What it feels like to wean your child
Photo: iStockphoto
I had a non-stop two-year-old son and a seven-month-old daughter who wasn?t sleeping through the night. I could not be pregnant again. The signs were all there though ? breast tenderness, cramping, even a bit of what I thought was implantation spotting.
But a few weeks ? and four pregnancy tests ? later, I got my period.
I had recently weaned my daughter from breastfeeding and what I had experienced was just PMS. A very different PMS than I?d had before.
Was this normal"
When I went online, I found other moms who?d had severe cramping and unpredictable periods after giving birth. Many others were also sure they were pregnant after experiencing irritability, headaches and nausea. Others described depression and anxiety when weaning their babies. What causes these symptoms"
Dr. Batya Grundland, a family physician at Women?s College Hospital in Toronto, says the return of menstruation is different for every woman, but it is common to have a heavier period and more cramping, due to the increasing estrogen in the body.
When breastfeeding, the hormone prolactin increases and estrogen decreases, which can suppress ovulation. When you wean, you return to a normal cycle (although some moms resume ovulation and menstruation while breastfeeding).
?Memory also has an effect. You get your period in your teens and then you often go on birth control and then you decide to have a child and get pregnant. So, many women haven?t had a normal menstrual cycle in 1...
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