Weird Early Symptoms of Pregnancy Before Your Missed Period

A change in the size or color of your veins can be a sign of pregnancy, especially when they're surrounding your breasts and upper chest. This could be from an increase in blood flow during early pregnancy.

People with warmer skin tones also will notice that their veins appear more green than blue.

There's a possibility, or you may have just had a lighter than normal period.

Since your last period was off, if it was that way because of pregnancy then you are for sure good to take a pregnancy test right now. Either way, it should be accurate and put your mind at ease!

I'm sorry you're feeling so off. I've been there and I can promise a lot of other women reading this article have too!

First, it could have been too early to test. That's because often, implantation (which is when the fertilized egg adheres to the wall of the uterus) takes longer to occur than most of us think. It typically happens between six and twelve days after ovulation. What that means is that implantation can happen as late as just a couple of days before your period is due. After implantation happens, it then takes around two days for a pregnancy test to turn positive. Which is really confusing! You would think that when "conception" happens, you would be able to get a positive test right away but you have to wait until that fertilized egg is attached and ready to send out the hormones needed to get a positive pregnancy test.

Now, since you're using two forms of birth control I'm going to take an educated guess and say your symptoms are not pregnancy related at all, but related to an extra-miserable premenstrual week or side effects of your hormonal birth control.

If your symptoms continue and you are still getting negative pregnancy tests I'd put a call into your OB or GP to see if your birth control is the culprit.

Oh my goodness, yes! You can test if you're late, and at 8 or 9 days late, you can trust that the results are probably pretty accurate.

If the test comes back negative, then it's possible that the spotting was just a super light period. If you end up being more than two weeks late, let your doctor know so they can see what's up. It's not uncommon to have light and late or missed periods when you have a thyroid condition (these are super treatable, by the way!)

First, I just want to say, don't be scared! Or be scared, but know that you're not alone in fear of an unplanned pregnancy. There are lots of other women who go through this, and that's why there are so many resources to help you pick the path that works for you IF this is an unplanned pregnancy. You've got this, no matter what!

Now, onto logistics - yes, it's possible to get pregnant on an IUD, even if those chances are small. It's also important to find out as soon as possible if you are since there's a risk of ectopic pregnancy when you have an IUD inserted.

So, here's what you need to do - get the pregnancy test. It won't be a waste of money because your peace of mind is worth more than the few dollars the test will cost.

If the test comes back negative and you're still experiencing these uncomfortable symptoms, you need to let your doctor know, since it could be a sign that you're just having an issue with your birth control.

If the test comes back positive, give yourself a minute to gather your thoughts and know that no matter what you decide from there, trust yourself.

You don't need to wait until your period is due to know whether or not you're pregnant, because I can assure you, you aren't. I'm not a doctor and I can't officially "diagnose" you but I can tell you from nearly three decades of life that you absolutely need to have intercourse to get pregnant.

If you have not had sex (intercourse), then you can not get pregnant. You didn't have sex, so you're not pregnant.

That being said, "messing around" unprotected still leaves you vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). So it would be a good idea to check out https://bedsider.org and see what methods of protection are right for you and your partner to protect the both of you from STIs and STDs. Likewise, before and after getting intimate, you and your partner should wash your hands.

If April 18th comes and goes and you still don't have your period, then you can take a home pregnancy test for reassurance. However, you should remember that stress (like stressing out about getting pregnant) can delay your period.

That's a valid guess, honestly! Often, we'll feel what we're sure are pregnancy symptoms when they're actually ovulation symptoms. The best way to tell the difference is by looking at the calendar to see if it's near the time you should be starting your period, or if you just had your period a week or two before.

In your case though, it does sound like you're expecting your period within the next couple of days. If that's true, it won't hurt to take an early detection pregnancy test, especially if your symptoms aren't usual PMS symptoms for you.

If it turns up negative, then it's possible you're just having an especially difficult premenstrual phase (we all get them!)

Between four and six weeks, but they get progressively more noticeable as time goes on.

Something to keep in mind about pregnancy symptoms is that though you may have unprotected sex during ovulation and an egg may be fertilized, most women won’t notice this part and any symptoms felt during this time are actually symptoms of ovulation, NOT pregnancy since you’re technically not pregnant yet.

Fertilization (which again, is when a single sperm meets the eggs that have been released during ovulation) usually happens around two weeks before your period is due to start.

After that happens, it can take over a week for that fertilized egg to implant into the uterus. At this point, you’re just days away from the due date of your period, but this is when many women report they began to feel early signs of being pregnant.

Does that mean you can’t feel symptoms before implantation? No. You could, since a fertilized egg creates a change in your body that can affect your hormones. However, the symptoms will get stronger once the fertilized egg has implanted into the uterus and begun to send out signals to your body (the same signals that turn urine and blood pregnancy tests positive) to say “Hey, we’re definitely having a baby over here!”

If the only time you've recently had unprotected sex was only five days ago, then the chances that your symptoms are caused by pregnancy is low, since it takes some time for a fertilized egg to implant into the uterus and begin sending signals to your body that you're pregnant. Those signals are what give you typical pregnancy symptoms like dizziness, headaches and lower abdominal pain.

The two most likely culprits for your symptoms are either ovulation or that you're about to start your period. Since I don't know where you're at in your cycle it's hard for me to say.

Ovulation happens about two weeks from the time your last period began and two weeks from the time your next period is supposed to begin. It can cause all kinds of not-so-fun feelings, especially that lower abdominal pain that's focused on either the right or the left side. That pain is caused by the actual release of the egg during ovulation.

Typically, most women will experience an increase in saliva in early pregnancy as opposed to dry mouth. However, frequent urination and trouble sleeping, especially towards the end of pregnancy, are common symptoms.

My best advice here is to take a test near your period. You could start taking tests as early as four days before your period is due to start and then test every other day. If your period arrives and your symptoms persist, talk to your doctor because they can be a sign of other treatable conditions.

This is going to depend on the test you take. Generally, if you pick up an early detection pregnancy test (like a First Response Early Response), then you can take the test five days before the day your period is due to start.

Remember that the closer you get to the day your period is due, the more accurate your result will be (meaning that, if you take a test too early you may get a negative result when you're actually pregnant. I did that with my second daughter!)

If you still haven't had your period then I would definitely take a pregnancy test now!

If it's negative, or if you've started your period since you asked this question I would say you were most likely dealing with a virus or PMS symptoms. Some women will experience unpleasant symptoms from the start of their ovulation straight through until their period starts (which is two weeks as you describe).

