Pregnant or really unlucky evaps?!

[SleepySkyRat]

Hi all, I’m really getting myself stressed and confused here and would appreciate any thoughts… (sorry it’s a long one!)
This is our first cycle officially TTC, I stopped the combined pill after over a decade and had my first cycle last 31 days. As it was fairly normal length we decided to try this month. I’m not monitoring ovulation but I do look at CM and think I ovulated about 14 days ago. I was due AF yesterday. The week leading up to then I was a bit breathless, had some mood swings, but otherwise ok. I had some cramping a few days before AF was due and thought that was the start, but other than literally the occasional spot of brown discharge there was nothing.

I tested yesterday (AF due and I’m guessing 14DPO) as I felt nauseous that morning and spotting had stopped. Got a faint line on an early detect clear blue. Later that day I got some spotting of light pink/brown discharge, this settled overnight but worried me that this could be the start of AF and maybe a chemical pregnancy. I retested today and similar line (didn’t take a photo sadly) but definitely not darker. The spotting has progressed slightly so now I’m worried I’m starting my period. But I’ve had no cramps or ‘heavy’ feeling like I usually do, and it is still very light. I took at test this afternoon using a boots early detect and it didn’t seem to come up with anything in the 3 mins but within 5 there was a super faint line.

please any words of wisdom for you all about it the chances of 3 x evap/indent lines or whether I may have got my timing off and maybe I’m just a bit earlier than 14dpo? I’ll attach the photos of the clear blue from yesterday (photo was probably about 15mins after timeframe but represents what it looked like, it was darker in person) and the boots test when it was about 10 mins after taking it.

thanks in advance!!

Hey OP!

I dont have any experience with this sorry but just a thought, could you have ovulated later then you expected? My understanding is that ewcm means you’re close/about to ovulate but could be within the next 12-48 hours? So maybe you’re a bit earlier than 14dpo? I’m certainly no expert, but I’d have thought 3 tests showing the same would all mean the same, if that make sense. I’d be surprised if 3 could be evap lines if you’re using different tests.

Do you have another test you can use in the morning? I’ve also read that pink dye tests can be a bitter better than blue x

@SleepySkyRat I think there could be multiple things going on. Your spotting could be implantation bleeding which is usually (but not always) very light and happens around the time of your expected period. So your vfls could be just early testing.

You might have tested positive but are experiencing a chemical where implantation has now failed. It's so common.

Less optimisticly, your vfls could be evaps. It's not recommended to read the tests beyond the time frame. Clearblue, in particular, are terrible for evaps. You might want to see if you can get your hands on a first response test. Those are generally better. I also tested with easy at home cheap strips.

Very easy to say, but you're better to retest in 2 days time. Hcg doubles every 2 days so you might see progression in the tests by then. Good luck!

@Lookingtogrowthefamily yes quite possibly I’ve got the dates wrong and am early. That’s the best possible outcome I think as it’s otherwise pretty faint for 14dpo I think. I thought it’d be pretty unlucky to have all 3 show something up when in the past they’ve always been completely blank. I’ve stocked up on clear blues but I also have one more of the red dye boots one so maybe will use that in a few days time! Thank you for your reply!

@ForGiddyDreamer thanks so much for your reply - I’m thinking exactly that, it’s so hard to know at this stage. When the bleeding started I immediately jumped to chemical pregnancy, but there’s still hope I think. I do know the clear blue were definitely showing something within the timeframe (even before as hubby saw it but thought it didn’t count because it was too faint). I’ll be probably testing daily knowing me, and hoping the spotting doesn’t turn into a full period. I’ve got a digital test too that I’ll be saving for when I’m more sure that it might actually detect something!

So update - my spotting progressed to more darker blood, took a test again this morning, and although there is just about a line still visible it is significantly lighter. So think this is probably a chemical, which makes sense that it probably just stopped developing a few days before I tested hence the faint lines to begin with.

Obviously gutted but trying to take it as a positive sign that I could even achieve a positive test in the first place, and that it’s not meant to be at this early stage. Now dealing with horrible cramps just to really rub it in 😣

@SleepySkyRat I’m sorry to hear that 😞.

That is a good way to look at it about being able to conceive, and I’m a believer in everything happens for a reason. Give yourself time to process it too ❤️