#51 Wendy: (fourteen months, twelve months so far)
12/17/00I follow NFP and read Sheila Kippley's Book "Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing" while I was pregnant with my first child. I just followed that after she was born and didn't get my period until she was about 14 months old. My next period was anovulatory and I conceived in the next cycle and
gave birth to my second daughter four days before my first daughter's second birthday. They are 24 months apart.I am still experiencing LAM with this baby and she will be 12 months on Christmas Day. I expect it will last for several more months. I think tandem nursing makes a difference.
#52 Hannah: (twelve months)
4/20/01I experienced 12 months of lactational amenorrhea while ecologically breastfeeding Ben, who is my first child. I started charting my temperatures and other fertility signs consistently again at that point. I charted four annovulatory periods until noticing an ovulation at 16 months postpartum. I've continued to ovulate regularly now for three cycles but have seen luteal phases of 6-8 days long. The only one of the seven standards that Sheila Kippley outlines in her book Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing that I did not follow was the daily nap (for me). My son does have unrestricted nursing during naptimes, however, since I either carry him in a sling while he naps or hold him in my lap while he naps. He has always slept with us, night nursed, never had pacifiers or bottles, and has not been separated from me except for an outpatient surgery he had at 12 months old. He started solids at 6.5 months. I have loved having lactational amenorrhea as a pleasant side effect of mothering my little guy.
#53 Emily: (fifteen months)
8/22/01I experienced lactational amenorrhea 15 months.
I exclusively breastfed until almost 6 months. I used no bottles or pacifiers. We co-slept and took a daily nap together. We weren't separated for long periods of time.
I noticed patches of fertile type mucus that let me know I was about to ovulate?
I would characterize my body type as average.
#54 Dawn: (seven months)
8/22/01I experienced lactational amenorrhea 7 months.
We learned about ecological breastfeeding when our daughter was about 4 months old. At that point, we incorporated as many of the guidelines as we could. We took away the pacifier, and started sleeping with our daughter more frequently. I was already taking naps with her and limiting separations. She had 2-3 bottles a week up until she was about 6 months old. I was going to school part time, so we were separated for about 6 hours a week until she was 6 months old. I wonder if I would have had a longer period of amenorrhea had I followed all of the guidelines from the very beginning.
We started using the sympto-thermal method of NFP when our daughter was about 4 months old. I charted for 3 months before I had any signs of returning fertility. Before my first period, I had no thermal shift, but I did have a VERY noticeable mucus patch. My first menses was not preceeded by ovulation (no thermal shift). My daughter is 25 months old now, still nurses 4-6 times per day and my luteal phases have been 9-11 days long, on average. When my periods first returned, they were much shorter, about 5-7 days long.
I'd say I'm a little heavier than average body type. I should lose 10-15 pounds.
We have been actively trying to acheive pregnancy for the past 5 or 6 months, no success yet. My cycles are very long, usually around 40 days, and my thermal shifts are usually around 10 days long. I realize that some women are not able to become pregnant until the baby weans, and I am prepared to accept that we may have to wait a few more years to welcome a new baby. I feel that my daughter still has a real need to continue nursing, and I enjoy our nursing relationship, so I don't want
to wean her so that I can become pregnant. I have to say that I'm surprised that I haven't become pregnant yet because it was so easy to get pregnant with my daughter (she was a welcome surprise)!#55 Tabitha: (ten months, thirteen months so far)
8/22/01With first daughter, I had 9 months and 3 weeks of amenorrhea. With my second daughter it is
13 1/2 months and still counting.I exclusively breastfed both girls until 6 months old. I have had limited separations from each of them. I try to nap with the youngest several days a week. Neither of them had a pacifier, though the youngest sucked her thumb until about 7 months old. My return of fertility came with oldest about a
month after I stopped nursing her at night. I didn't co-sleep with this daughter. With my youngest we are co-sleeping and she still nurses from 1-4 times per night, depending on the night.With the oldest, I didn't start charting until my period arrived. I knew when I ovulated that cycle and conceived youngest daughter. I have been charting my fertility signs since about 6 months with youngest child. I have had lots of fertile mucus patches, but no ovulation (or period) yet.
I would say my body type is thin to average. I have had no trouble losing the baby weight.
