Postpartum/post Breastfeeding Missed Period. Any Answers Other than Pregnancy?

I was still breast feeding when I had one period at approx. 6 months postpartum. Continued to breast feed and found out I was pregnant when my 9 mos. old started to loose weight. I found out that the hormone shift with pregnancy decreased my milk production. He was 10 mon. old when we figured it out. Five months later we were given the best unexpected gift from God, a beautiful baby girl. Sometimes Gods plans for us are different than our own. Good Luck.

Well I don't see what is irratic about your period(s). You've only had one and it does take awhile before your cycle regulates after having a baby. I think things will be just fine and your body is readjusting from not being pregnant and not breastfeeding. The blood test will hopefully set your mind at ease. Try and be positive. Best wishes to you!

After having a baby it is quite normal to have irregular periods.

After having a baby and breast feeding, I don't think that you would have your periods regular yet. My baby is almost 2 yrs old and I am just beginning to be regular again.
I don't think that you can get pregnant on your period because, the egg drops and you only have about 48 hrs that you are fertile after that egg drops. If the egg is not fertilzed the lining of your uterus begins to 'shed' and that is the blood. (that process takes about 14 days from the time the egg is produced till your period starts.) That is God's way of cleansing a woman because they can't very well reach up there and and clean themselves very well.
Your blues is probably that your hormones are still trying to regulate themselves so you will have that until they get completely straightened out.

I know after I had a baby and when my period came back, it was irregular (45 days) it only lasted a few months and I was regular. Your hormones could still be balancing out from having a baby.

H.

Hi--it is common for your cycle to be irregular postpartum, especially after breastfeeding. Sometimes it takes a few months for your hormones to get back in sync. Stress/lack of sleep could also contribute to throwing your cycle off.

C. =)

Hi C.!
Did you take any kind of birth control while breastfeeding, in particular, depoprovera? That can cause you to miss your period once you are off of it even if you have already had one. There are other causes for missing your period other than being pregnant so don't stress yet! Just go see your ob and they will figure out what is going on with your body. I think it does take a little while for your body to get back to normal after all that it goes through with pregnancy and breastfeeding. Best of luck!!

Hey C.,

The nurse at your OB's office is wrong. I can't imagine an educated nurse saying that. When you stop breastfeeding and start your period back, most of the time they are extremely out of whack. Your body takes a while to get your horomones back into a routine. I started my period back while I was still pumping and nursing at 5 months after I had my son, but it took months to get them straighten out. My son is going on 13 months, and I believe only the last 3 have been "regular". Also, wouldn't count on the rhythm method at this point. With your horomone levels all over the place, you can't pinpoint with any certainty when you are gonna ovulate! I would stick with the condoms all of the time...but thats just a suggestion!

Hi C., I'm a retired RN--most of my career was in maternal/child health. I worked in an OB/GYN office for 3 years. It sounds normal to me for your periods to be unpredictable at this point. It may be 6 months or more before you can count on a cyclic period. This means you can't count on ovulation (or the rhythm method)since that occurs about 14 days before menses. It is possible that you are pregnant, but the over the counter tests are pretty sensitive and most likely you are not. Hang in there--check another pregnancy test every few days. If you are pregnant, at least your baby will be over a year old before the next arrival. Years ago, one of my friends went for her postpartum 6 week visit and was told she was pregnant--and had her third baby girl when the second was just 10 months old! Wow--and it all turned out fine--they adjusted--baby was healthy and adorable--and a few years later they had a forth child, a little boy.

The fact that you recently gave birth and then recently stopped nursing combined with a drastic diet change could very well be contributing to your irregular period. And you are probably stressing about being late which will contribute also. Those home tests are usually very accurate so I wouldn't worry, but I think a blood test would be a good idea to put your mind at ease as well as determine if there is something else causing the irregularity.

Good luck, hope all works out for you!

Morning,

it has been my experience that whenever i change my eating habits to lose weight and start exercising that my period comes late sometimes by a week or more. Hope it all works out for you.

D.

I'm pretty shocked that your doctor's nurse would give you that information. Periods are sometimes very unpredictable when they first start back after pregnancy and breastfeeding. Most women count on them being irregular for a while. Of course, there might be a possibility of pregnancy, but I seriously doubt it based on what you've told us here.

There are also medical conditions that affect your cycle. I missed periods when my thryoid hormones were too low.

I feel for you sweetie!! But I think your nurse is just trying to scare you. Your cycle may not go back to normal for a long time. I breast fed both of my children for over a year and when I finally got my period back it was so erratic that one month I would have 2 periods and then then next I would be late and sometimes nothing at all. My doc told me it was completely normal. Plus with you going on vacation and your eating habits changing then Im sure that has alot to do with it. Dont stress.

