Pregnancy Chances: Late Period, Sore Breasts & Negative Test - What's Next?

Question
HI I AM 28 YEARS OLD. I AM OVER DUE FOR MY PERIOD BY A DAY NOW MY CYCLE IS ALWAYS BETWEEN 26 AND 28 DAYS NEVER LATE ME AND MY FIANCE HAVE A WELL SEX LIFE. MY BREASTS HAVE BEEN REALLY SORE LATELY I HAVE ALREADY HAD A CHILD HE IS 8 MY BREASTS WERE SORE WHEN I FOUND OUT I WAS PREGNANT WITH HIM I WAS 11 1/2 WEEKS PREGNANT WITH HIM WHEN I FOUND OUT.I TOOK A PREGNANCY TEST TODAY IT SAYS IT WAS NEGATIVE. WE NEVER USE A CONDOM AND HE DOESN'T PULL OUT. I HAVE HAD A COUPLE MOOD SWINGS LATELY WHICH ISNT REALLY ME. I WAS ALSO PREGNANT A LITTLE OVER A YEAR AGO UNFORTUNATELY  IT ENDED UP IN A MISCARRIAGE. THE DOCTORS COULDNT FIGURE OUT HOW FAR ALONG I WAS I TOOK 2 PREGNANCY TEATS THAT WERE BOTH NEG AND THEN I TOOK 2 MORE BECAUSE MY ATTITUDE HAD CHANGED AND 3 TOLD ME NEGATIVE RESULTS AND ONE POSITIVE.I TOOK THEM ALL AT DIFFERENT TIMES. WE WANT MORE CHILDREN BUT WE DONT PUSH THE ISSUE IF IT HAPPENS THEN GREAT. I DONT KNOW IF I AM TESTING TO SOON BUT I HAVE THE THOUGHT THAT WHAT HAPPEN LAST YEAR COULD POSSIBLY HAPPEN AGAIN WHAT ARE THE CHANCES THAT IT COULD HAPPEN AGAIN? AND WHEN DO YOU THINK I SHOULD TEST AGAIN BECAUSE I DONT WANNA WASTE THE MONEY OR THE TIME FOR NEGATIVE RESULTS THAT ENDED UP HAVING ME BE PREGNANT THANKS RT

Answer
Dear RT,

If you have regular cycles every 26-28 days, it sounds like you are more than likely ovulating regularly, which means you should be fertile every cycle. A woman typically ovulates (releases the egg for fertilization) approximately 14 days prior to the next period beginning. The egg only remains viable for up to 24 hours. Therefore, the most fertile time of a woman's cycle is typically the few days leading up to, day of, and day after ovulation OR a window from cycle days 10-15/16. Now, since your cycles are 26-28 days in length, that window may actually be CDs 9-15.

The symptoms you describe are hormonal in nature and can also be related to hormone fluctuations within your cycle. That is why it so difficult to "diagnose" a pregnancy based on symptoms alone.

Although some tests claim accuracy on the first day of a missed period, I usually suggest that women wait until the week after a missed or spotty period before testing for pregnancy. This tends to minimize the incidence of false negative results and also avoids wasting money on a test for a simple delay of a period by a few days. When/if you test make sure to use 1st morning urine to get a concentrated sample for the most accurate results. I would suggest waiting another 5-7 days and testing again. (I usually don't recommend testing any more often than every 4-5 days anyway) If those results are negative, you can either wait for the next cycle to see if your periods resume or have your doctor's office do a quantitative blood pregnancy test (serum beta hCG). That test will give an actual amount of hCG in your bloodstream rather than just a positive/negative result. Any amount of 25 mIU/ml or more would be considered positive for pregnancy.

I hope this has helped you and answered your question. I wish you well and a Happy Thanksgiving!

Brenda