HaleySince I announced I’m pregnant with baby #2, I’ve received a handful of emails from other new moms asking about my experience with nursing and fertility. While I’m admittedly no expert on either subjects, I’ll happily share my experience in the chance that it provides insight for others.
Last summer, I started a series on Breastfeeding, but only managed to cover the first 48 hours and 0-3 months. I waited until James Michael was 6 months old to start talking about it, but a couple months later, so much had changed that I ended up abandoning the series. Looking back, it’s much easier to talk about it now:
The No. 2 hardest part about going back to work after maternity leave is pumping if you’re a breastfeeding mama. Obviously, No. 1 is missing your baby. I pumped at work 3 times a day for James Michael’s bottles. I had a very small stash built up before I went back to work, so every pumping session was crucial for me.
When JM was about 7.5 months, I noticed a dip in my supply, and just a couple days later my fertility returned. I’ve heard it’s quite common to notice a dip around the time of your period, especially your first one post postpartum. My problem was even after my first cycle, my supply never bounced back. It was a super stressful time for me as I exhausted my small stash and pumped like my life depended on it. I sought advice from other more experienced moms, but I did not end up going the route of herbal supplements like fenugreek.
By the time JM was 8 months, I was forced to substitute one bottle a day with organic formula. After that, somehow my body just knew that I was supplementing and my supply began to decrease so that when he was 9 months old, he was completely weaned.
I’m sure many moms go through this, but I will tell you it was difficult. I had wanted to nurse JM until he was 1 year old, and I know that 9 months is pretty darn good. What’s difficult is that no matter your amount of willpower or the strength of your determination, sometimes your body just doesn’t cooperate. It was a very humbling realization for me, as up until then, my body (through pregnancy, labor and delivery, and postpartum) had done everything I’d expected.
Back to my fertility, I began paying attention to my cycles once they returned and noticed that they were irregular. Specifically, my luteal phase was too short (less than 10 days) to sustain a pregnancy, so I started taking B6 vitamins. It wasn’t until after JM was completely weaned that my cycles returned to normal and I was fortunate enough to get pregnant right away.
I know that some nursing moms have no issues with the return of their fertility, while for others, it takes more than a year. As much as I loved nursing, I know that it took a huge toll on my body. Some women say they can’t lose the final few pounds of baby weight until they wean, but for me, I actually gained a couple pounds once I stopped. Looking back, I’m not certain that I ate enough while I was nursing, and with baby #2, I plan to really focus on my food intake to ensure longevity.
I’m not sure I would have been able to get pregnant while nursing, or at least not while JM was still eating 7 times a day. Maybe if he was past the 1-year mark and he only nursed a couple times a day it would have been possible.
Even though I lost my supply much earlier than I’d hoped, I feel fairly certain that was the only way I got pregnant so quickly with baby #2.
Did you try oatmeal for your supply issues? I pumped exclusively for my now 10yo dd as I had a lot of issues getting her to breastfeed. There are some breastfeeding forums for those who pump exclusively and oatmeal was one woman’s go-to remedy for supply issues. Others mentioned fenugreek, Mother’s Milk tea and a few other things.
[…] after Beau was conceived, I wrote a post entitled Nursing, Fertility and Baby #2. For comparison’s sake, I wanted to do a similar post concerning the journey to Baby […]
Hello
I would like to know that
After the birth of each of your children
While you’re still breastfeeding
How long will it be before your postpartum period returns? Personally, I haven’t had a period since giving birth in a long time. My 2nd and 3rd pregnancies were while breastfeeding and I didn’t have my period. We already have 6 little girls in our family (3 pairs of girl twins): Sofia and Jojo, 8 years old, Anna and Elsa, 4 years 6 months, Maddy and Olife, 1 year 4 months. My husband and I let everything happen naturally. Birth control for each of our children Rely on breastfeeding as natural birth control only. And currently, I still don’t have my period after giving birth.
Hi Goldie. After my first baby, I got my period back around 7 months postpartum, once I had to help supplement with formula because I couldn’t pump enough at work. After my second baby, I never got my period but got pregnant while breastfeeding around the 7 month mark as well. I had read that breastfeeding exclusively for the first 6 months is just as effective as birth control. Which I found true, but I got pregnant just after that 6 month mark and “caught the first egg.” I honestly can’t remember how long after my 3rd and 4th babies but I think it was past the 6 month mark each time. My first baby had bottles but none of my others had bottles, not even pumped breast milk. I have heard that also plays into when your cycle can reemerge. I am also surprised that you haven’t gotten your cycle back yet. I wonder if because you are nursing twins, your body isn’t using any energy to regulate your cycle yet since so much energy is being used to nurse them. It’s amazing, but sometimes the body knows just what to do to optimize itself. That’s amazing you have so many twins! My daughter would be so jealous. She has 3 brothers!