In Some Cases Bleeding During Pregnancy Can Be A Sign Of A Serious Issue So If You’re Not Sure What’s Causing It Definitely Check In With Your Doctor
As SELF reported previously, if your bleeding is particularly heavy, comes with abdominal pain, or lasts for more than a few days, that’s a sign something more serious may be going on. You might be experiencing an ectopic pregnancy or a miscarriage.
According to the Mayo Clinic, you should tell your doctor at your next regular appointment if you have any light spotting that goes away within a day. But if you have bleeding that lasts for more than a day, you should contact them within 24 hours. And if you pass any tissue from your vagina, experience moderate to heavy bleeding, or have bleeding along with abdominal pain, chills, or cramping, you should get in touch with them immediately. But, again, many cases of bleeding during early pregnancy aren’t serious.
And, on the other hand, if you’re not sure if you’re pregnant and notice youre having a period that comes at a weird time, isn’t as heavy as usual, doesnt last as long as usual, and comes with any other pregnancy symptoms, its worth taking a test, just in case.
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What About Right Before Your Period
The likelihood of getting pregnant right before your period is extremely low. For women with a typical 28- to 30-day cycle or longer and their cycles are regular, it is fairly safe to say your ovulation occurred between Day 11 and Day 21. The egg is only available for 12 to 24 hours for conception.
This means the days right before your period are the safest to have sex without the expectation of getting pregnant. The number of safe days right before your period go up with longer cycles and lessen with shorter cycles.
If you wait 36 to 48 hours after ovulation, you should be beyond the possibilities of conception. The further you are from ovulation, the less likely your chance for conceiving. This is not the time to have sex if you are trying to conceive. Its still a good time to enjoy intimacy with your partner.
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Can You Be Pregnant And Have A Period
Experts share why it’s physically impossible to have a period while pregnant, and they give alternative reasons for bleeding during the first, second, and third trimesters.
Can you get your period while pregnant? The short answer is no. “Women can certainly have vaginal bleeding during a pregnancy, but when they bleed, they are not having a ‘period,'” explains Michele Hakakha, M.D., a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist based in Los Angeles and co-author of Expecting 411: Clear Answers and Smart Advice for Your Pregnancy. Keep reading to learn why menstruation stops during pregnancy, as well as other possible causes of spotting during the first, second, or third trimester.
Read Also: Can You Have Your Period And Still Be Pregnant
How Many Days After A Missed Period Did You Test Positive
In most cases, this happens about 6 days after conception. But studies show that in up to 10 percent of women, the embryo doesnt implant until much later, after the first day of the missed period. So, home pregnancy tests will be accurate as soon as one day after a missed period for some women but not for others.
That Said There Are Several Situations That Can Cause Period
If you get your period at the usual time, it lasts for the usual amount of days, and the amount of blood that you see is pretty typical for you, its pretty unlikely that youre pregnant, G. Thomas Ruiz, M.D., lead ob-gyn at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California, tells SELF. But you could have bleeding in early pregnancy that just so happens to coincide with when your period is due, Dr. Schaffir says. In fact, up to 30 percent of pregnant people have some form of bleeding in early pregnancy, according to the American Pregnancy Association.
For instance, you might experience implantation bleeding, which is light spotting or bleeding that can happen when the embryo burrows into your uterine wall, and can also be a cause of bleeding in early pregnancy. But Dr. Ruiz says its unlikely this would be mistaken for a normal period because it tends to be much lighter.
Or you might have a cut or tear in your vagina, inflammation of your cervix, or irritation of your cervix from an infection that causes bleeding, Dr. Schaffir says. It can even be caused from sex: Sometimes women have blood vessels close to the surface of the cervix and, during sex, the friction causes a little bleeding, he explains. However, again, these usually produce far less blood than a period.
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When Should You Call Your Healthcare Provider About First
Unfortunately, there really isnt any surefire way to tell whether your early-pregnancy bleeding whether its just light spotting or heavier bleeding with clots is harmless or a sign of a more concerning issue.
Though vaginal bleeding during pregnancy can indicate an underlying medical condition, it doesnt mean that you should fear the worst. Yes, bleeding during pregnancy could be a miscarriage symptom, but it could also be caused by any of the above factors. The only way to diagnose the cause of the bleeding is to go to your healthcare provider for further testing.
If your bleeding is accompanied by dizziness or pain on only one side of your body, it may be a symptom of an ectopic pregnancy, a serious medical condition. If you notice those symptoms, you should call your physician immediately.
If you are concerned about any bleeding during your pregnancy, even if you arent experiencing any additional symptoms, dont hesitate to contact your doctor to discuss what it means.
Having Your Period When You’re Pregnant Is Pretty Darn Unlikely
I have heard from some women who say they had periods throughout their first trimester, Jonathan Schaffir, M.D., an ob-gyn at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, tells SELF. But in reality, physiologically its pretty impossible to have actual periods during pregnancy.
Just a little refresher: Every month , the lining of your uterus thickens and an egg makes its way from one of your ovaries through the fallopian tubes. If it comes in contact with sperm, the sperm can fertilize the egg. If fertilization happens, the egg will continue its journey to the uterus and can implant on that lining. If things continue from there, the fertilized egg becomes an embryo and the placenta will develop from the uterine lining.
But, if the egg doesn’t get fertilized, your body sheds that built-up uterine lining through your vagina, causing a period. And, as you can probably guess, it’s kind of an either/or situationeither the egg is fertilized and the process of pregnancy begins, or it isn’t and the process of your period begins instead.
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You Might Be Pregnant Heres How To Tell For Sure
Your last period shouldâve started a week ago, and youâre starting to get worried. Are you just a little late, or is it possible a baby is on the way?