If you continue to feel dizzy, let your doctor know. If you're not pregnant, it could mean you're dealing with slight anemia, true vertigo (which is not fun! I have episodes a few times a year thanks to wonky ears and it's just awful!) or another treatable condition.

If, when you wrote this, you were 13 days late then the last time you tested was when you were only six days late. Since it's possible that you ovulated later than you expected it's also possible that you weren't as late as you thought you were when you first took the test.

You should take another pregnancy test, there's a possibility you're still pregnant. If, at the two-week mark, you're still getting negative tests and no period you should call your doctor and let them know what's going on. They may want to do a blood test to confirm whether or not you're pregnant.

With a First Response test, you want to make sure to follow the guidelines for early testing (and also check out the percentages of accurate results as they change drastically in just 48 hours).

As of the time I'm answering this, you're now five days away from your expected period, and this is the earliest a First Response test claims to be reliable, so if you took one earlier than today it wasn't accurate.

Go ahead and start testing today. Personally, I think the best way to test early on is to use the dip method (pee in a cup and dip the test) that way you can make sure you're immersing the test strip for long enough, giving you a better chance of a reliable result. If it comes back negative, try not to fret. It's still really early to be testing! Take another one on June 27th. If that one is negative, wait again to test until June 29th.

The reason for testing only every other day is that pregnancy hormones double every 48 hours in early pregnancy. So, if your hormones aren't high enough to be read today, they may be much higher in 48 hours.

My first thought is that you just had a wonky period that was lighter than usual. But if this kind of thing isn't typical for you, I wonder if you could be pregnant, but you tested too early, or if you have your ovulation dates off.

If you've tested within the last day, hold off on testing again. If it's been a few days since you last took a test, take one now. If it's still negative, I would wait until your next period is due to see if it comes and if that one doesn't come, call up your doctor.

It's possible you're pregnant, but the test is, for some reason, not giving you an accurate result.

It's also possible that you're dealing with an undiagnosed infection or treatable condition that only an OB could properly diagnose.

Keep in mind that's it's not unusual for women to skip a period or experience delayed periods once in a while, but if the spotting happens again without a menstrual flow, you'll want to call your doctor.

Not every woman experiences implantation bleeding (IB) before getting a positive pregnancy test. I have never had implantation bleeding, personally, so not having it is not necessarily a sign that you're not pregnant.

Since you're so close to starting your cycle and since you've been actively trying to conceive, you should take a pregnancy test now.

What you're describing is called "the pull out method" or "the withdrawal method," and doctors and just about everyone else have GREATLY debated the effectiveness.

Anecdotally, I could tell you that I know people it's worked for. Personally, I'm going to tell you it's a tricky birth control method in that you really need to do it perfectly for it to work and even then - you're playing with fire, so to speak. But I guess this could be true of any other birth control method, right?

According to Planned Parenthood, "For every 100 women who use the pull out method perfectly, 4 will get pregnant." Those aren't terrible odds, but they're not 100% either.

So to answer your question, the withdrawal method, when practiced without flaw is effective against pregnancy 96% of the time, according to Planned Parenthood's statistics.

If you'd like more information on birth control options I recommend https://bedsider.org where you'll find all kinds of articles and cool features on everything from condoms, the patch and yes, withdrawal to help you see all of your options for preventing pregnancy and how to obtain them.

If you decide to go with a method that takes less willpower talk to your OB or general physician about what they can offer you.

In your case, it sounds like you're not pregnant, especially if the bleeding you're experiencing has gone on for more than two days and if it has a flow instead of just spotting.

The pains in your lower stomach and back and the excessive tiredness aren't uncommon signs of your period approaching.

If you continue to have heavy periods or lots of pain and exhaustion leading up to your period that you feel is not normal for you, talk to your doctor. It could be a sign of anemia which is pretty easy to treat (I take iron-rich vitamins every day to combat mine!)

If you're still unsure of whether or not you're pregnant, it doesn't hurt to take a pregnancy test. You should wait to take one though until the bleeding has stopped.

That IS frustrating. And the even more frustrating answer here is that you wait. I would wait until the day you're supposed to get your period to test again. If that's just too much, (which I know it would be for me, especially when I was trying to get pregnant), hold off on testing again until the day after tomorrow. This should put you at one day before your period is due. This gives your body another 48 hours to build up the pregnancy hormones necessary to turn your test positive if you're pregnant.

Sometimes, you can be pregnant, and there isn't enough hormone in your body yet to tell the test that you're pregnant. This happened to me with my second daughter. There are also times that, for whatever reason, our PMS feels so much like pregnancy that it's easy to be convinced that's precisely what's happening.

One last thing, don't throw your test away right away. I know you're not supposed to read them after ten minutes, and I agree that's smart because as the test dries, it can give you a vague (FALSE) line that looks positive. However, as I mentioned earlier, I did get false negatives with my second daughter. When I finally got a positive, that line took a good two minutes to develop (whereas with my first baby, the test was blazing positive before I had finished peeing on it). So don't just look at straight away, get frustrated, and trash it. Give it a minute to develop one way or the other.

Yes, two weeks before your missed period is too early to take a test. That's because it's possible that you haven't ovulated yet and you must ovulate to conceive.

Ovulation usually happens around two weeks after your period has started at two weeks before your next period is due to start.

The ideal time to take a pregnancy test is the day your period is due, but if you use an early detection test, then you can take it a few days before and still get reasonably accurate results. Just make sure to read the instructions on the test's box first to make sure you're not taking it too early.

You are on top of your charting! Because of this, I'm going to assume you're probably trying to conceive (or possibly trying not to). If you had sex on or around your fertile days (so, CD10-CD15, give or take), then there's a good chance that your symptoms are indeed related to pregnancy. I wish I could say that cervical mucus is a reliable way to detect pregnancy but (and I'm not a doctor) I know that all of us women are different and we don't necessarily experience the same types of cervical mucus for each part of our cycle. So my best advice concerning that is just to take note of what is normal for YOU at this point in the cycle. If this CM is different than your normal CM at this time of the month, then that may be a pregnancy sign as well.

As I'm answering this, you should be around cycle day 25, and if you have a usual 28-day cycle, then it would be okay for you to start testing. With each negative test, you should wait two more days to test until you officially miss your period.

First, if you're still bleeding, then I think you should hold off on taking a test. It's true, implantation bleeding and menstrual bleeding can sometimes be similar, mainly because they usually take place around the same time. A good way to tell the difference between implantation bleeding and menstrual bleeding is by the length of time you're bleeding for. If you experience bleeding and spotting for just a day or two instead of having an average period for 4 to 7 days, then there's a good chance that was implantation bleeding.

