know why some women's ovaries are less responsive to prolactin than others.

My mother said she remembered the check-ups very well, both times she'd had minor tearing they wanted to check was healed well and both times they used a speculum to check her cervix was closed. It was closed, and BLUE (chadwick's sign - symptom of PG). She said the second time she was feeding #2 in the waiting room and the doctor got a bunch of students in to see that BFing wasn't always effective. The worst thing for my mum was that #1 walked very late so at one point she had THREE children that couldn't walk yet!

I have also fallen pregnant on the Pill, i think because i'm big (i'm 5'11" and was 95kg when i fell PG) the standard dose might have been borderline for me.

Bx