3 Dec 2013 Trying for a baby while breastfeeding

** TMI alert!! Guys might have to look elsewhere ;-) **

Ok so much for chronological order..

This is on my mind right now, so here goes!

After having my first son I didn’t want to wait for very long to start trying for #2 (biological clock is going tick-tock) but I wasn’t keen on weaning my boy either. Often people will tell you that breastfeeding works as a contraceptive. Well, that’s a myth!

So I started keeping track of my cycle. I didn’t get my periods yet, but I had started ovulating around 7 months or so. How do I know that?

Well, often I feel a slight burning sensation in my ovary – alternating sides usually. The very first time I experienced any ovulation pain at all, was when I had been in hospital with thrombosis in my head (a whole other lengthy story!) and was taken off the contraceptive pill. I was recommended having a copper-T inserted as hormonal contraceptive was off-limits for me. Getting the coil wasn’t fun, but after the initial cramping and spotting, it suited me just fine. Periods got heavier and longer, but all in all that was something I could live with.

It took around 7 weeks for my own cycle to kick in and then I experienced such a cramping pain, I couldn’t sit, stand or lie down and none of my painkillers brought relief. I ended up getting an echo/scan at my gynecologist where they determined I was experiencing ‘afterpains’ as my ovary had just released an egg and the gap that was left behind had filled with liquid, causing stress on surrounding tissue – or so they told me. I was prescribed painkillers and something for cramps and I was recommended taking a relaxing bath.

Luckily that was the first and only time my ovulation pain was that bad, ever since I have been able to feel a slight cramping/burning when I am about to or have just released an ovum. Very handy I must say!

One of the other signs of ovulation is the amount and consitency of your discharge. Throughout the cycle it goes through stages of milky white, lumpy, completely absent, to the egg white-like stretchy substance to look out for. In the days before ovulation it will get more and more clear and stretchy, to the point where you might notice long threads on your toilet tissue and if you were to take it between your fingers, you would be able to take thumb and fingers as far apart as you could, without breaking the stretchy, slimy thread. Yuck but useful!! That’s when your egg is about to start its journey and when you should come in action between the sheets – or anywhere else for that matter :)

The last, but not so obvious sign of ovulation that I have used in the past, is to feel for the shape and tissue tightness of your cervix. It’s not all that easy and isn’t always forward and low enough to be able to reach. When I had the IUD, the copper coil, I was told to check the threads coming out of my cervix regularly. So for me this was something I had felt for before and I had also noticed the changes before. During your cycle your cervix changes shape and goes from soft to harder and back to soft again.

What it feels like for me:
in the week before ovulation the cervix becomes softer (more like your lips or ear lobes) and opens up slightly. During ovulation the tip of the cervix is lower and more forward, so it’s easier to reach when squatting in the shower for instance. The tip feels really soft and you can feel that it’s open during ovulation.
The week after ovulation the cervix moves up again and a bit backwards, so it’ll be harder to reach. It also closes up again and feels harder, a bit like the tip of your nose.

A combination of the above signs can tell you where you are in your monthly cycle.
To work it out for your own body you could try combining these with taking your base temperatures first thing in the morning, or using ovulation tests, but I have no experience with either of those, as I never needed more than my own body signs to get pregnant. We conceived the first the 2nd month after I had the Copper-T removed and boy #2 was a hit on the 2nd round as well. I kept nursing till I was 33 weeks pregnant and my boy weaned himself.
There is just under 22 months between my babies.

I know for sure I have been ovulating since my youngest was 4 months old.
Next year we will start trying for our #3 as I still hope for a girl :D Better keep track of timing, so chances of a girl are better – but that’s another story yet again!