[oriel13]

Hi, I posted here a few times before my son came along and now I'm back...but not necessarily to TTC. Since his birth my cycles are messed up (w/o breast feeding), longest one was nearly 3 months and they're always with random cramping and pain in between. I also have multiple, separate days or sometimes weeks of fertile CM each cycle, which makes me think my body is at least trying. Doctor tested my thyroid and prolactin, both were normal. The only thing my gyno suggested when I saw her this week was to take 3-6 months of BCP and see if the pain goes away or if my periods will regulate afterward. She never addressed the irregularity otherwise, she said not to worry unless I was only having one or 2 periods a year. Needless to say I was not impressed. I don't know how the BCP will help things so I'm starting to chart again to find out if my cycles are anovulatory or what and go from there.

Sorry for the long ramble but now you know where I'm at, why I'm here, and why I'll probably be asking lots of questions.

My questions for today - my last official cycle was September 9, I had some spotting/light bleeding for 2 days in October but nowhere near heavy or long enough to be my period (IMO). My doctor would not give me Provera and pushed the BCP instead (I want to switch doctors but military insurance really limits me on that). So will it do any good to start temping this far in the cycle? Or should I just wait it out and start whenever the next cycle begins?

Also, with an 11 month old who cosleeps and wakes up 2-3 times a night, how should I handle when to temp? I am an insomniac anyway and go to bed 3-4 hours later than him.

I hope to learn a lot from you ladies!

[alicenwonderland]

I have to say, i'm not impressed with your doc either. I would consider getting a second opinion. In my experience, BCP only makes problems worse. I hope some of the other girls chime in.

As far as charting goes, any time is a good time to start. Even just to get in the habit. I work crazy hours and switch between sleeping in the day, to sleeping at night, to sleeping in little patches, and I still manage to have a decent chart. I don't follow the rules per say, but I temp any time i sleep 3 hours or more. I find that with a crazy sleep schedule, temping vaginally works better, as it is not so easily influenced by environmental factors. HTH, and good luck!

[ShawnaCAN]

Just do your best with the temps. Comprehensive CM only methods like the Billings Ovulation Method or the Creighton Model as also very good and you can track ovulation without the temps completely. I have PCOS and messy cycles, Billings keeps it all very simple for me without having to temp.

[Admin-pattyandthemoos]

Welcome to the board! I think I would wait and see if your periods start to get back to normal before you do anything. If you don't start having a regular AF again I would find another doc who would look into the cause and not be so pushy with bcp.

I would just go ahead and start charting now. I have charted while bfing and cosleeping so it can be done. Even if your little one wakes you up at night you should still be able to get a good idea of what is going on, especially if you chart your cm and other fertile signs.

Glad to have you on the board!

[oriel13]

Thanks ladies. Shawna I will look into the CM only methods. I learned to do sympto-thermal before Brayden was conceived so I automatically wanted to go back to that. But if I can eliminate temping and still determine if I'm ovulating or not, I'm all for it.

So how long would you ladies give it before pressing the issue further? My primary care doctor who referred me to the gyno called with my ultrasound results this week (she sent me at my request to rule out cysts) and said the tech was not able to get a visual of my left ovary for some reason, but that everything else was normal. I told her I was unhappy with the gyno visit so I have an appointment with primary doc to see what else I can do. However last time I saw this particular doctor the first thing she asked is why I wasn't on BC and told me that no woman is going to have "regular" periods without taking something. She's also the one who tells me every visit that one kid is more than enough for her and she doesn't understand why everyone doesn't just get an IUD. So I'm not expecting much beyond another BCP prescription honestly or maybe a referral to a gastroenterologist. She's the only doc I can see at that clinic so if it doesn't go well on Friday I'll start driving further to see someone else regardless.

My first postpartum was January 22. Then:
33 days
45 days
75 days
25 days (that short cycle was due to primary doctor putting me on a month of BCP to see if it would help anything)
57 days (obviously the one month of BCP was helpful, right )
current cycle - 69 days and counting

I breastfed with supplementing till the end of February, and ironically my first 2 postpartum cycles were the only ones that resembled my pre-baby cycles.

[ShawnaCAN]

Oh, it's completley normal for the first 6 post partum cycles to be irregular, especially while you're BFing and the first 6 cycles after you wean. I actually wouldn't consider this abnormal at all, because now you've got the added complication of recovering from the month on the BCP. I would seriously just leave it a few more cycles and let your body sort itself out before investigating further.

[Admin-pattyandthemoos]

Originally Posted by oriel13

Thanks ladies. Shawna I will look into the CM only methods. I learned to do sympto-thermal before Brayden was conceived so I automatically wanted to go back to that. But if I can eliminate temping and still determine if I'm ovulating or not, I'm all for it.

So how long would you ladies give it before pressing the issue further? My primary care doctor who referred me to the gyno called with my ultrasound results this week (she sent me at my request to rule out cysts) and said the tech was not able to get a visual of my left ovary for some reason, but that everything else was normal. I told her I was unhappy with the gyno visit so I have an appointment with primary doc to see what else I can do. However last time I saw this particular doctor the first thing she asked is why I wasn't on BC and told me that no woman is going to have "regular" periods without taking something. She's also the one who tells me every visit that one kid is more than enough for her and she doesn't understand why everyone doesn't just get an IUD. So I'm not expecting much beyond another BCP prescription honestly or maybe a referral to a gastroenterologist. She's the only doc I can see at that clinic so if it doesn't go well on Friday I'll start driving further to see someone else regardless.

My first postpartum was January 22. Then:
33 days
45 days
75 days
25 days (that short cycle was due to primary doctor putting me on a month of BCP to see if it would help anything)
57 days (obviously the one month of BCP was helpful, right )
current cycle - 69 days and counting

I breastfed with supplementing till the end of February, and ironically my first 2 postpartum cycles were the only ones that resembled my pre-baby cycles.

I don't think your cycles are normal but I don't know how abnormal they are. I agree that your doctor sounds like she might not be the right one for you to see.

Hopefully AF will start soon and your body will get back on track.

[AlanaIris]

I don't know much about wacky cycles, but wow, your PCM sounds horrible! I would look into changing your primary doc. GL!

[oriel13]

Glad to know it's not unusual for things to be off for this long. Seems like I'm the only one IRL of my family and friends who hasn't gone back to "normal" after a few months!

I think I'll try not to worry about the irregularity so much and only pursue it if the pain I've been having gets worse or doesn't get any better (that was my reason for requesting the u/s - some of the cramps have been bad enough that I considered going to the ER, but they only last a few hours).

Thanks for the advice!