QuestionI had my son November 19th of last year. I had the normal lochia for a few
weeks, then it went clean. At about 6 weeks I started brown spotting for a
week. I'm breastfeeding exclusively. My doc did my post c-section follow up
during that time and said he thought it was the tail end of my lochia. I told
him it had actually stopped at one point and that I had experienced other
normal discharges (white creamy stuff) prior to this spotting incident. He
said he didn't think it was my period, but I'd know for sure if it showed up
again 4 weeks later. Well, 8 weeks later, here we are again with brown
spotting for 6 days. Prior to the spotting, I noticed an increasingly wet
discharge and sore nipples, which made me think I might be pregnant.
Home preg. tests (2) came out negative. There was some mild cramping on
the first day of this "period", but the blood never turned red. Is this
something I should be concerned about?
AnswerThis could be the result of your breastfeeding. In most women, exclusive breastfeeding completely suppresses normal cycles until the baby sleeps through the night and/or starts taking significant nutrition elsewhere. Some women don't get this effect. You may be somewhere in between. Your body is having cycles, but they are long, and the hormone levels are low enough that you are not building up a full uterine lining to shed for a full period. You may want to mention the light cycles to your doctor the next time you go in, but I personally wouldn't worry unless it continued after you weaned your baby.
