How many weeks am I? TTC journal

[mumsneedtochat]

Ok here's the schedule for any experts in TTC.

Third pregnancy, one successful, one ectopic.

Periods are normally very irregular and I struggle to get pregnant usually.

October 22nd 2020 5 day period
Missed one in November
December 21st 2020 5 day period
January 22nd 2021 5 day period
Missed period in February
3rd March 2021 5 day cycle.

March 22nd, experience cramping and slight bleeding in brown discharge for one day. Take test on March 23rd, comes back positive. Take further five tests, all positive. Check clear blue, it says 2-3 weeks.

When has conception happened and have I had implantation bleeding?

Do I phone the gp or the early pregnancy unit?

Any advice is welcome thank you :)

You are at least 3 weeks pregnant, but may also be closer to 7 weeks. It's impossible to say for sure as you just started testing.

@anniebu

You are at least 3 weeks pregnant, but may also be closer to 7 weeks. It's impossible to say for sure as you just started testing.

Why would the clear blue say 2-3 weeks? Are they pretty effective I'm not sure.

They're not accurate at all. Just an entertainment thing if you read the small print. And hcg levels can vary hugely even in a perfectly healthy pregnancy at this stage. The only way to accurately date the pregnancy is an early scan, but you probably won't get one on the NHS. You could try a private scan clinic?

Unless you're entitled to one due to previous ectopic? I don't know.

When you say 3rd March 5 day cycle, do you mean 5 day period? If yes, then going on the dates of you last period you are 3 weeks and 2 days pregnant. This would be accurate if you ovulated on the 'average' cycle day, 14dpo. But you could have ovulated earlier, at 10dpo, which would mean you are 3 weeks and 6 days pregnant. If you don't know when you ovulated by charting, it's impossible to tell.

The only way you could be further along than this is if your period on 1st March was not a period, but some kind of pregnancy bleed. You say it was the same length as normal - 5 days. If it was also the same consistency/volume as normal, it's likely this really was a period though, and you are 3-4 weeks pregnant just now.

The Clear Blue with weeks tests are accurate for a good number of women. They are not at all accurate for some women and some babies. You can't tell much from that I'm afraid. On a Clear Blue, 2-3 weeks means an estimated 4-5 weeks pregnant, but based on your last period dates you can't be that far along. So either your baby has naturally high HCG (most likely), or it's twins, or you've got your dates wrong.

Hope that helps :)

Sorry, I meant cycle day 14 and cycle day 10, not 14dpo and 10dpo!!

@FeistySheep

When you say 3rd March 5 day cycle, do you mean 5 day period? If yes, then going on the dates of you last period you are 3 weeks and 2 days pregnant. This would be accurate if you ovulated on the 'average' cycle day, 14dpo. But you could have ovulated earlier, at 10dpo, which would mean you are 3 weeks and 6 days pregnant. If you don't know when you ovulated by charting, it's impossible to tell.

The only way you could be further along than this is if your period on 1st March was not a period, but some kind of pregnancy bleed. You say it was the same length as normal - 5 days. If it was also the same consistency/volume as normal, it's likely this really was a period though, and you are 3-4 weeks pregnant just now.

The Clear Blue with weeks tests are accurate for a good number of women. They are not at all accurate for some women and some babies. You can't tell much from that I'm afraid. On a Clear Blue, 2-3 weeks means an estimated 4-5 weeks pregnant, but based on your last period dates you can't be that far along. So either your baby has naturally high HCG (most likely), or it's twins, or you've got your dates wrong.

Hope that helps :)

Wow thanks for this reply!!! Good information here. I have no idea when ovulation is, it's something I have never tracked. My whole life I've had irregular periods but for 5 months straight I've had consecutive periods running on the 22nd of the month. I skipped a month in February. Then one came on the 3rd March. Was this a period or was it pregnancy related? I can't remember.

I just thought if I was only pregnant from the 3rd March, it wouldn't show up so early on a test but maybe I'm wrong. Not sure if you take it from the first day of period or how it works.

I've got a scan tomorrow as I phoned the pregnancy unit due to my previous complications, so hopefully they are able to atleast make sense of it.

Oh great :) A scan should answer all the questions!

Glad it was helpful OP! From your dates, you could have got positive tests on 23rd March. It's early, but possible.

The scan will be useful if your 3rd March period was not in fact a period but a pregnancy bleed, and you're actually further on - you should be able to see something. If you're literally only just over 3 weeks pregnant though, I'm not sure they'll find anything as it could be too small to see! I'm sure they'll explain everything, but just be prepared that the scan outcome might be 'come back for another scan in a week'!
good luck!

Update...

Went for a scan this morning and they couldn't see anything. So I'm either too early on or it's a pregnancy of unknown location. They took my hcg levels and to have them repeated in two days time. I'm hoping and praying that everything will be ok and that I'm just so early on they couldn't see anything.

Ah okay, I thought that might happen. Hopefully you're just too early and everything's fine. Good luck with the bloods - fingers crossed they rise as expected in a couple of days xx

Unfortunately my hcg levels have gone from 140 to 54, so it's likely I've had a miscarriage.

Thanks for the support.

Oh no - so sorry to hear that :(