Am I spotting?

[IWantToGoToThere]

Forgive this possibly really dense question, but I don't really know what spotting is as I have never experienced it before.

I'm 36 years old and me and DH have been trying for number 2 for almost a year. (Crap, that's depressing). I had a MMC in September following an ERPC. After the birth of DS, my usual 31-ish day cycle has increased to between 33 and 47 days. I started having acupuncture just before my last AF to try and regulate my periods. I am currently on CD33.

I am using the CBFM and got my first peak last Monday on CD23 so I was kind of expecting AF on maybe Monday or Tuesday next week, if no BFP in the meantime.

I POAS last night using a first response due to having really tingly boobs and a slight crampy tummy. Not my usual AF symptoms since before DS came along, so thought maybe I was in with a chance. It was a BFN.

This morning at around 9am I went to the loo and there was light red blood on wiping. That is usually my first sign of AF (it starts off lightish, then generally gets heavy towards the end of CD1, remains heavy during CD2, then medium CD3-4.5, then from CD4.5 till about CD6, it's very light and pale brown on wiping but no need for a pantyliner or anything). So I popped in a tampon, and when I next went to the loo to change it around midday, there was absolutely no trace of blood on it at all. Pure as the driven snow. But then on wiping, there was a tiny spot of pink blood so god knows where that came from.

So, (sorry this is so long) am I spotting? I will next get acupuncture around midweek next week so will clarify if anything he's been doing may have caused this, but in the meantime, any ideas? To those ladies who spot, would a tampon be totally clear during spotting, or does this sound about right? Any advice gratefully received.

Sorry for mega post but didn't want to drip-feed information!

Hiya IWant

what you're describing is exactly what I get for 1-2 days before AF so that's what I'd call spotting. However it also seems to match what others describe when they've had implantation bleeding so it ain't over til the witch shows up properly

Hope this helps x

A clear diagnosis then!

I haven't had any blood since midday, not even a hint of a tint. Is this what normally happens if you spot?

I would describe that as spotting. Spotting is blood that doesn't warrant use of sanitary stuff. I never had it til ttc! Used to get full on af immediately. now I often get it starting and stopping before af.

I usually waste 2 tampons at the start of every AF lol

Sorry I'm probably not helping too much!

< waits for someone more knowledgable than me to turn up and help out properly >

Thanks - but I don't understand how I can have blood on wiping but then absolutely NO blood on a tampon immediately afterwards. It just seems so bizarre.

Thanks for responses. If anyone else wants to chip in, please do. Am a bit hacked off if my £50 a week acupucture sessions only result in more dodgy cycles than I had before.

I had a similar problem (I don't use tampons due to TSS). I had blood on wiping but not internally.
Anyway, I was off to have a smear test and got the nurse to have a look while she was there and she said that I had a tear caused, most likely, by too much SWI!
Could it be that? I had no pin and the blood was very fresh and pink.

Unlikely to be down to too much swi as we haven't done any since the middle of last week. Is all very confusing