If you take a test during the bleeding, however, you may not get an accurate result. That's because it still takes a couple more days after implantation for your body to create the hormones that give you a positive result on a pregnancy test.

When the bleeding stops, go ahead and take a pregnancy test and if it's negative, wait two more days and take another test. If that one is still negative, then chances are you're not pregnant this month.

One more thing - it's quite reasonable to feel pregnant around ovulation. That's because many women (myself included) experience uncomfortable symptoms during ovulation like nausea, lower abdominal and pelvic pain and tiredness. This is just a normal reaction to the progesterone and estrogen (hormones) released during ovulation. Feeling symptoms that early in your cycle doesn't indicate pregnancy so much as ovulation.

Yes, you really can get pregnant after your period. Here's why -

If you have unprotected sex after your period, the sperm from that can live up to five whole days before completely dying off. If you ovulate a bit earlier in your cycle than expected, then it's quite possible for one of those late-in-the game sperm to find their way to the egg.

Here's a simple way to look at it:

The first day of your period is called Cycle Day 1 (or CD1).

Hypothetically, let's say your period lasts for five days and you have sex the next day. You had sex on Cycle Day 6. Then again on Cycle Day 7 and Cycle Day 8.

Now, let's say that you usually ovulate on Cycle Day 14 - two weeks after you started your last period but this month your ovulation came just two days early and you ovulated on Cycle Day 12 instead.

From Cycle Day 8 to Cycle Day 12 is four days. Four days that a few sperm from that last time you had sex could still be hanging out, waiting for their egg.

This is how, sometimes, you can get pregnant right after your period.

My advice is to wait to take a pregnancy test until you're four days away from starting your period. Begin testing that day (with an early result test) to confirm if your symptoms are pregnancy related or just pre-period stuff.

If you haven't begun having a flow yet, then I would take a pregnancy test in a few days. If you're experiencing a flow, then it's possible your period just came unexpectedly. If the test comes back negative and you continue to have back pain and spotting, you should call your doctor because it could be a sign of infection in which case you'll need to discuss an antibiotic with your doctor.

If you usually have an average 28-day cycle, and you still haven't gotten your period OR a positive pregnancy test, I'd call up your OB and let them know. Make sure they also have a history of your other pregnancies and ask if you can have a blood test and ultrasound done to confirm whether or not you're pregnant.

The chances you're pregnant are pretty good considering you've had a positive pregnancy test.

The first thing you should do, if you haven't already, is call your doctor or an OB to confirm pregnancy, especially since you seem unsure. That'll also give you a chance to talk to your doctor about what's ahead, along with birth control options that might be a better fit for you.

For most women, ovulation happens on the 14th day of your cycle. That is, two weeks after your last period started and two weeks before your next period is due to start. Of course, every woman is different, and the only way to know for sure when you're ovulating is to do something called Charting and Temping. A good place to find information on how to properly chart and temp is on a website called fertilityfriend.com.

And yes, those can all be pregnancy symptoms, but if you're pretty close to starting your period, you could indeed just be experiencing premenstrual symptoms. I would take a pregnancy test the day of your expected period to get the most accurate result.

A common cause of missed or irregular periods is, indeed, pregnancy. If you've taken a pregnancy test this month (since you missed your period in May) and it's negative then at least you can rule that out.

Next, you need to talk to your doctor and let them know about having only one period so far this year. There are many, many things that could be causing your irregular periods and nearly all of them are pretty innocent (but frustrating, because we kind of come to depend on that monthly period) so let's look at some of those possible causes:

- Peri-menopause or menopause: This is just when your body stops having regular menstrual cycles due to age. Peri-menopause comes first and can begin in your 30's or 40's.

- A thyroid condition: If your thyroid is a bit out-of-whack this can cause late or skipped periods. A simple blood test can help your doctor diagnose it and the treatment is also simple (medications, usually).

- Polycycstic Ovary Syndome (PCOS): This is a hormone imbalance that messes with ovulation and is treatable with your doctor's help.

All of those symptoms are certainly common in early pregnancy, but they're also common before the start of your period too.

The thing that makes me think you need to take a pregnancy test though, is the four days of spotting. If this was truly spotting, which would only be enough to need a pantyliner and not a tampon or pad, then it could be implantation bleeding.

Take a test and if it's negative wait a couple of more days and try again. If it's still negative, then it's possible you had a very light period which isn't necessarily a big deal. If your cycles continue to be light though you should let your doctor know because it can be a sign of a treatable disorder (like a thyroid disorder).

If the test comes back positive then, of course, you should still call your doctor.

I've certainly heard of women not getting a positive result for two weeks after their missed period - one of my good friends is one of those women. She found out with her first that she was pregnant when she was already six weeks along!

If you've been taking at home tests, though, and they're negative, then the chance that you're pregnant isn't super high (but it's not out of the realm of possibility either).

You're doing the best thing by going to the doctor for confirmation. If their test comes back negative, then they can help you troubleshoot why your period hasn't started. That's almost always an easy fix, and it isn't usually a big concern.

I hope you get the answer you want!

Periods aren't an exact science, unfortunately, especially when it comes to their timing. Before I look at your specific dates in relation to pregnancy, I want you to pull up a calendar for April 2018, and we're going to go over some hypothetical dates.

Let's say your period comes on April 1st, 2018 and you have a 28-day cycle (this is the average and most typical length of time that a woman's cycle lasts). You would get your period 28 days after April 1st, which is April 29th. Not only would you get two periods in one month, but the first period would also be at the beginning of the month and the second period would be at the end of the month. Confusing, but not at all irregular and in fact this is the clinical example of a "typical" period. Now let's say your second period is just two days late - you would begin that second period on May 1st, putting your period back into the first week of the month.

A good way for you to see just how regular or irregular your periods are is to use a period tracking app. I like Flo; it lets you track a lot of other stuff too.

Now, to your pregnancy question - since I don't know how long your average cycle lasts, I can't make an educated guess on when you probably ovulated. But, going off from a typical cycle, I think March 1st would have been too early for you to get pregnant unless you ovulated quite early. The most likely days for your ovulation and the highest chances of conception were probably around March 7th through the 11th.

All of that being said, you can check out the pregnancy test calculator for yourself at CountDownToPregnancy(dot)com where you can put in the start date of your last period (February 23rd) and then put in the average length of your cycle to find out when you should start testing for pregnancy. Personally, I think the best day for you to test would be on March 24th. This would be day 29 of your cycle, and unless you have very long cycles, you'd probably get an accurate result.

I'm really sorry to hear about the loss of your pregnancy in December.

