What type of BC to use after getting off during protocol?

Everyone is different, of course, but you may be one of those that doesn't have to supplement much, but it is impossible to predict. Are you more concerned about being able to give the baby nothing but breast milk or not having to spend time washing and preparing supplementers or bottles? You might do better just taking the domperidone and starting to pump, now, or maybe in a couple months, since you have quite a while. Some moms have been able to get enough saved up that they could use their milk, exclusively, to supplement. If you did need to use a supplementer, the Lact-Aid takes some time, but it is managable. I was using it full-time with my sixth child, who refused to have anything to do with a bottle, when I still had a toddler and another pre-schooler. Some of my kids were school-aged, of course, but two of them had special needs, so I think I have a pretty good idea of what you are facing, time and energy wise. Did the birth mother of your youngest child contact you, when she found out she was pregnant again? I think we have almost all dreamed of that happening, but it doesn't happen very often! Keep us informed of how things go for you. Aloha, Darillyn

I think I am most concerned to not have to supplement with formula and also that if I have to prepare the lactaid and such that I will get burnt out. I have 3 kids already plus I watch a couple other kids part time during the week. My days are pretty busy as it is and I don't want to feel guilty for taking time away from the other kids KWIM? Our birthmom did contact us @ 12 weeks pregnant and told us and asked if we wanted to adopt this baby as well. Our youngest was adopted through foster care and we've built a good relationship with her. All in all it's a great situation for us. But this is her 6th child and she is very young. She has not been allowed parent any of her children. Developmental disabilities not drugs thank God! What I picture in my brain is having a great supply to begin with (plenty for baby and left overs as well). And just nurse like I would with a bio child. I know there are so many scenarios with this though. I'm trying to be totally optimistic. I'm thinking 3 months before baby is due I will start pumping. What about just getting on the mini pill instead? What would that do? That is probably a dumb question but I really am not sure.....:rolleyes: You guys are a huge help and I SOOO appreciate you!!!

Why don't you contact Jack Newman's office? You can find them online. I know for me the lactation consultant and Dr. Newman's office both recommended not using any BC while on the protocol.

If you've given birth at least once, you could do the non-hormonal IUD (I think it's called Paraguard or something like that). I know the mini-pill is safe for breastfeeding mothers but I'm not sure how that would affect your supply. Mirena IUD might also be an option. It's a hormonal contraceptive but supposedly very low doses of hormones.

I've heard so many horror stories about the IUD that I am freaked out to have it put in :sick: Maybe I will look into that. I was going off of the protocol on asklenore.com. Is there a reason I shouldn't be on BC right now? Should I just start pumping now? Gosh, I am hearing so much conflicting information, I'm even more confused :rolleyes: I pumped exclusively for my DD for 13 months (nursed for 4 of those as well). Maybe I should just get back to pumping. Then I know I can reach a full supply by August. Any advice against doing this?

Maybe my post was confusing. What I meant is that once you start pumping you should not be on BC. The protocol I did called for taking BC and dom until I was ready to pump. Then I stopped taking the BC and started pumping while still taking the dom. You could just try to start pumping and see how it goes. While I think the dom does help increase the supply, I don't think the part of the protocol that you take BC and dom before you start pumping really does much. At least it didn't for me. If I had it to do over again, I would just start taking the dom and pumping. My lactation consultant thought maybe since I had been on BC for a long time to prevent pregnancy, maybe that's why that part of the protocol didn't really do much. That's just a guess.

That makes more sense to me. Yeah I was planning on getting off the BCP about 2 months before baby is due. I was wondering mostly if there was anything else I could do to prevent pregnancy that wouldn't hinder milk production. I am nervous about not being on any BC and getting pregnant. Condoms just have never been very arousing to us lol......:eyebrows: I suppose if that's the only way to go though I will do it. I'm thinking I'll just stick to the protocol for now so I don't mess anything up. Who knew this would be so tricky?

I know it's oldfashioned, but we used a combination of condoms and spermacide when I was breastfeeding with both of my children. Good luck.

I know what you mean! But we were, uh, pleasantly surprised at what products were out there ;) Besides, once you start pumping, you will not make enough milk for a while to stop ovulating, so you're going to have to come up with something to do during that time as well.

