Can you still chart after having a baby? YES!
I really did not know what to expect with my cycle after having my first baby, but I knew it was going to be different. I had made a decision when I became pregnant to breastfeed, and I did so after the baby was born. It wasn't until a month into breastfeeding I made a decision to stop.
I reached out to a certified natural family planning practitioner. We briefly discussed where I was with post-partum. When I told her I had stopped breastfeeding a few weeks ago she said I would start my period in about 2 weeks. I was very curious if this timeline was accurate. It was. I was astonished about the accuracy and felt very confident in calling her, as I had to find a new NFPCP because my former NFPCP decided to "retire" from the profession. During our phone call, she told me to chart like I normally would and she would go over my chart a few weeks later.
A few weeks passed and I was able to "restart" my menstrual cycle and all the unusual occurrences that happened in the cycle. This occurred for a few more cycles until I finally was able to have a more "normal" period. However, I still have some imbalances compared to pre-pregnancy. My instructor wants to meet with me again as I write this in about 6-7 weeks from now to see my progress and to make certain that I'm able to identify all the important biomarkers.
So what changes occurred?
My Period Resumed
It was just as the practitioner told me. My period started about 2 weeks after I decided to stop breastfeeding. A big change was the amount of bleeding. It was extremely lighter and shorter than what I was use to. You're probably thinking, "Well, that sounds like a blessing to me!" It might be, but it isn't. When you become familiar with your own body and how it's suppose to operate, then it's not normal at all. Normally I had bleeding that crescendo and decrescendo on average about 5-7 days. It wasn't until my third cycle that things seemed to go back to normal, as far as the familiarity with the amount of bleeding. Let me tell you THAT was a blessing!
Unusual Days of Bleeding
In addition to my menstrual bleeding, I had random days of bleeding in my cycle. These unusual bleedings were very light bleedings and sometimes were brown (compared to your normal red period days). It would occur a few days after my period and would be at most 3 days of this bleeding. At first I was concerned about it, but for some reason it continued to happen and internally I thought that it was not as unusual anymore. My practitioner did have some concern, and again wanted to see how things went after a few cycles or until or next meeting. She suggested that if it continued it would be best to seek a NaPro doctor who knew how to analyze my chart and determine if there were any major issues with the unusual bleeding.
Shorter Post Peak Phase
Pre-pregnancy my post peak phase (PPP) would run between 12-15 days long. To explain, this is the length of time from the most fertile day until your next period. With my postpartum cycles starting again, my PPP has been 8-10 days. My practitioner hasn't mentioned this difference, but I noticed how much shorter it is when I had to mark it on my app in our last session. For now this just means my period will come around sooner.
The changes have been unusual. Sometimes they brought up concern. Other times I understood that this is a new me. It's only been close to 5 months postpartum, so I know there is still more to learn about my cycle...my body!
Read about my reasons to use NFP!