I would say that since you had a negative pregnancy test yesterday, you're experiencing menstrual symptoms and the spotting is likely just the start of your period, not indicative of a miscarriage at all.

It's so tricky to decipher early pregnancy symptoms from PMS, that's for sure, but in your case, it sounds like your cravings, heightened sense of smell and breast pain can all be attributed to premenstrual symptoms. I experience all of those symptoms myself in the week to week and a half leading up to my period. That's because there's a rise in hormones before our period that's similar to the increase in hormones experienced in early pregnancy.

In short, no, I don't think you're experiencing a miscarriage, and I don't think that you're pregnant this month.

Because early pregnancy symptoms can also be indicative of a variety of other conditions, it's hard to say for sure why you're experiencing these symptoms.

The first thing you should do since your period is a week late now is to take a home pregnancy test. At this point, it should be pretty accurate. If it comes back positive, call you general doctor or OB right away and let them know so they can tell you what steps to take.

If the test comes back negative and you continue to experience these symptoms, you should call your doctor to troubleshoot the cause which could be anything from a winter virus to treatable conditions like insomnia or a thyroid condition.

I've spent a lot of years reading about this in the forums on BabyCenter, and the thing I've learned from studying other women is that there's honestly no single answer for this.

From what I've read and experienced myself, early pregnancy discharge is typically whitish in color has a milky, thin consistency.

Of course, for each woman, because we all react slightly differently to pregnancy hormones, this isn't necessarily a good indicator of pregnancy.

It's too early for you to take a pregnancy if your last period began on March 7th.

According to a typical cycle, you'll want to hold off on testing until the first week of April.

The symptoms you're describing, especially pain on just one side of your lower stomach, along with the date of your last period is indicative of ovulation.

Ovulation happens roughly two weeks before the start of our next period. When ovulation occurs an egg is released from on of the Fallopian tubes and this happens at random which is why this month you feel it on your right side and next month you might feel it on the left side.

Experiencing pain and sickness during ovulation is called "mittelschmerz" which means "middle pain" in German.

If you still have not gotten your usual period then, by all means, yes, you could be pregnant, and you need to take a pregnancy test.

If you did get your period, then, unfortunately, these symptoms can also be attributed to premenstrual symptoms. Oh, the fun of being born female!

As a side note, if you're still experiencing a lot of severe pain (that makes it difficult to walk), you should call your doctor.

Since you had sex around the time of your ovulation, there's a good chance that you could have gotten pregnant, especially if you were trying to conceive. If you were using a reliable form of birth control, of course, your chances are much lower.

Since your period was not due for over a week when you took the pregnancy test, the results aren't reliable. It can be tempting and exciting to start testing as soon as you feel pregnancy symptoms, but it's not really a good idea because no home pregnancy test can give you a correct result that early.

Even though you may have conceived by definition of the egg being fertilized during ovulation, the fertilized egg must adhere to the wall of your uterus before your body starts sending out the pregnancy hormones that at-home tests detect. This is called implantation and doesn't happen until seven to ten days AFTER the egg is fertilized and after implantation occurs, it still takes another two days before your body starts sending out those hormones.

You don't want to start taking pregnancy tests until around five days before your period is due, at the earliest.

For the most accurate results, you should wait to take a pregnancy test until the day your period is due.

There's definitely a chance that you could still be pregnant, but since the test is negative and your period is late, I would say the chances are slim.

Let's say that spotting was implantation bleeding, and it occurred, according to the dates you're giving me, around March 16th. You should have been able to get an accurate pregnancy test around March 18th or 19th at the earliest, but by March 25th you should have almost certainly had a positive test IF the spotting was implantation.

Now, maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was something else and you had implantation later on, then it's possible that your body still hasn't sent out the pregnancy hormone required for an HPT to turn positive.

My best advice is to test again on the 27th. Test again every other day or until your period shows up. If you end up more than two weeks late call your doctor and ask for a blood pregnancy test. If that comes back negative then you and your doctor can talk about other things that could be causing your period to be late.

Almost always, a late period is not severe, and easy to troubleshoot.

That the blood is brown indicates it's old blood, so it could be the start of your period, but if you're not experiencing a flow, then it does make you (and I) wonder if it's a symptom of implantation.

If I were you, I would take an at home pregnancy test, if you haven't already.

The symptoms you're describing can be indicative of typical PMS, but they're also super common for early pregnancy.

If you test comes back negative and you still don't experience a flow of blood over the next couple of days, I'd make an appointment with your doctor, preferably you OB if you have one, and let them know what's going on.

Many women undoubtedly experience pregnancy symptoms as early as around seven days past ovulation and around seven days before their missed period.

Most at home pregnancy tests are not going to give you an accurate result this early on though, so you'll need to sit tight (I know it's so hard when you're trying to conceive!) until it's the right time to test.

If you use an early result brand like First Response (their early results products), you can usually start testing around five days before your period is due to start, though the odds that the result will be accurate goes up drastically the closer you get to the start of your menstrual cycle. Personally, I have never had an accurate result earlier than four days before my expected period.

According to The Mayo Clinic, gonorrhea itself does not cause infertility and having had it would not affect your ability to get pregnant. However, gonorrhea can cause Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID).

If Pelvic Inflammatory Disease isn't treated properly, it can damage your reproductive organs which could lead to infertility or a lower chance of getting pregnant.

So here's what I think you should do - I think you should get in touch with the doctor who treated you for gonorrhea and find out if you were tested for pelvic inflammatory disease and if you were, what the results were. If you weren't tested, I would make an appointment to get tested.

Again, according to The Mayo Clinic, the test for PID would include a pelvic exam, where your doctor would check things out to see if there's any inflammation, scarring, etc. They would probably also take a sample of your urine and cervical fluids. All of this, along with any symptoms you describe to them, would be used to diagnose you (or not!) with PID.

Now, if it turns out you don't have PID, there are other fertility tests that you and your partner could undergo. Remember that it's possible that your partner is the one dealing with the fertility issues, not you. Most doctors, however, would probably not test you or your partner for fertility issues until it's been a full year of trying to conceive without success. That's because even in healthy couples who have zero fertility issues, it can still take a full year to you conceive!

In the meantime, to up your chances of conceiving I would invest in OPKs. These are tests that you pee on just like a pregnancy test, and they let you know when you're ovulating so that you know when to have sex. Conception is tricky in that there are only a few short days during the month that women are fertile enough to conceive. So even if it feels like you've been trying for months, the problem may just be in your timing.

