Confused, possible pregnancy or strange cycle.

[TheMadHeather]

Apologies for the long post, there is some tmi information ahead. We are not actively trying to get pregnant, but my nexplanon implant expired end of April and I couldn't get an appointment until 10th June to replace it. My cycle is very sporadic due to endometriosis (28-80 days) and I'm sure the expired nexplanon will have thrown things off a bit. We have been a bit reckless when it comes to alternative protection.

According to my cycle tracker I would have ovulated around the 3rd May. I took my kids swimming on Sunday afternoon (I basically stood in the shallow end supervising, as my youngest is not an independent swimmer) and noticed pink discharge on the towel after, this would have been approx 8dpo. The next day this increased a little, some spotting in my pants, but mostly when wiping. Yesterday (approx 10dpo) this was slightly more again, but with a little brown spotting and today it has stopped completely.

My cycle tracker expects my period on Friday, and today is cycle day 35 (if going off my last period.) I took a FRER yesterday and today, which were both negative. However I'm unsure if I can rely on the result due to my sporadic cycle. I am considering if the spotting was implantation bleeding or a very short/light period. If it was implantation then could it still be too early to test even with early detection tests, despite my period being due in the next 2/3 days?

I've been having symptoms which could be either early pregnancy or simply premenstrual. (Waves of nausea, cramps, back pain, breast pain) How long would you wait to test again and consider a negative test to be conclusive?

Test again in 2 days, then 2 days later.

I had an expired implant and did spot, guessing the change in hormones have brought that on.

.

Thank you! I was wondering if the expired nexplanon could have caused the spotting, but google wasn't being very helpful. I'll test again in 2 days etc if nothing conclusive has happened by then, thank you for the advice!

It's impossible to tell if you tend to have sporadic cycles and obviously haven't been tracking ovulation (because you're not TTC). Your app also will just be going off your past dates (and guessing ovulation as 14 days before your expected period). You can't really do anything but wait and see.

I sympathise with the irregular cycles. I'm on cycle 3 post miscarriage- last cycle was ridiculous: I got a positive OPK on CD6 and AF rocked up on CD18! This cycle I may not have ovulated until CD17...(but the jury is still out on that one as my OPKs ran out before I got anything higher than a 0.35 ratio, and my "post ov" temps, although higher than baseline, seem low for my luteal phase...).

Good luck. Limbo is stressful. I hope you get answers either way soon.

So sorry to hear about your miscarriage. I have been through it twice myself. I think that makes me extra antsy to know either way. The long cycles really are a pain. I did get white cm on 6th May, so perhaps I did ovulate later than predicted, which would mean I'm now only around 8dpo at a guess. So perhaps it is too early to test, even with frer. Hate all the guess work.

Thank you for your response. Hopefully within the next week I'll have some answers. Wishing you all the best with your ttc journey and lots of sticky baby dust. 💖

Any update @TheMadHeather? I’m still in a mixture of shock and disbelief, as I actually fell pregnant again last cycle, temps did continue to rise, I got a squinter of a BFP at 9dpo and now find myself at 4+6 with nicely dark looking tests! It’s never ever been this quick - 3 months compared with 3 years 🤯🤞

@curliegirlie Oh that's wonderful congratulations!! Really made up to hear this and wishing you all the best for a sticky healthy baby! AF did finally show for me on cycle day 43. I'm guessing it was all caused by the shift in hormones. I did get a little excited at the thought of a little oops, but it would not have been ideal timing at all haha. Thanks for updating me about your BFP, so happy for you!