Having a child of your own is a big responsibility, and being overwhelmed at the thought of parenthood is common. In fact, more than a few women enter into denial and intentionally avoid taking a test to confirm their pregnancy. But knowing youâre pregnant for sure is the first step before seeking out the information, resources, and relationships youâll need to thrive during this next season of life. So before you start narrowing down baby names, what are the signs you might be pregnant?
Got It So When Can You Have Unprotected Sex
Erm NEVER?!
Just kidding . In general, your period is the part of your cycle when youre least likely to make a baby. But regardless of timing, its impossible to be 100 percent sure that unprotected sex wont result in pregnancy.
If you have a 28-day cycle that runs like clockwork, your fertile window lasts for about 6 days mid-cycle . Your safest bet for unprotected sex is a week or so after ovulation just before, during, or just after your period.
But and were sounding like a broken record you could still get pregnant if you have an unpredictable cycle, if you have short cycles, or if you have sex within 5 days of your fertile window .
Recommended Reading: Can Diabetes Cause Periods To Stop
When Should I Test
Home pregnancy tests can be very accurate , especially if you wait to test until after your period is officially late. Some tests claim to accurately detect pregnancy up to a week before your missed period, so if you’re experiencing some pregnancy symptoms and are champing at the bit, go for it.
You’re more likely to get an accurate test result if you wait until your period is late, according to the Mayo Clinic, because the hormone that’s detected in home pregnancy tests, hCG, doubles every two to three days after an embryo attaches to your uterus, meaning there’s more to detect in your urine if you wait a few days.
Because this hormone can sometimes take a while to build up, false negative results aren’t uncommon in early pregnancy. It’s much more rare to get a false positive. If you get a positive test result, you are very likely pregnant, or experienced a recent pregnancy loss, and can confirm the pregnancy through a blood test or ultrasound.
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The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
We Know You’re Wondering: Is It Possible To Be Pregnant And Still Have A Period
Nope, experts say. Some people may experience bleeding or spotting, but those are different bleeding patterns from the cyclical menses your body experiences in absence of a pregnancy.
Dr. Michele Hakakha, an OB-GYN and author of Expecting 411: Clear Answers and Smart Advice for Your Pregnancy, told Parents that people definitely can experience vaginal bleeding during pregnancy, but that “when they bleed, they are not having a ‘period.'” That’s because your body needs to reserve the uterine lining as nourishment for the growing pregnancy.
Although bleeding during pregnancy doesn’t always mean cause for concern, it can indicate something more serious like a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy, according to the Mayo Clinic.
In the earliest stage of pregnancy, however, some very light bleeding is totally normal and leads us to our first pregnancy clue: implantation bleeding.
Implantation bleeding usually doesn’t last more than a couple of days, and it’s much lighter than most people’s periods .
Recommended Reading: How To Keep Your Period From Coming
Fertility Awareness And Family Planning
Some women use fertility awareness as a method of natural birth control. One of the tools used is something called the Standard Days method. This establishes that if you have a period that is between 26 to 32 days long, days eight through 19 will be your most fertile days. However, this method is most effective when you have regular menstrual cycles.
If a woman has a regular period and uses the method perfectly, less than one to five women out of 100 will become pregnant. However, the key words here are perfect use. The typical use rate is different. Typical use means that the methods may be done incorrectly or measured inconsistently. In the first year of this typical use, 12 to 24 women out of 100 will become pregnant.
Early Symptoms Of Pregnancy
The most reliable pregnancy symptom is a missed period followed by a positive pregnancy test.
Many pregnant people do not have symptoms early in the pregnancy, just as many people who are not pregnant have symptoms such as nausea and vomiting.
are reliable , especially if a person waits until the day their period is due.
If the test is negative, try waiting a few days. This gives levels of the pregnancy hormone human chorionic gonadotropin time to rise, increasing the likelihood of a positive result.
A doctor or midwife can test for pregnancy using blood or urine tests that may be more sensitive than a home pregnancy test. It is not typically possible to see a developing baby on an ultrasound until several weeks into the pregnancy.
A doctor or midwife can test for pregnancy, check for normal fetal development, and advise about early pregnancy health.
A healthcare provider can also help discuss a persons options for managing an unintended pregnancy.
Pregnancy is not an emergency, and it is safe to wait a few weeks to speak with a healthcare provider unless a person wants to monitor HCG levels or has pregnancy-related health questions.
- intense abdominal pain
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Ovulating Without Getting Your Period
If you are not getting your periods, you are probably not ovulating regularly. There are a number of reasons this may occur . However, this doesnt mean you wont suddenly ovulate without getting a period first.
As mentioned above, menstruation marks the end of one cycle. If ovulation occurs, and you dont conceive, you will get your period. But lets say you are currently not having regular cycles. You could, depending on the reason why youre not menstruating regularly, suddenly start a menstrual cycle.
The end of your cycle is marked by your period starting, but there are no obvious signs that your body has begun a cycle. You can ovulate and not know it.
You will only know you ovulated if you get your period or, if you had sexual intercourse within your fertile window, you get pregnant. You may not realize youre pregnant for a while, though, since you havent been getting your periods. You wont have a period to be late if you havent been getting one.
I Am Pregnant But Got My Period First Month
If you are pregnant and had your period in the first month, then its likely because of implantation bleeding.
Are you worried it may affect your pregnancy? You shouldnt.
About 30 percent of pregnant women have spotting during the first 3 months with implantation bleeding the most common cause. Implantation bleeding occurs a weeks before your next period or 10 days after ovulation.
However, if you still have period-like bleeding weeks or months after implantation, you should inform your doctor ASAP.
Recommended Reading: What Does It Mean When Your Period Is Irregular