#56 Amy: (twenty-six months)
1/14/02I am 26 years old, with 2 year old child. I have experienced lactational amenorrhea for 26 months. I had lots of mucus and felt a sharp pain in my lower left side that usually signals ovulation. Ten days later I had bleeding. Before my pregnancy I usually had 10 or 11 day between ovulation and menstration. I only had a day and a half of very light bleeding, more like spotting. My daughter
doesn't suck her fingers, and I don't give her a bottle. I am a thin woman and my daughter still nurses during the day and sleeps with us and nurses at night. I had read that being thin could delay the return, so about a month before I ovulated I tried to eat more to gain weight. It might have helped.#57 Janice: (eight months, eighteen months)
1/14/02With my 1st child, I experienced 8 months of amenorrhea, with my 2nd, 18 months.
With my 1st child I used a pacifier from 4 months on, and often used it to try to get her to accept it instead of being nursed at night. We co-slept, and I was back working so I encouraged its use to get sleep, stretch her nursing during the day, and use it while driving in the car. She was a heavy sleeper anyway, but still nursed once or twice at night. I gradually weaned her after I got pregnant again at 19 months. I regret using the pacifier now, as it set up a pattern of not "fully" meeting and accepting her needs, which I see me trying to do with her even now at 4 years old.
My 2nd daughter never did accept pacifier, and nurses lots at night, so no periods for 18 months.
I have always been thin - never had weight concerns either way, but often am too "busy" to remember to eat.
I really enjoy not having periods, beyond the contraceptive effects. I have terrible premenstral mood swings now, which I don't recognize as such until I get my period and realize that's what the problem was. I don't get acne while I have amenorrhea. Life was mellow and simple while without periods. But I had NO interest in sex, that has started to come back with the periods.
#58 Jessica: (eight months, twelve months, fourteen months, and twelve months so far)
1/14/02With babe #1 it was 8 months, babe #2 it was 12 months, babe #3 it was 14 months, and babe #4 is 12 months and still no periods. I nurse on demand day and night. I offer nana every 2 hrs or so when at home and just on demand when out. I give bottles and pacifiers, but they only take pacifiers when teething. They don't suck on them, they just chew the heck out of them. I go to school full time, but I don't pump. It's way too much trouble. We co-sleep every night.
I am pretty thin only 110 lbs 5 foot tall.
#59 Cori: (seventeen months)
1/14/02I experienced LAM with my daughter Patriece for 17 months. About a week before this first period I felt a cramp that I suspected was ovulation. Upon this period I began charting temps again and they followed patterns similar to before getting pregnant.
Patriece never had a pacifier or bottle and has still barely left my side at 24 months old. She nursed frequently day & night, through co-sleeping and sling-wearing. She would only sleep about a 1/2 hour without me until around 9 months. I offered her solids at 7 months but she only nibbled on 'real food' for a long time. Patriece ate 2 meals a day in small quantities around 12 months, and only now upon turning 2 does she really eat good meals, still nursing often through the day and 2 times at night.
I became pregnant when Patriece was 21 months, after she began to sleep for 6 hours straight through at night. Up till then she woke to nurse after 3-4 hours. Also in the month preceeding conception I gained 5-10 lbs, almost exactly what happened when I got pregnant with Patriece. I am not that thin, but at 5'4" was 130-135 lbs both times I got pregnant. Then in each first trimester my weight dropped down to 120-125. Especially this time while still nursing Patriece and battling nausea!! But I think my body knew to prepare for the morning sickness by storing up a little more fat, and probably enhancing fertility.
Update
10/20/04
After my second was born I tandem nursed and had my period return when she was 17 months. I thought tandem nursing might delay my cycles a little bit but I guess not! Plus my second was eating more than my first child at that age anyways, but still nursing a lot.
I am pregnant again, I got easily pregnant when my second was 25 months.#60 Leia: (twelve months so far)
1/14/02I have an 12 month old daughter. We have co-slept since birth and I often take naps with her. I offered her a bottle with pumped milk once (in order to escape with my husband for a while) but she did not buy it. We never used pacifiers, and I nursed on demand. She eats a small breakfast, a medium lunch and dinner of solid food. She nurses frequently for short periods during the day. At night she nurses alot, as she does not seem to sleep well lately. I have no period yet, but I feel like I am having some sort of cycle. I hope to become pregnant soon, but I do not want to deny nursing to Abby. So, it is at 1 year so far, and wish me luck for the future.
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