According to Planned Parenthood, when practiced correctly, the withdrawal (or pull out) method is effective in preventing pregnancy 96% of the time. That means 4 out of every 100 women who use this method correctly will still end up pregnant. So yes, there's a chance you could be pregnant, but the odds of not being pregnant are certainly still in your favor.

Since you're not sure when you ovulated, and since you have irregular cycles, I would start testing for pregnancy no earlier than April 3rd and then if that test is negative test every OTHER day until the arrival of your period or until you get a positive test.

Since you don't know when you ovulated it's entirely possible that those symptoms right after "ovulation" were actually ovulation symptoms, which many women (including me) experience.

The chances are good that you're not pregnant but if you are, then there are lots of resources available to help you find the best path for you going forward.

And if (most likely) you're not pregnant check out Bedsider(dot)org which is a really awesome website that breaks down each method of birth control so you can make sure that you're using the one that gives you the most confidence!

These could definitely be pregnancy symptoms, but they can also be symptoms of other issues. Needing to use the bathroom shortly after eating can, for instance, be a sign of acid reflux or irritable bowel syndrome. It can also simply be a sign of a mild stomach bug.

If you haven't taken a home pregnancy test yet, then you should definitely do that. That way you can move forward knowing whether or not you're pregnant. If your symptoms persist make sure to let your doctor know so they can help you find a treatment plan.

Since I don't know when you started your period I can't put your dates into a calculator to see if there's a possibility that you were fertile during March 8th through March 17th.

You should visit https://countdowntopregnancy.com, where they have a really user-friendly pregnancy test calculator. You'll be able to put in the start of your last period and your average cycle length (the number of days between the first day of one period and the first day of the next period), and it will tell you when the best time to take a pregnancy test is.

Sore breasts can undoubtedly be a sign that your period is coming but they can also be a sign of early pregnancy, especially if the sides and underarms are sore as well. Since your period is late, now is a great time to take a pregnancy test. You could opt for a less expensive and less sensitive test at this point in your cycle, too.

Yes, these symptoms can be indicative of pregnancy. The first thing you should do is take a pregnancy test. If it comes back negative, you'll want to call your doctor and let them know what's going on. These symptoms can also be as a result of a treatable thyroid condition.

I think that the pink spotting could be indicative of implantation, but remember that not everyone (myself included) experiences this symptoms of early pregnancy.

I put your dates into a pregnancy test calculator and technically, you're still too early to get an accurate result on a pregnancy test. I tried it with a normal ovulation schedule along with an earlier than normal ovulation schedule. Taking into account the possibility that you ovulated quite early in this cycle, you still probably won't get an accurate result until Saturday March 3rd.

It's totally possible to be pregnant with "signs" of pregnancy, especially because if your PMS symptoms are strong and you become pregnant, those symptoms, in comparison, may seem minuscule!

Since you say you have irregular periods, and you have this instinct that you may be pregnant, now would be as good a time as any to take a pregnancy test. If it comes back negative and if your periods continue to be lighter or more spread out that usual I would let your doctor know. It can be a sign of a treatable thyroid condition.

From the dates you gave me, your chances are there but they're slim, with the 17th being your best chance for conceiving since sperm live an average of three days with a maximum of five days.

Since you ovulated on February 21st, you could probably start testing fairly accurately with an early result pregnancy test starting on March 3rd.

That depends on who you ask, honestly. Some people will tell you to lay back with your hips propped up by a pillow afterward, some people will tell you to only eat certain types of foods or to do some crazy ritual. My best advice for conceiving during ovulation is to just really make that fertile time count - get down to business as often as possible and in general, try to live a healthy lifestyle that includes a nutritious diet, regular exercise and staying away from cigarettes and other substances that wouldn't positively contribute to your health. And, it's cliche, but try not to stress out too much. Easier said than done, I know.

Also, if you're not currently, I would track your ovulation either through temping, ovulation tests or both, to make sure you're right on target!

Soreness or sensitivity around your breast and nipples is definitely an early pregnancy sign, especially if it's not a symptom that you usually experience before your period. Although, nipple discharge isn't quite as common that early on; it often comes on a little later in pregnancy.

These symptoms can also indicate a treatable thyroid condition or suggest that you've recently breastfed, and by recently I mean within the past couple of years.

Since you have an IUD in place and you're experiencing abnormal symptoms, I would definitely take a pregnancy test if you haven't already, and if the symptoms continue or get worse, go to your doctor. Although it's pretty uncommon, pregnancy while wearing an IUD can be dangerous as you have a higher chance of ending up with an ectopic pregnancy.

Depending on your DPO (days past ovulation) these could indeed be early symptoms of pregnancy.

While every woman has a different cycle, in general, we measure cycles from the first day that menstruation starts to the length of time it takes for the first day of the following menstruation to start as 28 days.

Ovulation typically happens halfway through that cycle, around day 14, and each day following that is considered "the two week wait" when pregnancy symptoms may start appearing before the missed period.

Most home pregnancy tests will give you an accurate result from the day that your period is due, but there's also a lot of brands that offer early-results before your period is due and you can start taking these about five days before your period is due, although they're more accurate with each day that you near your period due date.

If you continue to experience these symptoms I would definitely take a pregnancy test!

There's a definite possibility that you're pregnant, given the timing of your ovulation. In many women's experience, sore breasts are one of the first symptoms of pregnancy, especially if it's not a usual PMS symptom for you.

I think that a cheap pregnancy test is worth the peace of mind! This is totally anecdotal, but I do know more than one person who has become pregnant on birth control. Birth control is very effective, but no form guarantees 100% safety. With certain types of birth control, the risk of an ectopic pregnancy is higher, so that's a good reason to be aware of any change in symptoms. I would take a test, and in your case, I'd probably buy a digital with a simple yes/no answer so that you can move forward definitively. Either way, I hope you feel better!

Missing your period and then feeling sick and getting negative pregnancy tests is seriously the most frustrating thing ever. I've personally been there, and I know how infuriating and confusing it feels. It's like your body is playing tricks on you and then the anxiety of worrying if something else is wrong makes everything feel worse.

My best advice is first, you need to take a deep breath.

If you missed your period two weeks ago and you're still getting negative pregnancy tests then, except for the slim chance that you ovulated very late and it's still too early to get a positive pregnancy test, it doesn't sound like you're pregnant.

It sounds more like you have a delayed or missed period and your body is either getting ready to ovulate, getting ready to start that period (finally) or like you're dealing with a virus which could also be the cause of your missed period.

Going way, way back to our ancestors, our menstrual cycles revolved around conception. Back in the day when there were limited resources, our bodies would delay ovulation if an illness was coming on because we couldn't have sustained a pregnancy and an illness back then - there were no grocery stores, walk-in clinics or Gatorade.

