Expert: ruth kraft - 3/11/2009

Question
I am breastfeeding my six and half month old twins exclusively. When they were about three months old, I had a period. I didn't have another one until they were about six months old. My husband and I are trying to get pregnant again, but with my cycle so weird right now, family planning is a challenge. I missed my period this month and took a negative pregnancy test. I took it the day of my missed period and am worried that I took it too early. Is it normal for breastfeeding moms to have a period every three months? Should I wait a week and take another test?

Answer
hello :) whew what alot ! twins and trying again! I don't know how you do it... Irregular periods can be a cause of many things. hormonal imbalances usually , that are caused by other things like nursing, stress, illness etc...   it sounds like your body is getting ready to start ovulating and still working on it. I would sugges you go get the book taking charge of your fertility by toni welcher and read up on that... it will help you know the signs of being able to get pregnant up to the day. and will make your family planning alot less frustrating and challenging.

Also know that it is VERY hard on the body to give birth to twins and then get pregnant right away. a body usually needs 9 months to recoup after all the pregnancy stress from before. It can put you at higher risk for things going wrong... so you migh consider waiting another couple months when it might be more ready to handle another pregnancy.

I would also wait another week and then test again... after you read the book, you can take temperatures , and this will be able to help you know your pregnant or if hormones fall again and you arent... if you are pregnant, it shoudl show up within a couple weeks.