Trying to conceive and long menstrual cycles

[@llli*mrh7]

My little guy is 15 months now and we are trying to conceive our second. To give a bit of background, we got pregnant with ds pretty quickly (1-2 months) and are so far on our third month of trying for our second. The first month of trying I miscarried, with a normal period the following cycle. I know it hasn't been that long we've been trying, but the reason I am concerned is because my menstrual cycle is long and a bit irregular. The last few months it has been 35-38 days between periods. Before I got pregnant with ds my cycles were 26 days long. My ob doctor says to stop nursing, which I would prefer to not do. Hoping someone has words of wisdom/advice/personal experience on a similar situation. He is nursing 2x per day (down from 3x within the last 2 weeks) and is sleeping through the night. I got my period for the first time when ds was 4 months old.

Thank you!

[@llli*mtmama]

my periods used to be very short too and i went through a few months recently where they were kind of all over the place. my son is 22 months old and nursing.

i would not stop nursing. i do recommend charting though, the book taking charge of your fertility is good, even if you simply learn how to identify your cervical fluid and other basic signs.

try to just learn your body and not stress too much, which i know can be hard. i found learning about my body to be very empowering.

also, im very sorry to hear you had a loss. that can affect you in many ways and make ttc feel even more stressful. take care of yourself and let us know how it goes. there is a thread on here about ttc, you may find it supportive.

all the best to you.

[@llli*mommal]

I don't think much of your ob's advice. Once your cycle has returned, breastfeeding is very, very unlikely to impact your chances of conceiving or of carrying a pregnancy. Not to mention that even if breastfeeding was a problem in those respects, your child is currently nursing just 2x per day, which is next to nothing even for a toddler.

The first thing I would do is to get a copy of the book "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" by Toni Weschler. It's a really good guide to understanding your cycle, with tips on achieving pregnancy and on how to troubleshoot your cycle if something seems off to you. Oh- and you'll need a good thermometer, too, to use with TCYF.

The second thing I would do would be to go back to your ob, or to your primary care doc, and request a thyroid panel. Thyroid problems can cause long and irregular cycles, subfertility, and have been linked to an increased risk of miscarriage. And they are really common, especially in postpartum women.

[@llli*mrh7]

Thank you both for your replies. Mommal, your post gave me hope! I have been feeling pressured to wean, as we would like to get pregnant and now I was concerned that the miscarriage was caused by breastfeeding. Would there be other symptoms I would have if I had a thyroid issue? I will definitely contact my pcp and read the book- thank you for your suggestions!

[@llli*mommal]

Thyroid issues can cause just about everything. Dry skin. Brittle hair and nails. Thinning hair or hirsutism (excess hair), depending on whether you're hyper or hypo. Weight gain (hypo) or loss (hyper). Sensation of being cold (hypo) or hot (hyper). Rapid heartbeat, palpitations, high blood pressure. Lack of energy. Irritability. inability to concentrate. Tremors. Difficulty with exercise. Edema (swelling). Swollen thyroid gland (goiter). Nodular thyroid gland. Protruding eyes. Insufficient milk supply. Seriously, google it and you'll see that a bum thyroid can affect just about every body system- but that it doesn't NECESSARILY cause all the symptoms on the list.

ETA: when I went in to the ob's office they totally brushed off my concern about my thyroid. "Oh, you're 37 and some anovulatory cycles are to be expected, come back in a few months, yada yada yada." I had to specifically insist on them doing a TSH level. So don't let anyone brush you off. About 5% of women have postpartum thyroiditis, and anything that happens to 1 out of every 20 women should be taken pretty seriously by the medical community.

The Wikipedia piece on postpartum thyroiditis is pretty good: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postpartum_thyroiditis