Regarding pregnancy, most women have a lot of doubts and questions about expectancy and confirmation. One of the most common questions being asked in this regard is, can I get pregnant 2 days before my period? Is it even possible? The answer is yes. A woman may have become pregnant just days before her regular scheduled period was about to start. So, such a situation is not at all abnormal. However, it is essential to note that even though it is possible to become pregnant before the start of the period, it is highly improbable. Due to the functioning of the body and the menstrual cycle, the chances of becoming pregnant just days before the scheduled period is very much unlikely to happen.
Usually, a woman undergoes a regular menstrual cycle, which has a duration of 28 days to complete the course entirely. In these 28 days or roughly one month duration, a woman can conceive in a very close and narrow period. This small period lasts for hardly five to six days each month. Therefore, the chances of conceiving are drastically reduced in any other days of the month. The fertility of a woman is mainly dependent on the ovulation. The narrow period of five to six days mentioned here is solely reliant on the time and occurrence of ovulation, and when the egg is getting released from the ovary.
The occurrence of ovulation in a female body is not random either. Even though the ovulation cycle duration is different from women to women, the usual time of ovulation can be predicted. Typically, when a woman is in the middle of her menstrual cycle, the chances of ovulation is the highest. With the menstrual cycle lasting for 28 days, the middle of the menstrual cycle is reached by 14 days. The two-week gap before the scheduled period is about to start, is the ideal time for a female body to undergo ovulation.
However, the period of ovulation is not precisely the same for every woman, as has been stated earlier. Most of the healthy women undergo a cycle regularly. Even for them, the chance of early ovulation or late ovulation is not precisely zero. It is less likely to happen, but you should not be surprised if it does happen either. If the ovulation indeed occurs a bit late or early, the narrow fertile window that each woman has in a month can get shifted late or early as well.
In any case, it is practically impossible for one to say with a hundred percent guarantee that during which time of the month, a woman will get pregnant or not. If you are planning to make a baby, you cannot depend on the fertility period as chances are you will be unable to locate it accurately. Similarly, if you are avoiding having a baby, it is advised not to indulge in any sexual activity without protection. You may think you will not get pregnant as it is not your fertility period. Then suddenly, you discover you are indeed pregnant because of the shift in your ovulation.
What If I Have A Menstrual Cycle That Consists Of 28 Days?
For the majority of the women, the menstrual cycle lasts for 28 days. However, women may tend to experience shorter or longer menstrual cycles as well in rare cases. In regards to maintaining parity, the average duration of the menstrual cycle is considered 28 days only. Generally, the very first day in which the menstruation starts is denoted by Day 1. For the majority of women, the time when the bleeding occurs during the period lasts for about two days to seven days in a month. This is one of the most unfertile times of the month for a woman. The fertility period is scheduled to come generally after seven days or ten days from this time.
When the menstrual cycle reaches Day 6, you are likely to notice some hormonal changes in your body. This is because the FSH or the Follicle Stimulating Hormone is released in your body from the 6th day of your menstrual cycle. The release of the FSH generally starts between Day 6 and Day 14 of the menstrual cycle. With the release of the FSH in the female body, the egg that is present in the ovary starts with its development. During this period, the endometrial lining of the uterus also gets shredded, which is, in fact, the sole reason for the bleeding that occurs in a period. When the development of the eggs starts, the lining of the uterus also starts to rebuild and heal itself.
In this particular time, a woman is more likely to become pregnant than the previous session. Once again, it cannot be predicted with a hundred percent accuracy whether a woman will be pregnant. However, the chances of conceiving increase in this period. With unprotected sexual activity ending with sexual intercourse, the sperm is released in the body of the woman. As per normal conditions, sperm can retain its function up to five days inside a woman’s body. If it so happens that the sperm is still present and active in the body while the maturity of the egg takes place, the woman will be pregnant.
After the egg becomes fully mature, the LH or the luteinizing hormone will be secreted by the female body. The release of the LH timely is essential as it contributes to the factor of the release of the egg. This process where the matured egg is successfully released from the ovary is known as ovulation. The occurrence of ovulation mainly occurs in half of the menstrual cycle. On average, most women are likely to undergo ovulation on the 14th day of their menstrual cycle. The chances of a woman becoming pregnant on the day of ovulation are very likely. Then again, the ovulation is not always fixed to occur on the 14th day of the menstrual cycle. If the 14th day of the period is considered as a reference, the ovulation can take place in a range of four days early or four days late from Day 14.
