How soon can you start a round of IVF after delivering? I read different things online about not being able to start until after your period starts, but it's common that you don't get your period while breastfeeding, right? I'm due in January but thinking in advance. Ideally would like to breastfeed as long as possible, but at the same time, I'm getting old and I know I have to do PGD testing (and a whole new egg retrieval cycle, I don't have any frozen embryos) and it just all takes a really long time, so I don't want to wait too long. Just wondering what other people's timelines were?
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I didn't ask about any sooner, but my re suggested we start 6 months pp. but I was so not ready at that point so I told him thanks but no thanks. Is this your first? I think it's OK to think ahead but if it's your first I would strongly suggest not setting any expectations for yourself. My first took a much stronger toll on me then I thought it would and I was not even ready to start thinking about it until between a year in 18 months. I also had nothing frozen and I have to do PGD testing on my embryos because I have a chromosomal defect. I am 36 now and I am 14 weeks pregnant with our second. I was 33 The first time and I'm not entirely sure that age played a huge role but it was definitely a lot harder this time than last time. Last time took one round this time took a year and three rounds. I had nothing normal the first two rounds then two normal is the last round.
I guess the positive about starting retrievsls and testing sooner rather than later is that you could always keep them frozen and transfer later if you're not actually ready to have your second yet. You don't have to do it all at once. That was why my RE already suggested retrievals at six months postpartum but I honestly was not even ready for that. I was still in newborn haze/PPD land.
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Breastfeeding will suppress your period but it may come back before you stop - it generally depends on whether breastmilk is the baby's sole source of food and also can be linked to how frequently baby eats (so if baby sleep for a long period at night and doesn't nurse for over 6 hours, it's more likely that the period could return. My own experience - I got my period at 10 months with kid #1 and was pregnant at 18 months (no IVF) but continued some level of breastfeeding until 20 months. Kiddo was starting solids at 6 months, getting a combo of breastmilk and cow milk at 12 months, and regularly sleeping well at 11 months. Also FYI pregnancy hormones can dry up the breastmilk around end of first or somewhere in second trimester.
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My RE requires me to wean 3 months prior to starting any fertility meds. I planned to wean at 15 months so that I could do an FET when my DD was 18 months. I actually ended up getting pregnant on my own. I have a frozen embryo left though and will wean my current baby around 15 months so I can transfer it.
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I think it depends on the clinic as well as how delivery and pregnancy went with your first.
I'm almost 11 months pp from my first baby (super easy delivery) and initially planned to go for a frozen transfer between 12-13 months. At this point, my son isn't ready to wean and still probably nurses 7-10 times a day, so we've decided to wait til he's about 15 months before going back. My RE does not require weaning as the only medication utilized for a typical frozen transfer is progesterone and some form of bc pill leading up so I won't push weaning if he isn't done before then. BF has been my saving grace with a light sleeper and I'm not in any hurry to give it up.
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I didn't do IVF, but conceived through IUI with an RE who I've since visited. I had my daughter in January as well and was ready to get started on baby #2 at 6months. I, too, want to BF as long as possible, but my RE requires Baby to be fully weaned and 2 natural periods to get things started again (ugh). My baby has slep through the night since 4 months and also only nursed 4 times a day between 5-7 months and I still haven't gotten a period. I'm currently weaning; we're down to only 2 nursing sessions per day- at wake up and bedtime. In a perfect world, I would get my period/ conceive without intervention while still nursing DD, but I'm not holding my breath. I plan to fully wean by the end of the year so that we can start TTC #2. It's been discouraging having to stop bfing sooner than I wanted in order to TTC, but we want to have another asap and don't know how long it'll take this time.
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@SweetiePie: my first passed away 13.5 hrs after delivery. i'm 35 and we were only able to get one healthy embryo from our first round, and thankfully, she stuck and is still here and healthy....i'm worried about waiting too long and it taking more than one cycle to get a healthy embryo (i'm a genetic carrier for something that is completely unrelated with the first loss, but other than that, we have no other issues). i guess i didn't really think about the newborn haze...i was thinking more of my aging + desire to bf as long as possible
@Mrs. Pickle: *sigh...yea i wish for anything that we had another frozen embryo, so that all we had to do was transfer it....the thought of going through another egg retrieval sounds really miserable..but i don't feel like i'll feel like our family is complete until i have at least 2...
@themrsgoff: it's interesting that different drs say diff things. but seeing as i need to start from egg retrieval and there are so many more meds for that. i don't know what my RE's perspective on if i should have weaned or not, but i need to find that out...thanks.
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@everbee: I did not do IVF but as far as breastfeeding it will suppress your periods for awhile but it's really individual. Some women will EBF and get their periods shortly after birth (3 or 4 months) and others have to practically wean to get their periods. From what I've seen, most EBF women will not get a period the first 6 months after birth. Pregnancy will dry up your milk and turn it back to colostrum so if breastfeeding is important to you then I'd probably wait the first year out before becoming pregnant.
https://kellymom.com/ages/older-infant/fertility/Personally- after my first baby my period returned at 7.5 mo pp. She was just waking up 1x a night at this point so that is probably the biggest factor for my body. My second baby is 9.5 mo and I don't have a period yet. He wakes up every 3 hours at night still (I think I'd take the sleep and my period at this point lol).
I would guess a lot of doctors would ask that you stop breastfeeding completely to get the best chances for IVF. Can you ask your doctor? Even if you have a cycle back, breastfeeding can still affect your hormones. Even though my period came back at 7.5mo with #1 I had a luteal phase of 9 days until after she was a year old. And then it stayed 9-10 days the whole time I was breastfeeding (maybe 11 days on occasion) even though we only BF 2x a day.
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@kes18: thanks for the info, it's really helpful. i thought you definitely didn't get your period while you were bf, i had no idea! bf is really important to me...but so is getting a move on for baby #2...so it's going to be a tough decision husband and i need to make...to find the right balance.
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