Getting Pregnant While Breastfeeding

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Okay, it’s no secret that hubby and I are unofficially working on number two.  Gavin is now 20 months and still nursing and my period returned when he was just past his one year old birthday.  After several, fairly regular menstrual cycles (keeping in mind that I was somewhat irregular even before I got pregnant with Gavin), I thought it a high likelihood that everything is back to normal.

A good indication of returned fertility is when your cycle is similar to what it was before you were pregnant the first time.  Well, here’s my problem – I never did track my cycles before I got pregnant since I was somewhat irregular anyway.  We have two ovaries which take it in turns to ovulate every second month.  Having tracked my cycles when I was a teenager, I discovered that I have one regular ovary and one irregular ovary, thus, every alternate period is usually late.  My current cycles seem to follow that trend so I assume that means I’m fertile again.

A friend recently told me that when she told her doctor she was going to try to get pregnant again even though she was still nursing, her doctor said, “Good luck to you!”  Apparently, he was of the opinion that she wasn’t going to succeed unless she weaned her son.  I was a little surprised to hear that since I have heard of a mother getting pregnant with her second child while exclusively breastfeeding her first child and taking the mini pill.

Some online research revealed that you can conceive even before your first period because your body releases its first post-partum egg before the first period arrives.  If you read my previous post on this subject, I wrote that I had read somewhere (regretfully I don’t have the source) that the first period is usually anovular (meaning no egg).  Curious, so which source is correct?  Well, I guess it doesn’t really matter to me since my period is back, but if you’re still nursing and you don’t want to get pregnant, it’s worthwhile noting this and taking the extra precautions.

Based on what I’ve read, I can conclude that how fertile a woman is while breastfeeding varies from individual to individual.  While some women may be able to conceive quite easily while breastfeeding, others have to wean in order to get pregnant.  Although that doesn’t really shed much light on my individual case, one way to find out is to test out the late Dr Jeremy Chuah’s tips on getting pregnant.  If, after three months, I am still not pregnant, then we can safely conclude that I belong to the latter category.

Will I wean Gavin if I discover I’m in the latter category?

Probably not.  Breastfeeding is your body’s natural form of contraception and I believe any delays in being able to get pregnant is your body’s way of telling you that it isn’t ready for another baby.  At my current age, I think I can afford to wait another year or two for my body to be ready.

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Other posts that might interest you:

• Breastfeeding Baby – A Mother’s Benefits
• Pregnancy Scare
• 10 Reasons to be Glad about not being Pregnant with a Second Child
• QoW: Is it Harder to Get Pregnant While Nursing a Toddler?
• Milk Production

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