Declaration
If you are undergoing ovulation late as per your scheduled cycle, or if you are experiencing a period a little early than usual, then you should be alert. If you want to make a baby, the days preceding the period are the days you will be fertile the most. Similarly, if you are not looking for becoming pregnant, you should not indulge in any sexual activity without using protection.
What If My Menstrual Cycle Is Longer Or Shorter Than 28 Days?
As already stated before, a group of women does not undergo a menstrual cycle of 28 days. Some women have reported that their menstrual cycle has lasted for only about 21 days. Others have said that the duration of their menstrual cycle has continued to even 35 days. As per the statistics, many women have faced the situation where the peak of their fertility during the menstrual cycle has been reached within the Day 10 and Day 17. An even lesser percentage of women have experienced that the occurrence of the ovulation has happened precisely on the 14th day of their cycle.
The occurrence of the ovulation can be affected hugely with the diet, followed by a particular woman. Even the stress level that one person is going through can affect the start of the ovulation. Other than these factors, there are complex underlying medical problems such as PCOS or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and Amenorrhea, which can impact the start of ovulation as well. When a woman is undergoing through her peri-menopause, she can face irregular menstrual cycles as well. Other than that, a woman going through adolescence can also withstand irregular menstrual cycles. All of these can affect the occurrence of ovulation and can shift the narrow fertility period to a few days early or later of the estimated time. However, even then, in the majority of cases, the ovulation is likely to happen when a woman is near the middle of her menstrual cycle.
Methods to Try
Many women cannot figure out the time and occurrence of their ovulation. In case you want to pinpoint a location or want to get a good idea about the period where you may start ovulating, try these methods. For instance, try to understand which the exact midpoint of your menstrual cycle is. This is, however, only for those women who undergo a regular menstrual cycle with almost a fixed period of occurrence.
As for those women whose period length is known to vary in every month, another method to try out and determine the occurrence of ovulation is using backup birth control. In case you are really looking to get pregnant, you can start with the methodical and proper way of tracking your ovulation as well. With precise tracking, you will be able to get more reliable data that can predict your peak fertile window with much higher accuracy.
This can be done by following several ways. Some of them are-
- You can start tracking your BBT or the Basal Body Temperature
- You can use an over the counter predictor kit for ovulation
- You can start wearing a fertility monitor
When Am I Most Likely To Get Pregnant?
As stated already, the only time a woman can get pregnant is when she has reached the peak fertility period of the month. This narrow gap is the only time a woman can get pregnant if she tries to be. When an egg gets released from the ovary, it remains active for around 24 hours or a full day. When sperm is released in the female body after sexual intercourse, it can stay active up to five days in a female body before becoming inactive. This determines the period when a woman can get pregnant.
Therefore, to get pregnant, you will need to make sure that you have been involved in sexual intercourse in a period of-
- Four days to five days before the start of the ovulation
- Precisely on the day when the ovulation occurs
- After the day on which the ovulation occurs
Therefore, if you want to be a mother soon, you will need to have sex just before a few days from where the ovulation is scheduled to start. If sexual intercourse is timed and performed at this time, the active sperm will get enough time to go through the fallopian tube and fuse with the egg, which is present there.
If you miss this gap, the egg will not be fertilized due to the lack of active sperm. In such cases, the egg will get dissolved gradually. In such a condition, no matter how much sex you may have, you will not be pregnant. You have to wait till next month when your monthly menstrual cycle gets started again.
Therefore, if you are looking to avoid being pregnant and still want to enjoy doing unprotected sex, you need to do it a few days after the ovulation. This is the time before the start of your next cycle.
So, I Cannot Get Pregnant While I Am On My Period?
As already stated before, the chances of a woman getting pregnant while she is on her period are very less. However, it is not impossible. It is improbable, but you cannot say that a woman will not be pregnant during that period with absolute certainty. For a woman to be pregnant during her period is to match the timings of the active sperm reaching the egg in time. This can be achieved by indulging in unprotected sexual intercourse by a woman towards the end of her period. In such cases, if a woman starts ovulating earlier than expected, the egg and the sperm will both be active by the time they reach each other. Hence, the fertilization will occur as expected, and the woman will be pregnant.
Therefore, can I get pregnant 2 days before my period? Yes. If I match the timings correctly, I can.
What Is My Chance Of Getting Pregnant Right After The Period Ends?
If you indulge in sexual activity just after the period ends, you may well get pregnant without much hindrance. Even then, the chances of conceiving with having sex right after period are not very much likely either. In case you are ovulating early that month, the chances of getting pregnant after sex increases. Then again, ovulation occurring soon is not very much likely either if you have a regular cycle. Women, who have their menstrual cycle of a smaller duration, can face such situations. With the menstrual cycle being shorter than the average duration, ovulation is likely to occur earlier. As a result, ovulation tends to occur at a more frequent rate.
