Menstrual Cycles & Fertility After Baby

I’m in the process of returning to so-called ‘normal’ menstrual cycles following the birth of my baby.
After my post-partum (PP) bleeding (called lochia; it lasted 5-6 weeks for me) I didn’t have a period for seven months but begun to feel familiar stirrings in my uterus from about five months PP. I bled for a couple of days when my son was 7.5 months, and then again when he was 9 months old. Yesterday, out of nowhere (26 days after my previous bleeding; my son is 10 months old) my first proper period started... and boy, I wasn’t ready for that! I had forgotten how heavy they can be.

Lulled into a false sense of security, I thought that I might be one of those women who continues to bleed lightly during periods while breastfeeding their baby. Evidently this is not the case (my son has four breastfeeds a day, and 1-2 in the night, and has three solid meals). It was painful, though not as excruciating as I remembered. Perhaps natural childhood has changed my scales of pain now (or again, lulled into a false sense of security...!).

I’d been doing some research into whether you can take targeted pain relief medications while breastfeeding and most of my findings tend to be inconclusive. In the past I have taken naproxen for period pain relief, though the manufacturers don’t recommend it for breastfeeding mothers. A very small amount of the drug passes through your milk into the baby, but it is very small – about 1%. And in large doses (certainly not typical use) it can have effects on the baby’s digestive and intestinal tracts. Some women may not feel comfortable taking such a risk, but for me –with a history of endometriosis and very painful periods – these little blue pills have been my saviour through recent years. So I have decided to take them for pain relief even while breastfeeding. Now I’m not silly and don’t go above the recommended dosage (I have never really needed to in the past), but I think that’s more important now than it ever was. If pain relief over a 36 hour period (excuse the pun!) allows me to function throughout the day and look after my baby, then that’s something I’m definitely continuing. :)

So am I returning to pseudo-fertility? (remember that my son's birth was the result of IVF after endometrial scarring on the fallopian tubes made natural conception a very low possibility) Who knows, time will tell.

And I guess that's another thing too - if I was fertile and capable of becoming pregnant without the help of reproductive technologies - would we be ready for another child now? I hear many other infertile women (yes, I still consider myself infertile despite having had a child) say that they would be thankful for any successful conception and birth that came their way, but honestly... would I truly be ready now - with a 10 month old - to fall pregnant again now? No, I wouldn't be. If I did, I'd cry, laugh and get on with it. Would we consider IVF again right this second to increase the size of our family? Of course not. Yet I know women who would. Or women who are trying to conceive another baby when their babies are 18, 12 or even 6 months old!

We will have another child someday, but not in the near future if we lived in an ideal world where all our wishes were answered. And that's the truth.

Day in the Life: Feb 8th, 2012

I wrote a long post about my reasons for doing a Day in the Life (DITL) project, unfortunately I accidentally hit backspace and deleted it all without saving... rookie mistake! In summary, I enjoy looking back at snapshots from my life in past six years of doing these projects - and now that our family has grown this is no exception.

I used my iPhone to take and process all pictures yesterday, so there's a bit of motion blur/bright flash in some of the photos. For anyone interested, I used the following apps: Camera+ and Hipstamatic (taking the photos), PicFrame (collages) and Labelbox (journalling).

Here we go, A Day in the Life - February 8th, 2012 edition! Click on any image to see it bigger.

Here are links to two other DITL projects I have done in recent years:

25/12/2009 - A Christmas in the Life

24/09/2010 - 12 Weeks Pregnant with Rowan



10 Months Old Today

... and with it comes a new milestone:

Yes... he is starting to walk!

Rowan took his first steps a week or so ago and since then he's been gaining confidence in letting go of objects/people and trying to walk... although 1-2 steps is all he can manage at this point (usually into someone's arms or onto another object). I can see the wheels turning in his brain as he sizes up whether or not to let go of something, it's quite endearing. ;)

He still much prefers to crawl, stand and/or cruise around (he's very quick with cruising!), I wonder when he'll have the balance to walk more regularly? Another skill he's gained recently - again, in the past week - is climbing. I didn't believe him when Matt told me he climbed up our couch on the weekend, then I got to see it for myself... seriously, this baby is keeping me on my toes!

Last month I mentioned about Rowan's nap times and whether he was attempting to drop from two naps to one. It looks as though my hunch was correct - about 75% of the time, Rowan is having one sleep during the day (which has taken some getting used to on my part). It makes it a bit trickier to do things over lunchtime - ie, being out and about - but it does free up our mornings and mid-afternoons... so it's a pretty good trade-off. Mornings have been progressively getting earlier too, which means by late afternoon he's in need of a short nap (just an hour or so), I've been having a bit of success with that.

Other interesting discoveries from the last month have been:

* Tapping objects together regularly (this has almost replaced gumming objects as #1 pasttime)

* Beginning to understand a few words we say - book, sippy (cup), Weetbix, milks

* Rowan will bring you a book when he wants to be read to (which is very sweet!)