That means that if you've been sick or stressed it's possible that this is the reason your period is so late, not pregnancy.

If you can, I think you should contact your doctor and let them know your symptoms and about your late period. They can give you a simple blood test to confirm whether or not you're pregnant.

In the meantime, hang in there - you're not the first, and you certainly won't be the last woman to feel sick with a late period and negative HPTs! This almost never indicates a serious issue.

Those symptoms could certainly indicate pregnancy, especially since it sounds like you're actively trying to conceive. When I was pregnant with my first daughter I thought that I was experiencing cold and flu symptoms but it turns out it was early pregnancy signs.

If I were you I would wait to take a test for one more day. Begin testing the morning of March 13 and if the test is negative, wait to test again until the morning of March 15.

Something to keep in mind is that although ovulation apps and calendars are really helpful, unless you're temping and charting, or confirming ovulation with an OPK, it can be difficult to know for sure when or if you've ovulated.

If it's been less than a week since you had unprotected sex, then I would say it's unlikely you're experiencing pregnancy symptoms. If it's been around or over two weeks since you had sex, then it would be a good idea to take an at-home pregnancy test.

If you're still unsure after you take the test, call your OB or the doctor who prescribed the Depo-Provera and let them know what's going on and about your fears. They'll be able to counsel you on what to do going forward and on birth control options that might fit into your schedule better.

If you've been off birth control and actively trying to get pregnant, then yes, there's a good chance you are pregnant. If you're late for your period, then you should go ahead and take a pregnancy test.

Keep in mind that it can take several months, and in some cases up to a year, to become pregnant when actively trying. The nausea is a pretty good indicator of pregnancy, but it is also a common PMS symptom.

Yes, if you have a normal cycle (which is, on average, twenty-eight days, though it varies from woman to woman), then your period should have arrived around February 20th.

However, something to keep in mind is that, although they're helpful for having a general idea of when your period is due and when you're fertile, pregnancy, ovulation and period trackers can't accurately tell you when you've ovulated or when you're fertile based merely on dates. That's because sometimes we ovulate earlier than expected, later than expected, or, sometimes, just not at all. An app won't know that unless you're also temping and charting.

You should take one more test. If you ovulated late, it's possible that it was too early for a test to show positive. If that test is still negative, then you can call your doctor or OBGYN and let them know what's going on. They can perform a simple blood test that's usually more accurate and sensitive than a urine test to check for pregnancy.

Unfortunately, it's that time of year when we're all passing viruses along to each other, and it's possible that your off-feeling and late period have to do with a virus.

These are all symptoms that are common to early pregnancy, but they're also common to premenstrual syndrome, so it's possible that you're just on the cusp of starting your next cycle.

It's also possible that you're coming down with a virus since it's that germy time of year.

A common misconception is that you can't get pregnant during your period, but that's not true since sperm can live for days, and ovulation can happen earlier than predicted.

If you want to take a test to see if you're pregnant, I would use a pregnancy test timing calendar to get an idea of when you can start testing. It will have you input the dates of your last period and how long they usually last for to give you a reasonably accurate date to begin testing.

I can totally understand the fear in taking a pregnancy test because you want it to be positive and if you take a test too early, then there's a real possibility that it could turn up as a false negative.

Since I don't know the date of your last period I can't put your dates into a pregnancy test calculator to see when a good time to test would be, however, you can do that - I like the one at CountDownToPregnancy.com

The other thing I would suggest if you're hoping to actively try to get pregnant is to make an appointment with your OB to talk about your best options. They may refer you to a fertility specialist to help you have the best resources and treatments for having a baby.

The fastest way to find out you’re pregnant, from test to answer, is just with a home pregnancy test. While blood pregnancy tests can detect pregnancy earlier than a urine test, you still have to wait on the lab for the results whereas an at-home test only takes about 1-3 minutes for a result.

So, if you're already late for your period or close to it just do an at-home test.

This time of year can be confusing when it comes to pregnancy and allergy symptoms which aren't that different in the first trimester!

I'm not sure when you had your ultrasound done, but if it was recently, say, within the last week, then it wouldn't have shown you if you were pregnant or not since it was confirmed that you were ovulating. If it's been at least ten days since your ultrasound, it won't hurt to pick up an early detection pregnancy test, like a First Response Early Response and take one with your first pee of the day.

If it hasn't been that long since your ultrasound, wait until the day your period is due and take a test then - the result should be accurate whether it's positive or negative.

Now about those pesky symptoms! Yes, dizziness, sinus pressure and pain, headaches and gagging/nausea are not uncommon in early pregnancy for many of us. That's because when you become pregnant your body works really hard to create extra blood for the baby and in doing so other weird things happen like sinus congestion which can leak into the back of your throat and upset your gag reflex, causing gagging and nausea. So fun!

The other thing that can cause these symptoms that isn't uncommon in the spring is seasonal allergies which I'm personally dealing with as I type this. So, if your test comes back negative and you're still dealing with these symptoms, especially this dizziness and sinus pressure/headaches let your doctor know and ask if the cause could be allergies and what type of allergy relief they recommend for you. Taking my over the counter allergy tab every day this time of year really helps me to function though I still have bouts of dizziness and nausea thanks to the post nasal drip.

I would definitely grab a pregnancy test and take one. Usually, I would say you're most likely just sick but having a two day, light period isn't normal (unless that IS your normal, but it sounds like it's not).

When (if) you're pregnant, the extra blood flow can contribute to a stuffed up nose and any nasal dripping can of course cause you to cough and feel nauseous. At this point, you could take a test during any time of day and almost for sure get an accurate result.

If the test comes back negative, you might want to talk to your doctor about seasonal allergies. Personally, I'm having a tough time with them this season, and that could be one reason why the cold medicine isn't helping you.

As for the short, light period, I wouldn't stress about it if the test is negative. If you continue to have short, light periods, talk to your doctor and let them know. That can be a sign of a (treatable) thyroid condition.

You could definitely take a test today! If you had sex two weeks ago that would be around the time you would have ovulated. Keep in mind, we're all different and even from cycle to cycle we can experience little changes that speed up or delay ovulation. Unless you were tracking your ovulation, there's no guarantee that you were ovulating during that time, but it's still likely that you were.

If your test is negative don't get too worried about your symptoms--nausea, cramping, and breast tenderness are all completely normal before the start of your menstrual cycle.

It's possible. The mucus plug-like thing you saw could be a sign of implantation.

The other possibility though (among others that are less exciting, I guess), is that you could be dealing with perimenopause. Since I don't know your age, this could be totally off! But for most women perimenopause, which is the stage before true menopause, starts in your 30-40's and can cause late periods and all of the fun that comes with that.

