Periods During Early Pregnancy: What to Know

Question
My last menstral cycle started about two days early and it was for the first two days just spotting then it got heavy for about three days then spotted again then stopped. I took pregnancy test first day of spotting and it wa snegative, but now two weeks late rI am sick and overly emotional could i be pregnant?

Answer
Dear Felicia,

Some women have had the experience of having an actual period during early pregnancy, however it is not the norm.

The symptoms you describe are related to hormones. Those hormones can vary due to pregnancy, but other factors can cause this as well. The only way to really know whether they are due to pregnancy is to test. Since you haven't actually missed a period, my suggestion would be to wait and see what occurs with the next cycle before testing again.

If you absolutely need to know a conclusive answer right away, you can go to your doctor's office and request a quantitative blood pregnancy test (serum beta hCG). This would give you an actual amount of hCG in your bloodstream rather than a positive/negative result. Any result of 25 mIU/ml or more would be considered positive for pregnancy.

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

Brenda