its baaaaaack. ugh.

Body: 

been feeling bulgy lately and noticed last night some egg-white mucous. I'm so not ready for my cycles to start up again. with the older three I didn't get my period until 14 mo and G-baby is only 7 mo. and he nurses exclusively and all night long so you'd think that would keep it at bay.
ugh.

and does anyone know WHY the 'celes are more prominent during ovulation and onset of menstruation? I know that mine ARE I just don't know why.

Do you feel like you are ovulating? I get funny secretions sometimes- but I haven't cycled yet- and baby is 14 months old.

never noticed the egg-white stuff other than ovulation. although, I don't usually look for it either.
I'm going to convince myself I'm not ovulating and hope for the best.
that said, I'm stashing a cloth pad or two in my diaper bag just incase.

I always felt worse during ovulation but I don't know why either?

i got mine at 9 months PP. i think i went too long between expressing one day at work but babe was feeding ALLLL night long, you would have thought my body could have given me a break!
the thing i've noticed is that i get constipated right before my period, which affects everything--not so much that the POP's are worse on their own, though i know all the muscles are just non existent when i start. my physio said it's hormones the relax everything--i guess to let it all out, which can let a few too many things out in our cases!

but getting used to dealing with this in terms of what i can use etc has been tough. but i trust i'll get used to it--though i was hoping for another few months off!!!

hoping for your sake it was a random blib...

my understanding is that the hormone fluctuations change the tissues of the vagina and uterus. also, the uterus does become heavier before and during menstruation and seems to make things hang more for me. i quit breast feeding at 3 months and found within a month the tissues of my vagina were much stronger and plumper. my doc believes that being on the birth control pill continuously can stop this change in fluctuating hormones and help with prolapse. i went on the pill that doesn't give a period for 3 months to try it out. but i recently had a bad bout of depression (possibly exacerbated by the pill)...so will never know if it would have worked. your egg white sounds alot like the cervical mucous i have during ovulation...so very interesting.

I never could remember the cycle of hormones. I do remember alot of up-and-down looking curves on the graph, lol

I *thought* that bf inhibits ovulation by inhibiting the production of estrogen? when you ovulate, is that when the estrogen level spikes? or is that when it falls?
heavy uterus = more symptoms, that makes sense to me

I am curious to see what happens when I do wean this baby, I've been pg and/or bf for the last 9.5 years.

and I will stay far away from bc pills. I didn't do so well on them last time around (depression, migraines, breast lump, etc)

The new library will contain a report on the menstrual cycle and we will find out how breastfeeding fits into the picture. I’m not sure what mechanism inhibits ovulation in the breastfeeding mother, but my guess is it’s the work of the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary rather than the ovaries.

Estrogen levels only begin to rise in the late follicular phase (right before your period) stimulating a surge of FSH and LH from the pituitary. This midcycle surge of LH causes ovulation. Estrogen levels stay high during the early luteal phase, but fall as the endometruim breaks down and menstruation begins again.

Secretion of milk must have a feedback loop to the hypothalamus, telling it not to secrete GnRH (gonadotropin-releasing hormone), the Big Momma hormone that starts the whole cycle.

thanks for the summary. I still find it uber-confusing. I have a mental block or something.

estrogen levels increase during the late part of the cycle and that's when my prolapse symptoms are typically the worst. interesting.
or is that coincidence, and the worsening of symptoms due to a heavier uterus? so many variables.....