If I Do Get Pregnant, Will I Still Get My Next Period?
The answer is no. There is no way you will get your next period if you are pregnant. This is because the period only occurs when the released egg does not get fertilized. With the egg failing to fertilize in the presence of active sperm, the cells get reabsorbed. Due to this reason, the female body experiences a dip in the levels of progesterone and estrogen. This dip triggers the menstruation, and the woman starts getting her next period. With the egg being fertilized, such a scenario will never occur.
It is important to note, though, that even when you are pregnant, you might experience some spotting. The case is rare, and a tiny percentage of women experience this. However, vaginal bleeding can occur while you are pregnant, and it is not abnormal. Therefore, only because you are experiencing spotting, does not necessarily mean that your next period is coming and that you are not pregnant. Women can even experience vaginal bleeding up to eight weeks to twelve weeks of being pregnant.
To differentiate correctly between the bleeding, which is related typically to menstruation and the bleeding from the pregnancy, one needs to follow the timings of the bleeding carefully. Additionally, one must also be wary of any symptoms or abnormal activities that are happening in their body. By abnormal activities, it means whether any event is happening more frequently, has completely stopped, is happening early or happening late.
When a woman has conceived, the bleeding related to implantation mainly starts after six days to twelve days on average. The process of implantation requires the fertilized egg to attach itself with the lining of the uterus. This causes some of the blood vessels to get shredded, hence triggering the blood flow.
In the case of the implantation bleeding, the spotting is comparatively very much lighter than on period bleeding. The duration is also less, with the spotting lasting for hardly 24 hours to 48 hours in general.
Another reason for experiencing bleeding is due to the excess flow of blood that can happen on the cervix. This bleeding also causes spots. Usually, this type of bleeding is followed right after a pelvic exam, a Pap test, or having intense rough sex.
In any case, if you are going through excessive and unnatural bleeding, you should visit a doctor immediately. There can be many underlying medical conditions that can be dangerous and may require immediate medical attention. Therefore, such situations should never be taken lightly.
Can I Take Emergency Contraception?
In case that you do not want pregnancy but have been involved in sexual intercourse without any protection and now are pregnant, EC may help you. EC or Emergency Contraception is a measure taken by women to avoid getting pregnant. However, in order for EC to work, they have to be taken as early as possible.
Contraception is mainly available in two major types. These are the hormonal EC pill and the copper IUD. Both of these are effective and can help you avoid pregnancy even after five days of having sex without any protection.
The IUD is a better option than the hormonal pill, as it produces a reaction of inflammation that results in a toxic atmosphere for both the sperm and the egg. IUD is only available to women after a doctor has prescribed it. Additionally, the IUD needs to be inserted in the body by a doctor, and within five days of having sex.
As for the hormonal pill, it can also help you avoid pregnancy if you do not want a child yet. With these pills, a very high hormone dose is introduced into the body, which results in delaying ovulation. This delay prevents the process of implantation. The fertilized egg is unable to plant in the uterus lining. As a result, you do not get pregnant.
Which One Should I Use?
Typically, it is considered that the women, who have a high BMI or Body Mass Index, may not get much help with using the hormonal pills. To date, the use of IUD has not been seen to be ineffective in anyone if used within five days. Therefore, for such women, IUD is the better choice. Before taking any contraceptives, you should discuss it properly with a doctor to know which option will be the best for you.
When Should I Take A Pregnancy Test?
If you have missed a period, wait at least a day before doing a pregnancy test at home. However, it is suggested to do a home pregnancy test after three days. If you can wait up to five days, you will get even more accurate results. This is because the hormone that is detected for pregnancy may not be present in enough amounts in the body right on the first day.
For women who do not have a regular cycle, they need to wait for a minimum of one week to two weeks after having unprotected sex. The level of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin needs to be high in the female body for the pregnancy test to be positive. In the first few days, this level remains quite low.
Even after getting a positive pregnancy result, you need to recheck it. There have been cases where home pregnancy tests have given a false-positive result.
Conclusion
In any case, the pregnancy can only be confirmed fully with a pregnancy test. To know whether you are pregnant or not, you will need to conduct a lab test for pregnancy. This is the only way how you can get a hundred percent accurate result. If you are looking to be pregnant or trying to avoid pregnancy, it is always the best to seek a doctor’s help and advice.
