Pregnancy Symptoms During Your Period: What to Know

Question
Me and my fiance are trying for our second child and I have had all the symptoms of pregnancy... frequent urinating, food cravings, food that i love makes me sick to my stomach, smells drive me crazy, I have increased vaginal discharge, i fell sick a lot through out the day and my appitite is not the same I can barely eat 2 meals a day sometimes. I just got my period and does this completely mean that I am not pregnant! I just took a pregnancy test and I acidentally peed on the answer window but i could barely see the answer but I think it was negative. AM I PREGNANT??? If not are their simple methods to help me become pregnant?

Answer
Dear Kirsten,

Unfortunately, I can't tell you whether you are pregnant or not. The typical symptoms of early pregnancy are hormonal in nature and can also be related to hormone fluctuations within our cycles. That is why it is so difficult to "diagnose" pregnancy based on symptoms alone. You just have to have a test to know for sure.

If the period you had was a normal period for you - starting at the expected time and lasting the normal amount of days and of the normal volume for you, then it probably was an actual period and you have not yet conceived. However, if it was shorter in duration or lighter in volume than normal then it may have been implantation bleeding and not a period at all.

If you feel there was any error in testing or you could not clearly see the answer window, you really should re-test. Make sure to get a test that has a low threshold for positive readings - usually about 20-25 mIU/ml.  Also make sure to use 1st morning urine to get a concentrated sample for the most accurate results. If the symptoms continue and you still feel you may have conceived, go ahead and test every 7 days or so in case the hCG is simply too low to read quite yet.

Otherwise, you are most fertile on cycle days 11-21 (Day 1 being the 1st day of your period) - that is your fertile window. If you have regular 28 day cycles, you should ovulate on about CD 14.  The few days prior to, day of, and day after your ovulation day are the MOST fertile days. Having sex every other day from CD 10-16 is always a good way to start when trying to conceive.

I hope this has helped you and answered your question. I wish you well.

Brenda