Your best bet right now is to grab a pregnancy test and take it. Since you're already late, it doesn't matter what time of day you take it. Although rare, according to americanpregnancy.org, between 2-10 women out of every 1,000 will become pregnant after 5+ years following their tubal ligation. So, even though I bet this isn't what's going on with you, there is that slim possibility that inspires a pregnancy test purchase.

For the most reliable result, your period should be one day late when you take a pregnancy test. But seriously, if you’re antsy to find out if you’re pregnant or not, then it’s way too hard to wait that long!

For most HPTs, you shouldn’t test any earlier than four days before the day your period is due, which is five days before your missed period.

If your period is due to start on Friday then with most tests you need to hold off on taking one until at least the Monday before. The reason is that pregnancy tests test for the hormone Human Chorionic Gonadotropin or, hCG for short. All women actually have a really tiny amount of this floating around in them already, no matter if they’re pregnant or not. What a pregnancy test does is measure that level through your urine. If the level is at a normal range for a woman who is not pregnant, the test will come back negative. But if the range is at a higher-than-normal level, implantation has occurred. This is when a fertilized egg attaches to the uterus, and thus, pregnancy occurs. The thing is though, implantation MUST occur for your body to start creating enough hCG for a pregnancy test to turn positive, and implantation doesn’t typically occur until right around when your period is due.

For this reason, you may have conceived during ovulation which happens a full two weeks before your missed period, but until the fertilized egg gets itself cozy in your uterus, your body can’t tell a test that it’s pregnant yet.

Thus, the closer you are to that missed period, the better chance you have of having an accurate result.

In my own experience, with my first daughter, I didn’t take a pregnancy test until I was a day late for my expected period. The test turned positive before I was done taking it.

With my second daughter, I was so eager to find out if I was pregnant or not that I took the test about six full days before my period was due. It was negative, but I just felt really strongly that I was pregnant and had taken the test too early because I was already starting to feel the symptoms I remembered from my first pregnancy. I was right! Two days later I took another pregnancy test, and it came back with a clear positive result. My body needed those two days to create enough hCG to tell the test that indeed, there was a little blastocyst in there.

In my experience, once you're late for your period, you can usually take a pregnancy test at any point in the day, and you'll get an accurate result. However, I do know a couple of people this wasn't true for! If your period continues to be late, then I would take another pregnancy test, but take it in the morning with your first urine of the day and trust that result.

I too get really exhausted right before and during the first day of my period. It's not fun, but it's not that uncommon. If it continues to be a problem for you, you can talk to your doctor. Extreme fatigue around your menstrual cycle can also be a sign of a treatable condition (like low iron, or a simple thyroid issue).

It's most likely that you're just experiencing a heavy period.

However, there's a possibility that you had a chemical pregnancy. This is when you do conceive but miscarry so early on that it seems like a period and you may miss the early signs and symptoms, so you mistake it for another period. If you didn't take a test before this happened then, it's hard to say, but more-than-usual clots, tissue, blood loss, and pain can all be signs of an early miscarriage.

If the bleeding continues longer than your normal period or if you have clots that are larger than a quarter you should call your doctor.

These are all common pregnancy signs, especially if you're late for your period. Unfortunately, early pregnancy symptoms and premenstrual symptoms can be really similar and include the things you've mentioned.

One way that I could always tell the difference between my PMS symptoms and early pregnancy symptoms is that I'd be expecting my period but didn't have any of my typical symptoms like moodiness, food cravings, and fatigue. This was my clue to take a pregnancy test.

So, if your period is due in the next 3 or 4 days but you feel these symptoms are out of the norm for you, it wouldn't hurt to take a pregnancy test.

They can be, but considering the time of year, these could also be signs of seasonal allergies, unfortunately, especially the congestion and headache.

If you haven't taken a pregnancy test yet, now would be the time. If it comes back negative you should let your doctor know about your light periods because they can be a sign of a disorder that once treated, should get your periods back on track.

If the test comes back positive, then you'll want to call your doctor and get a blood test and ultrasound done to get an idea of how far along you are since it sounds like your symptoms (like the lighter than normal periods) could mean that your dates are a bit off.

I would normally think these are all pretty indicative of your period being on the horizon, but the spotting makes me wonder if you were actually experiencing implantation bleeding. Some women have it, others don't.

If you haven't already started your period, you could go ahead and take a pregnancy test at this point since you're right around the time your cycle should be starting (or not starting, if you're pregnant).

Those can definitely be pregnancy symptoms, especially because if you had sex ten days ago, then this is around the time where you might start to feel those early symptoms.

If your period is due within the next few days and you still haven't started your cycle, it would be okay to take a test right now. If your symptoms are related to pregnancy then there should be enough hormone in your body at this point to get a positive result. If the test comes back negative then this sounds like particularly awful PMS.

I don't think you could have ovulated and had your period at the same time; your period will generally come about two weeks after you've ovulated. Sometimes it will be a little early or a little late, but not at the same time.

Taking this timing into consideration, I would hold off on testing again for at least another week. If you are pregnant then yes, it was too early to test on Monday.

If this was not your period, it could have been mid-cycle spotting or implantation bleeding (though that usually doesn't happen near your ovulation either).

If you continue to get negative tests and you experience an abnormal period or unusual bleeding again, I would contact your doctor.

I think that you probably tested too early to get an accurate result either way. It's good that you checked for a UTI, that's really smart, and something that more women need to be aware of; sometimes what seems like pregnancy symptoms are indeed symptoms of a urinary tract infection. I'm glad that in your case they're not.

I think that it's likely you're actually experiencing symptoms of ovulation. Ovulation symptoms CAN cause some weird, unpleasant stuff like sore breasts and pain in pressure in the lower abdomen/pelvic region. Actually, I always get a lot of pain there during and following ovulation. My OB/GYN explained to me that that's because some women are extra sensitive to ovulation as small cysts form and burst during the release of the egg.

Since your period is due on Saturday, April 21st, you should hold off on taking another pregnancy test until Tuesday, April 18th at the earliest and from there take one every two days until you either get your period or a positive pregnancy test.

According to https://americanpregnancy.org, the chances are getting pregnant while using Depo-Provera correctly are less than 1%. To put that in perspective, those are around the same odds as getting pregnant after your partner has had a successful vasectomy.

So, in a word, no. You're very unlikely to get pregnant on Depo-Provera.

