Breastfeeding, Birthcontrol and weight loss

mcfitty85

Does anyone find they weigh more or less depending on how much milk they have? Also has anyone started taking birthcontrol again like the mini-pill which is safe for taking while breastfeeding and how has it affected your milk supply and weight loss

pmur

Yes, early morning I always weigh more(since I'm typically producing more BM in the morning). I tried to weigh myself after nursing DS and taking my morning tea. I weighed 2lbs lesser then!
I tried the mini-pill with my daughter. I did see a drop in supply. I stopped taking it and never took it with my son. My friend on the other hand was fine with the mini-pill supply wise.

britesideoflife

Great post as I have also often wondered this. I will check this tomorrow morning by weighing myself before and after I have fed my son :-)

I recently had a Mirena Coil inserted and I am not sure if it was co-incidence but my weight went up slightly and then plateaued for two weeks. Touch wood, it seems to be dropping again now but I did wonder if it was the Mirena coil (My eating or activity levels had not changed.) I was on the mini-pill previously but it definitely made me gain weight (Water retention, I think.) It also made my skin break-out and gave me horrible headaches....but I know everyone is different.

mrs_mcconkie

Haha. My baby sleeps for a 10-hour stretch at night, which is awesome, but when I wake up I am so full of milk I think I might explode. I once weighed myself before and after feeding her and had a 3-pound difference. Yeah... I always weigh after she eats.

mcfitty85

Thanks ladies, I've been considering taking the mini pill but I had a hard time developing a steady supply so I think I'll wait. Lets be honest are we really having that much "fun" I need to be on the pill right now?!?! With a 4yr old and 5 month old who doesn't sleep through the night probably not LOL.

carolina_r

Thanks ladies, I've been considering taking the mini pill but I had a hard time developing a steady supply so I think I'll wait. Lets be honest are we really having that much "fun" I need to be on the pill right now?!?! With a 4yr old and 5 month old who doesn't sleep through the night probably not LOL.

Hah!!! Yes, hard to have "fun" in such a situation...sleep is often more appealing, eh?

I was thinking of taking the mini pill myself, but my doctor suggested that an IUD might be a better choice. I guess they have really come a long way, and you don't have to worry about any hormonal effects. I have an appointment with her in December, and I think I'm going that route. Definitely not ready to get pregnant again just yet...My sister got pregnant when her first was only 6 months old (she was breastfeeding exclusively and hadn't started cycling yet...but it still happened!), so I want to learn from her experience...

Dmaciel3

Hi I am new to this gruop my name is denise abd I am 10 wks pp and already lost most my weight just trying to loose more abd get toned up I breastfeed so lost most cause of it what are exsersise u do to help tone up and loose weight from hips maybe ?

TiffanyaeBrown

I was nursing and on the mini-pill when I got pregnant with my 3rd daughter, so I don't really trust it. We go the IUD route. It's worked well for me and I can get pg immediately after getting off of it. I never had any hormonal side effects, i.e. weight gain, break outs, etc. And it never effected my milk supply (Though I did always wait til it was well established before getting an IUD.) And even if it costs you $100 out of pocket - it'll last 5 years and you would spend $30+/- every month for the pill. I figure that math works for me.

Dmacial - Have you tried hula hooping? I know it sounds crazy, but try it if you can. Or play it on the Wii Fit if you can get to one. Most 'fat burning' exercises can help there too, like cardio, it's just at a slower pace. Hope that helps.
Tiff

stritte14

I find the whole birth control issue stressful!

Birth control pills make me crazy in a clinically depressed sort of way. I can't handle the hormones. I didn't need to take them for a long time because when I met my husband, he had had a vesectomy (he had two sons when he was 17 & 18 and married their mother, thought he was done having kids, divorced by 21....you know, tons of great decisoins made when he was still a child himself!). He had it reversed and we were blessed in that it was successful.

After my first son I had an IUD inserted that did not have any hormones on it. It was not covered by benefits & cost us over $400, which was a lot when raising 3 children, husband in school, & I was on mat leave. I didn't get my period back until my son was 10 months old . I had excessive bleeding that my OB determined was from the IUD irritating the lining of my uterus. I had it removed and fortunately it coincided with when we decided we were ready to have our second so birth control became a non issue.

Currently, however, I find the situation VERY stressful. I don't want to take the pill while nursing & I definetly do not think mentally it would be a good decision to risk becoming depressed while already having to deal with postpartum moods etc. My husband has an appointment in January (long wait here in South Western Ontario) to meet with the specialist regarding his second vesectomy (ya, that's right ladies! He must really love me eh?!). However, it is not going to be covered by OHIP this time. It cost us $5000 to have his last one reveresed. I am anticipating that it will be half the cost because he does not have to be put out & should not have a hospital stay....but I guess we will see.

In the mean time, I get freaked out every so often because you just never know....I really feel like there is no real win situation birth control wise while you are nursing.

As for the weight part....I definetly did not have any weight fall off me while nursing & had fluid retention until I was done in my fingers etc...so hoping to see a bit more drop off when I am done in 3 short short weeks

Marisgoals

I was worried about the mini pill affecting my supply but it didn't and I'll know for sure if it's affected my weight once I go for my 8 week check up, I did notice I'm craving food with out being hungry soooo.. My cal conter sure has helped.

AMummysLife

I'm at a compete loss as to what contraception to use from now on.

I can't use the pill as I get a permanent period.

Depo injection and Merina IUD are good as they remove the period completely except they make me gain weight not loose it! Also the Merina caused me to miscarry when I got it removed to ttc before I succeeded getting pregnant with mister 3 weeks.

Condoms for obvious reasons are not 100% preventative of pregnancy.

So not sure what else is out there that I can use?