Part of the reason things get really confusing is that there are so many different ways to go about it and it is impossible to predict who will do the best with what. There are some who just start pumping with domperidone who have tons of milk and some who do the extended protocol with the BCPs and dom and don't produce much (the latter wouldn;t be you, though). Also, some people are in favor of the medical approach and some aren't. I think it is most important to know what the options are and that, while the medical approach is one to consider, it is not the only way. With your history, I suspect that you would do well, as far as milk production, whatever you decided to do. If I was going to be adopting again, with everything that I know now, I think I would probably take domperidone and possibly get back on depo provera, because of my experience with it before. I'm not recommending that others take depo, I am just saying that it helped me. As far as birth control, I am not that experienced with it. My husband was infertile, so we didn't need it. However, I have tried some different types of BCPs to try to lengthen my cycle and to help with PMS. I had terrible side effects with even the lowest dose BCPs. The only thing that worked out for me was the depo, and it had the unexpected result of significantly increasing my milk production. My daughter had only been nursing with the Lact-Aid. One day, when she went to latch on, she moved the tube out of the way, and never took it again, but was swallowing as much as she had with it. I had never produced as much with her as the three previous babies I had nursed, and all of a sudden, I was producing enough to stop supplementing (she was all ready taking some other foods, by then). Of course, the drawback with depo is that, if you react to it badly, you can't just stop taking it, like you can with the BCPs. That is why I rarely even say anything about it (besides the fact that my only experience with it is taking it myself). The reason I did, with you, was because you were looking for birth control. It was 15+ years ago since I have even thought about it, though, so there is probably something better now. I think with all of your situation put together, doing the BCPs and dom for several months might be the best, if you feel OK on it. Since you need to be on birth control anyway and since it would be difficult for you to do a lot of pumping, it might work out best for you. Darillyn

Sarah, I was surprised to see that you said that you still ovulated when you first got off of the BCPs. Do you know if that is a common response? I was under the impression that most moms didn't ovulate again until after they had started weaning. Of course, like with everything else to do with breastfeeding adopted babies, there are a lot of variations!

What an awesome group of gals this is! I'm so glad I found you!!! :happydance: I will stay with what I am doing and then see how things go later. Maybe I'll try the mini pill after a couple months and see if that doesn't do any damage to my supply. I also like the IUD idea, just scared to actually do it. It might be good in the fact that with four kids I may forget to take a pill here and there and I really don't want to risk anything. I've got a PIS and I will start with that before the baby is born and then WIC said that after baby is born then I can use one of theirs. That is what I used with my daughter for 13 months. The pump and my girls know each other very well :D I'm sure with that thing I've got the best chance of having a good supply. Even if I have a surplus I don't mind giving it off to my girls. Especially my AD since she got no breastmilk at all :( You ladies rock! I'm so glad to be a part of this group! :thanks:

I'm not sure if this is a common response or not, but I wasn't surprised by it. After all, I ovulated periodically while I was on the depo shot after I stopped breastfeeding DD which I think is rare. Once I started making a decent milk supply, I stopped ovulating. Then when I stopped pumping all together, a month or two later I started ovulating again (never went back on birth control). I guess I kinda figured when I first started pumping that I wasn't making enough milk for my body to think I was nursing a baby, but then later I was making enough milk, so my body stopped ovulating. I looked at it like my body thought I was weaning, then thought I was making a full supply, then I weaned again. Of course that is my opinion with no medical backing :)

It's not necessarily breastfeeding adopted children. My mother began ovulating 6 weeks after I was born while breastfeeding me. (She also got pregnant whille breastfeeding me.) I apparently never ovulated until I weaned the two I breastfed, but as I stated earlier, I never trusted that and we used condoms and spermacides as backup.

I took the mini pill while I was (exclusively) breastfeeding my son and I didn't have any issues with supply - but I was not trying to induce lactation. Here is some information about the different types of bc and their effects on breastfeeding. [url=http://health.utah.gov/mihp/pregnancy/preged/afterpreg/breastfeeding_and_contraception.htm]Birth control and breastfeeding[/url]