I've perused regular pregnancy boards for this info but everyone discusses breastfeeding and it makes me feel like I'm being punched in the face. I was incredibly lucky, my ladies dried up in a week and half. It's now been a month and I'm eagerly awaiting the first dreaded period. I don't want to TTC until the summer or later but I still want to chart and track. For some reason I think I'll feel some sense of hope knowing that I can get pregnant when we decide to try and my crazy grieving brain thinks aunt flow is the first signal of this.

So, if you did not pump or breastfeed, when did your cycle resume?

I remember doing those same searches. My daughter was stillborn at 31 weeks. I got my first period nine weeks after delivery, on her due date, which was weird and difficult but ended up somehow feeling ok and appropriate. I'm still on that first cycle but so far it seems to be similar to my cycles before the pregnancy, so I'm thankful for that.

My OB said to expect 6-10 weeks, but that 12-14 would be totally normal, and if I hadn't started by 14 weeks to come in. If that helps at all.

I pumped for four day and then stopped. My first period came back at 5 weeks and was a 28 day cycle until the next one.

I was desperate for my cycle to come back as well.

Maddie x

Count me in as also desperate.

I had lochia FOREVER it felt like. Foster was born March 23rd, and I bled until early May and then had a wonky cycle in May, so I'd say early June before my cycle was semi-normal where I was ovulating again. My luteal phase was messed until September when I got pg again, so from birth to being fertile again was about 3 months, and to be able to conceive again was about 6 months. I was able to express small amounts of milk up until I got pg again, but I never pumped, only did gentle expression in the first month postpartum.

In hindsight I wish I hadn't focused on TTC so much between May and August. It was so much stress on both of us when I should have just been gentle with us and enjoyed being physical again.

HTH. Sending you peace,

Sarah H

After my first loss, my cycle resumed apparently pretty well immediately - then pregnancy on what had to have been first ovulation.

After second loss, though, used Depo and that made my cycle quite peculiar, took longer to resume and then was slightly irregular.

Don't know if this helps, but hope it does.

Thanks for starting this thread - I wonder if it should maybe get "stickied" like the "how to stop lactation" post. I wished I had had this to refer to earlier in my postpartum period, as I couldn't bear to go to other postpartum message boards because, as you mention, they all talk about bf-ing and I wanted to scream and poke my eyes out every time I thought about how awful it was that I didn't have a baby to breast feed...And yes, me too, desperate. Was/Am still.

After giving birth to a big almost 11 pound baby at 41 weeks, I had really steady, fairly heavy postpartum bleeding for about 10 weeks (definitely 8 weeks of medium to heavy locchia and then spotting for another two weeks, I think) and then had some really wonky "cycles" for another six weeks or so - bleeding for three days, then it feeling like a regular cycle, with signs of ovulation, then bleeding again in a week or four days...

I am currently in what I believe (please please please) is my first "regular" ovulatory cycle since I gave birth 4 months ago, but I can still tell that my hormones are FAR from being balanced.

Sarah H., again - really helpful for me to read your words here and advice about TTC. I remember reading something similar you wrote about ttc a while back and it sounding so smart, and here I am, already totally caught up in the craziness and rollercoaster of it. I really need to remember that next cycle needs to be a "Just Have Sex for the Fun of It" cycle - no temping, no OPKs, no no no. Is there a TTCers-Anonymous that I can join?

My son was full term and my first period came at 8 weeks post-partum. I probably spotted right up to 6 weeks when the CM started. I've had regular cycles ever since, although they have been "more" regular in the last 4 months, but despite looking good on paper, no results after 8 cycles.

Thanks for the responses all. At my 2 week appointment the OB mentioned it but I wasn't listening. Was busy keeping a panic attack at bay from all of the happy women in the waiting room.

More than anything, it would be nice to a have a return to normality where my body is concerned. I'm about 20 pounds from pre-pregnancy weight (crazy considering I gained 55, apparently I retain water like a champ) and my breasts are being cooperative, now I'm anxious for the rest. Looks like it might be a while so I'll relax and focus on getting healthy.

Mine took 10 weeks. They wanted me to wait to conceive until after I had that first period, even though an ovulation obviously happened prior to that. After the period, all my hair that was hanging in there from pregnancy fell out and I dropped 5-7 pounds. It was like my body just immediately gave up on pregnancy and having a newborn.

Then that first cycle I didn't ovulate until day 25! I thought I had missed it. But, ended up conceiving and so far so good.

6 weeks

good luck sara.
when my period returned I felt hope too.

My daughter died during labour at full term - and my cycle kicked in after about 6 weeks. The first cycle was short (about 24 days) the next three were long (36 days!). It was during that fourth cycle cycle that I went in to have blood tests to check hormone levels and see if I was ovulating (I was always a 28 day cycle kind of gal, so wanted to make sure everything was behaving itself) - when those results came back my Obs called in to say that I was pregnant. (and so far so good)

Thinking of you as you wait for your body to fall back into a regular pattern. I know that feeling of wanting it to kick back in - I felt that if I at least had a regular cycle, I would regain some control of my life again. SOME control. Good luck, and be gentle with yourself.

My son was full term (and I pumped for him in SCBU for 2 weeks) but my period came a month to the day after his birth, within 2 weeks of stopping expressing, as it has with all my daughters.

That said, I'm still not pregnant again, despite trying and my ovulation dates have ranged from day 6 to day 20 and it is taking a long time to settle.

The closest I have ever conceived is 12 months apart, my eldest two, though we actively avoided in the interim, so I don't know how soon I 'could' have conceived.

Mine came back @ 4 weeks but I took Parlodel to stop lactation so I have a hunch that made my body go back to "normal" earlier, but I'm not sure. I was told to wait 4 periods before ttc again.

Wishing you peace and luck.

I'm coming in WAY late on this post, but I'm responding only because I was reading through my own blog just now (you know--to re-live those happy post-baby-death memories) and saw that I apparently started exactly 11 weeks after delivering Addison at full-term. Just wanted to chime in.

Hey Sara... Cullen was born in September and it was not until November that I started my first cycles... the 1st 2 were crazy 'off'.
There are a few of us talking TTC over in the TTC'ers thread if you are interested.... love and light....

I found this thread really helpful as I waited and waited and waited for a Day 1 so I thought I'd add my experience to the pile. I delivered Charlotte at 39w4d. My milk dried up 12 days postpartum, lochia ended 4 weeks postpartum and my first period came 9 weeks and 1 day postpartum.