It could mean you have a stomach virus. When I have a stomach virus, the inflammation does cause stomach tightness and vomiting and then, of course, a headache. But if you've recently had unprotected sex, it could also mean you're pregnant. If you think that you might be pregnant, now would be a good time to take a pregnancy test. If you continue to feel sick, you should see a doctor.

I think there's a more than likely possibility that you're pregnant. If you have an irregular period, then I can see why you'd be hesitant to take a pregnancy test, since you may not technically be late. However, the spotting and other pregnancy signs, along with a seemingly late period suggests that you are probably pregnant. You need to take a pregnancy test like your doctor advised.

Since I don't know the date of your last period or how long your cycles usually are, I can't put them into a pregnancy test timing calculator. If you'd like to do that, there's a really awesome one over at https://countdowntopregnancy.com.

Now, since you had unprotected sex about two weeks before your period was due to arrive, it's entirely possible that you did get pregnant. Most women ovulate around two weeks before the beginning of their period, and this is when we're most fertile.

I'm not sure when you took the test and what kind you took, and it IS possible to get a false negative due to user error. I've done it; taking one too early during a month that it turns out I was actually pregnant.

If I were you, I would buy another pregnancy test and take it right away. Since your period was due at the end of March, you're probably fine to take any brand at any time because if you're pregnant, there should be enough pregnancy hormone to get a positive test by now.

My personal favorite for testing is just a good ol' First Response with the pink lines, not the digital.

However, if you're nervous about interpreting the lines, you might want to opt for a digital which will give you a clear "YES" or "NO" answer.

If you take one and it still comes back negative, then take a deep breath and remember that there are a lot of totally innocent reasons that a period can be late without being pregnant, including just ovulating a little off schedule. If your period ends up being more than two weeks late and you still have negative tests call your doctor and let them know. They may not do anything until you've missed at least two periods, or they may have you come in to explore other reasons your period could be late.

Apart from pregnancy, a late or missed period isn't usually serious at all.

Yes, you could. A common misconception is that if you have intercourse during your menstrual cycle, you are less likely to get pregnant. However, since sperm live up to five days, if you were to ovulate shortly after your period ended, there's a possibility that you could become pregnant.

Since the blood is brown, this would indicate that it's old blood rather than fresh blood. Why it would go on for nearly a month though I'm really not sure. I could take a few guesses that include an infection, an irritation to your cervix or a reaction to birth control.

I don't think it would have to do with pregnancy, but if you want to take a pregnancy test, it won't hurt. After that, contact your doctor and make an appointment to be seen. They can give you a pap smear to rule out more serious conditions, and then from there troubleshoot the cause, so you don't have to deal with the brown spotting long term.

I'm not a doctor, and I can't say with absolute certainty that you aren't pregnant but straight up, no, I don't think you're pregnant at all. Messing around without penetration is not an effective way to get pregnant, and it's super unlikely that that's what's going on with you.

You might want to talk to your doctor about what is normal and not normal for periods while on the kind of birth control you're on or research it at bedsider.org.

Yes, it's very possible that you're pregnant if you had unprotected sex while you were ovulating. If you haven't taken a pregnancy test already, then you could take one right now and get pretty accurate results.

For reassurance, I've personally gone mad with symptoms like this. However, those are definitely common early pregnancy symptoms, especially constipation. Having your period a week early isn't totally out of the norm, but it could mean that your cycle off.

If I were you I would take a home pregnancy test now, just to confirm that that period was indeed a period and not implantation bleeding.

If it comes back negative, then your symptoms are probably related to ovulation hormones since your period was two weeks ago (meaning, if it was a true period, you should be ovulating soon here).

If it's not a false negative pregnancy test and you truly aren't pregnant, then the reason for the late period and pregnancy-like symptoms could just be prolonged PMS. Anecdotally, my PMS symptoms always worsen the later I get.

You could also be dealing with a hormonal imbalance or a thyroid condition, both of which are pretty treatable with a doctor's care.

For now, I'd stop taking pregnancy tests and give it a few days. If your period becomes two weeks late, call your doctor and let them know. I have a friend who couldn't get a positive on her pregnancy test until she was two weeks late!

Something unfortunate about PMS is sometimes it can feel a lot like early pregnancy! Since your last period was short and not what it normally is, I would take a pregnancy test now (granted, you haven't started your next period).

If the test comes back negative and your periods continue to be extra short, talk to your doctor to find out if you might have a treatable hormone or thyroid condition affecting your cycle.

It's definitely not typical to get your period and then get it again the next week. I would say that more than likely, this second "cycle" was not a period, because you would have needed to ovulate between those periods. Hold off on taking a pregnancy test unless your period is late.

If you get your next period at the regular time that you're expecting it but then experience another mid-cycle bleed, you should talk to your doctor.

The most likely reason is that you're gearing up to start your period. However, if you've recently had unprotected sex, then the next best possibility is early pregnancy symptoms! If you haven't started your cycle yet, then I would take a pregnancy test because today would be your official "late" day.

Those could indeed be signs of the first trimester of pregnancy. If you think there's a chance that you could be pregnant, you should take a home pregnancy test. If it comes back negative, then the reasons for your symptoms could be something as simple as battling a virus.

If you just lost your breath from swimming, then you may have over-exercised, but if it occurs, then I would talk to your doctor just to make sure it's nothing that needs to be addressed.

Your symptoms certainly sound like early pregnancy, and it's definitely not unheard of to get a positive on one pregnancy test and a negative on another because of variables like what time of day you took it, how sensitive the test is, etc.

If the first one you took was clearly positive then I would ignore the ClearBlue and try a different brand to see what it says. I've encountered false positives on cheap tests before, but they were light. If the second line was very bright, then I would consider that negative.

So, if you haven't already, go out and grab another pregnancy test (not ClearBlue) and try again now that your period is late.

If the last time you had sex was around two months ago, and you had regular periods after that then I would suspect the spotting has nothing to do with pregnancy.

A few possibilities for the spotting are:

- An infection. If you have an infection, ranging from a UTI to an infection in your reproductive organs, this can cause spotting between cycles.

- Ovulation spotting. Sometimes, in the middle of our cycle, when we're ovulating, spotting can occur.

- Perimenopause. If you're in your 30's or 40's it's possible that you're entering your pre-menopause years and the hormone fluctuations can cause spotting between cycles.

To ease your mind, you should go ahead and take a pregnancy test. Rarely, some women do experience what looks like regular periods while they're pregnant which can be super confusing!

If that test comes back negative, keep an eye on the spotting, and if it continues, let your doctor know. Even though it's annoying to experience mid-cycle spotting, it's not usually a huge cause for concern, but if you do have an infection, you'll want to treat it properly.