* More outwardly signs of affection - cuddles, crawling into your lap, kisses on the cheek (with and without teeth! :P)

Pictures to mark reaching double-digits for the first time. ;)







Waiting patiently for breaskfast (Weetbix) this morning

Looking way too much like a toddler for my liking!

Very typical Rowan at the moment, always having a Bunny or two in his mouth.

Walking with Daddy at the park

Family picture from the weekend (plus children's-sized hat)

Rowan's first artwork

Yes... there was plenty of mess to be had! (I took paper prints of his highchair tray painting too, since he decided early on that paper belonged on the floor, not the tray)

Painting with Rowan. ;)



This Week in Scrapbooking

Here are some of my recent layouts for 2012:

This was my portion of ScrapOrchard's 'Rumble in the Orchard' CT battle recently. I liked my part so much that I uploaded it as a separate layout. :)

Queen Bee - by Faith True Originals
The Sweet Life - by Faith True Originals
 Hippity Hoppity - by Faith True Originals

In January 2010 I made a resolution to start a Mission 101 list (setting 101 goals to complete in 1001 days). Now I am in the final nine months of thist project and I'm currently sitting at 42/101 goals complete. Can I make it to 60 before September 12th?!

Kit: All Geared Up - Designs by Kat
Alpha: All Geared Up Alpha - Designs by Kat
Template: Ianthine Templates - by Scrapping With Liz

My basic muffin recipe with a little fruit added in... all recommended by my little taste-tester. ;)

Kit & Alpha: Made with love - Designs by Kat

I've been playing with blends lately, and I really like how quickly and easily this layout came together. The papers in this kit are so pretty!!
Bathtub Adventures - by Faith True
Bathtub Adventures Wordart - by Faith True

Practicing his bear crawl to get over obstacles, LOL! :D

Funny Adventures - Designs by Kat
Lazy Days - Designs by Kat



Wordless Wednesday

Rowan at 9 Months

 

Rowan is now nine months old and is suddenly acting like a much older baby... it's as if a switch has flicked on that it's full speed to toddlerhood (much to this Mummy's disappointment; sure, I'm proud - but the newborn I cradled in my arms not-too-many months ago is fast becoming a little BOY).
Here's a little rundown of where he is at developmentally:

• 6 teeth (4 on the top and 2 on the bottom)
• Cruising on us, furniture, really anything that he can
• Starting to use objects to assist in walking (including his ride-on train toy, the laundry hamper and the kitchen rubbish bin! o_O)
• Eating three solid meals a day and 4-5 breastfeeds
• Waking 1-2 times in the night for feeds (over a 12 hour period)
• Favourite foods include canteloupe (rockmelon), pineapple, chicken, Weetbix, homemade cakes and biscuits (at least I know what's in them!), grapes cut in half and banana
• Baby-led weaning is still working really well for us as a family; Rowan has gotten really proficient with picking up food and getting it to his mouth, he enjoys using a loaded spoon (food already on it) and tips the spoon upside down in his mouth to lick off the contents. He is also starting to tears bits of meat off with his top and bottom teeth and chewing them. Bigger pieces of food are also being swallowed, making for interesting nappies at times!
• Seems to be changing his nap and sleeptime routines (see below)
• Is using 'Mumumumum' around me (bit early to call it a first word yet though), and 'geh/gooo' to everything else
• Shows excitement by bouncing up and down on his knees, flailing his arms (this started on Christmas Day)
• Can clap his hands together (we haven't taught him how, he's just discovered it)
• Enjoys taking items out of a container, dropping objects to hear their sound, his wooden maracas (or anything that shakes), turning the pages of board books and ripping paper (hence the board books ;P)
• Starting to use his index finger (pointing) to touch the details on things, such as buttons (he loves the buttons on clothing!)
• Will pull my top down when hungry and wanting a milk feed (it's Summer here so I'm wearing a singlet most of the time)

On nap/sleeptimes, I've noticed that Rowan is making a fuss about his afternoon nap and more often than not, fighting it. He's normally a pretty good sleeper (thankfully) and it only occurred to me recently - Matt wondered before me - that I think he's dropping his second naptime. In hindsight, the signs are there: he's sleeping longer in the night and waking up later, active for a longer period in the morning (3 hours) and napping longer over lunchtime (usually 1.5-2.5 hours). By then, he's usually only getting tired by dinnertime, then there's an hour until bedtime for the night. So really, the routine is changing.

But am I ready to be flexible about the changes happening? I don't want to be but know I need to be. I really thought it would be longer before Rowan dropped from two naps to one, and it will make trips out of the house during the day a bit tricky while we all figure out what is happening (usually we go out in the early morning or early afternoon; now it'll either need to be early morning or mid-afternoon).
I guess that time will tell!

Some recent photos taken between 8.5-9 months:

Spunky boy

First swim in a pool

Upside down!

Sick with a cold, but having fun with a tissuebox

The remnants of Christmas Day lunch!

Playing with his favourite Christmas toy, an activity centre

Playing with tree decorations at Nan-Nan's house (my Mum)



Wordless Wednesday