PS if you are pregnant........well I dont even know what to say :) good luck

I had strep throat after this last pregnancy and that put my cycle very late. Any illness can do that, as can sleep deprivation! Don't know about the diet change though. And while I'm sure you're relieved, just remember that children are more of a blessing than a burden...I just had my 5th blessing 3 months ago! Their ages? Haha!!! 6yrs, 4 yrs, 2 yrs, 14 months and now 3 months! 5 babies since Dec 2001 (3 born within 25 months)!! God is good! Don't know what we'd do without any of them!

I woudlnt' freak yet. My cycle did weird things after I finished nursing....of course I was on the pill :) But still...don't freak yet.

C.,
Of course there is always a chance when playing russian roulet : ). I have been there. I have a 7-month old daughter and she stopped breastfeeding at 5 months. I did not get my period and thought I was pregnant. I waited. It came a month later (6 months) and lasted for about a month. This month it was late but it came. My doctor told me to wait before taking the test because it was too soon, and every woman is a little different. I would say give it another month before getting yourself worked up and going to the doctor unnecessarily. If you are, you'll find out soon enough. And if you are not, you'll have worried for nothing. Good luck.

A.

the nurse at your ob's office is poorly informed. it is more normal for you to be very irregular for several months after weening, than to be regular. i was not regular until i started back on a bc pill. relax, and just give it some time. if you get a period, thats great, if you dont, you can take another pregnancy test. i would wait two weeks or so.

First of all don't freak out! You body's hormones are so out of whack! It will take a few months for you to get a rhythm back with your cycles. You are also changing a lot with your body. Post back when you get an answer with the OB!

Not only does the post partum and weaning affect your period but the added stress to your body from not sleeping and the change in your diet does too. I would save yourself some money and cancel your appointment with your ob. If you're still unsure, take another pregnancy test. I've had great success with the $1 store tests and they don't cost a lot either. =)

Stress and dietary changes can affect the menstrual cycle.

Also, fwiw, after my first child was born, I got my first period back at 6 weeks postpartum (even tho I was nursing full-time), but my 2nd period was 5 weeks later. After that, I was back to the regular every 4 weeks.

After my 2nd child was born, I got my period back at 4 weeks postpartum (nursing full-time), had another period 4 weeks later, and then skipped a period. (I finally figured out that it was because I was pumping a lot for a friend's adopted baby.)

OK, first, I agree with the others who say that nurse is misinformed. My periods (entire body actually) were erratic for MONTHS every time I had a baby. But listen closely to me now that I have said that!

My second son was conceived DURING my period, or while I was using a diaphragm. The best we could figure, as we had started "trying" for a second baby in August, and I didn't get my period that month, and sure enough was pregnant. We thought he'd be due in mid-May around my first one's b-day, but his due date was mid-April, and my OB pinpointed time of conception to the week of my period, when we didn't bother using the diaphragm. So you CAN possibly get pregnant while on your period. Not likely, but not impossible either.

Also, after he was born, I nursed him for over a year and never got my period back. I had weaned my first son (when I dried up) at 4 months of age, and got my period at the 6 month mark. With the second, even though he was only nursing in the morning and at bedtime at a year old, I was concerned that my cycle had not resumed, but didn't think much of it. At that point in our lives, we were so exhausted and so off-key with each other, that there wasn't MUCH reason to use birth control, so we just used condoms on the rare occasion that something DID happen! :) But by the time I was getting ready to try weaning my son at 13.5 months, I started feeling something hard in my belly. I thought I had a tumor or something and pregnancy never crossed my mind until I felt the baby move! Turns out, I had gotten pregnant with my dtr when my son was about 10 months old. I WOULD have gotten my period then, but never got it due to getting pregnant again! Then she was born 2 months early, so I only knew I was pregnant 3 months before she was born!

So my three kids are a living testament to what God intends to give you! I only have 2/3 of one ovary due to cysts I had as a child, I was on the pill when I conceived my first, the diapragm with my second, and just barely doing anything and using condoms with the third! I cried and thought I would never be able to manage 3 such small kids (my oldest turned 3 in May before my third was born in Sep), but I got lots of help from family and friends, especially since I ended up on bedrest at 6 months with my dtr. Very hard to chase around two active toddlers when you are on bedrest! And life IS hard when they are all little, but it does get (a little) easier as they grow up together...

You may not end up even being pregnant, but please know that if you are, this was part of God's plan, and after having two sons, my dtr has been a true blessing. If it had been up to me, we would've only had the two boys, and maybe adopted a little girl down the road, but she surprised and delighted us all and still does! :D All of my babies (now 12, 10 and 8) are the best unexpected (and unasked for) gifts I have ever received!

Wishing you the best!
A.