Sticky mucus...

[Leanbh2010]

I apologise in advance for the ick factor in this post but I'm wondering if anyone else experienced sticky cervical mucus as an early sign of pregnancy?

This is our first time trying for a baby and I wasn't really too stressed about getting pregnant or not but now that I might be pregnant, the suspense is killing me!!! My period is three days late, I have had terrible lower backache and bloating all week and symptoms like having an upset stomach from bad food. The main puzzle though is the sticky mucus in my underwear every morning - all the advice sites mention implantation bleeding (I've had none so far) but not mucus.

I did take a test with the ClearBlue home test but it was negative. I took it the day my period was due though and did it on a whim, when I didn't really have a full bladder as I'd already gone to the loo about an hour before that.

Could I be pregnant?? Sorry for the long-winded post but I haven't heard anyone mention the sticky mucus thing before and am driving my DH nuts puzzling over this. I don't want to test again just yet and have my hopes dashed

lean one of my first symptoms was white, sticky mucous...it felt almost like handcream(soryy TMI)!!

I also had sore boobs, do you have any other symptoms?

Good luck

I think you should test agin with first morning urine to be sure. It certainly sounds hopeful...is your period usually very regular?

I am newly pregnant and had all these symptoms plus mega sore boobs and dizziness. No implantation bleeding here either, it doesn't happen to most women although some people do have it.

Good luck!

Yes definitely take another test. It's been three days so by now if you are pregnant you should have a positive.

If you don't want to wait until the mornimg, waiting four hours from last bathroom trip will make your urine concentrated enough to detect HCG.

Good luck!!

Thanks for all the responses - glad to know I'm not the only one with this symptom initially. It sounds like it's an early-stage symptom and the nausea, fatigue, sore breasts etc maybe kicks in later? I have noticed a few other things since I last posted e.g. breasts look completely different and feel different too so maybe this is it. If it weren't for that negative result, I'd be pretty confident on my hunch that I am pregnant...

I think I'll test first thing tomorrow morning - fingers crossed

Just tested this morning and it was negative again

I don't get it because if I'm not pregnant then I must have some illness because it's definitely not normal to wake up feeling like I'm being knifed in the lower back and to have a bloated abdomen. And to quote DH: 'I don't know of any illness that can change your nipples'

Am feeling a bit blue now as if I am pregnant, I'd like to be able to get excited about it and if I'm not pregnant, I'd like to know why the hell I feel so weird?? I actually don't mind if I'm not pregnant as I'm happy to wait another month and try again but if I have no period then how do I know when my cycle starts?

Is there any chance the Clear Blue test is unreliable? Are there any other tests that anyone can recommend? Or is it worth an appointment with the GP to find out for sure?

I think the best thing to do, and probably what your g.p would advise as well, is to wait a couple of days and test again, the hormone levels will be rising daily if you are pregnant. and if its still a negative, there would be no harm in getting checked over by the doc. Good luck!

THe two likely posibilities are that you either ovulated later in your cycle than usual and are pregnant, but 'less' pregnant than you think (and so the levels of hcg in your blood are very low and not being picked up by the test). Do you usually get regular signs of ovulation?

OR it could be that you've not ovulated at all this month (happens in perfectly healthy women now and then, just for no reason). When that happens, you do not experience the effects of the progesterone surge of ovulation and instead feel a whole set of symptoms from the higher estrogen levels you now have (that are not being offset by the proesterone). Most common side effects include enlargement/tenderness of the breasts swelling, retention of water, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and feeling of bloatedness - which as we all know, is frustratingly similar to how you feel in early pregnancy. Often your period will be delayed too.

I agree with the other ladies that your GP will probably tell you to retest in a few days (especially as you're only a few days late).

I know that waiting drives you nuts! Oh, and I prefer First Response Early Results over clear blue. Anecdotally, they've picked up very low levels of hcg (much lower than the 25 or so that they publish).

Thanks for the advice - I think I'll keep testing this week but what you say, Manda, sounds likely as well as I have had cycles before where I haven't ovulated or have had a cycle up to 5 days longer than normal. I haven't had these symptoms before though - when you talk about the common side effects of enlargement of breasts, water retention etc, are these symptoms you get during non-ovulation i.e. mid-cycle or during your period? They sound quite similar to the symptoms I have now.

I think I did ovulate this month as I usually get cervical mucus and a peak in sex drive (TMI again... ) which did happen this month around late November so anovulation doesn't seem too likely but who knows? If it is an anovulatory cycle, do you know how late on average the period tends to be? Or do you just skip a cycle and not get a period until next cycle around?

The symptoms of 'estrogen dominance' will build from the time you would have ovulated (if you haven't). It's at that point in your cycle you'd usually have a progesterone surge which would change how you experience pms. So by the time your period is due, your balance of estrogen to progesterone is out of whack and symptoms may be quite obvious (and it goes without saying that it may be different for different women, or even different cycles in the same woman! Isn't the body frustrating sometimes?!).

Likewise, IF annovulatory, some women will be a few days late, some a week or two and others still will skip completely until their next period would have been due.

Bearing this in mind, it's possible that IF you didn't ovulate yet, then you may do so at any time! If you have been ill or particularly stressed your body will put off ovulatin until it feels it's a better time to try for a pregnancy (isn't the body amazing sometimes?!). So if you're actively trying to fall pregnant, carry on havin regular sex - if you're already pregnant then it won't hurt you and of you're about to ovulate, you won't miss it!

It's good you have usual signs to go on when you ovulate, but bear in mind you can gear right up to O and then... not. (we're back to frustrating again ). The ony way a layman(woman) can KNOW she's ovulated is if she is charting her temps - a side effect of progesterone after O is a rise in your basal body temperature.

OH! And just as a side note, with my current pregnancy, I was clued into the fact I might be pregnant as the 'egg white' mucus many women see mid cycle that preceeds ovulation kept reappearing in my two week wait. I was charting, so I KNEW I'd ovulated, and yet the egg whites kept turning up. So, in short, unusual discharge (that doesn't smell bad/might be infection) can be a Good Sign!

I'm 15 weeks in two days and been receiving g discharge since I found out over a month ago is this normal