Brown discharge 2 days before period could i be pregnant

When you're trying to conceive, it's hard to wait the two weeks or so between your fertile days and taking an at-home pregnancy test. During this period of anticipation, it's natural to interpret the slightest change in your body as a possible sign of pregnancy. The only thing worse than getting your hopes up because you feel a little more tired or out of breath than usual, is to mistake implantation bleeding for your period and assume you're not pregnant. So what color is implantation bleeding? It's time you learn to tell the difference between this early sign of pregnancy and your regular menstrual cycle.

Over email, Romper interviewed three OB-GYNs about implantation bleeding. Their descriptions each differ slightly, but all agree that implantation bleeding is lighter in flow and a different color than your regular period. It's "usually brown," says Miao Crystal Yu, OB-GYN at Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, California. Yu elaborates that implantation bleeding is "a little bit of brownish spotting that occurs when the embryo implants." This matches the characterization Gerardo Bustillo of MemorialCare Medical Group in Fountain Valley, California, gives implantation bleeding, too. According to Bustillo, implantation bleeding doesn't necessarily have a specific color, but "generally the spotting or bleeding is light." OB-GYN Yen Tran of Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California, adds that implantation bleeding may look like "pinkish/rusty old brown bloody discharge."

To distinguish implantation bleeding from a normal period, it's helpful to understand the process behind it. According to Tran, "After fertilization occurs in the fallopian tubes around the time of ovulation, the embryo travels down the fallopian tube to attach to the wall of the uterine cavity. During the attachment progress, some blood vessels break down." The broken blood vessels lead to the old blood (i.e. brownish) spotting you may find in your underwear. However, Bustillo notes that implantation bleeding "remains an unproven hypothesis" and "does not occur in the majority of pregnancies."

Timing is also important when you're trying to pinpoint the cause of bleeding. Bustillo and Tran say implantation bleeding occurs approximately 10 to 14 days after conception, while Yu gives an earlier estimate of three to seven days post-conception. Since your period isn't due until about two weeks after ovulation, you can probably guess implantation bleeding if you experience light spotting much earlier than that. It can be harder to guess if the bleeding overlaps with when you expect your period. Luckily, there are other differences to help you compare a normal period with implantation bleeding.

When asked how a woman can tell whether she is experiencing implantation bleeding or a regular period, Yu says, "Implantation bleeding is much lighter, usually lasting one to two days, not requiring the patient to change pads. If in doubt, talk to your OB-GYN and confirm the diagnosis with blood work or ultrasound." Bustillo also notes that a pregnancy test may be the best way to confirm the cause of your bleeding. "Implantation bleeding, when it does occur, coincides with the time of an anticipated menses. Therefore it can be confusing to know exactly what is going on. Generally, implantation bleeding is spotting only, while a menstrual period is heavier. If the bleeding is accompanied by potential early pregnancy symptoms such as fatigue, nausea/vomiting, and frequent urination, a pregnancy test would be indicated to solve the dilemma."

Finally, Tran agrees that implantation bleeding is usually shorter than menstruation and may be accompanied by early pregnancy symptoms. "Most periods last about four to seven days [and are] heavier with a bright red color blood, whereas implantation bleeding comes a few days sooner than the next expected period and only lasts for a few hours to two days only, along with signs like breast tenderness, mild cramping, headache and mild nausea."

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Photographed by Ashley Armitage.

If you're not trying to get pregnant, and are worried that you might be, then seeing blood in your underwear can feel somewhat reassuring. Bleeding means you have your period, which means you're not pregnant, right? Not necessarily, because there's always a chance that you're experiencing implantation bleeding, which means the exact opposite: pregnancy. That's why anyone trying to conceive might actually feel a surge of hopefulness at the sight of a little blood.

When a fertilized egg is in the process of attaching to the uterine lining, sometimes it can cause light bleeding, also known as "implantation bleeding," says Raquel B. Dardik, MD, an Ob/Gyn at NYU Langone Medical Center. During implantation, it's almost as if the embryo is "trying to burrow into the uterus," so it's normal to have some spotting, Carolyn Alexander, MD of the Southern California Reproductive Center told Refinery29 last year.

It's easy, at first, to confuse implantation bleeding with your period. Hey, hoping to be pregnant and hoping to NOT be pregnant can both be pretty intense situations. Rather than losing it over a little blood, learn to spot the difference between the two, so you'll know right off the bat what you're dealing with.

In general, implantation bleeding tends to be spotty and light, not necessarily flowing like a period, Dr. Dardik says. The blood itself is usually pink to light brown, she says. Some people say that it kind of looks like rust, and doesn't look like their typical period blood. But implantation bleeding can happen near the time that you get your period, which causes some people to think it's just an early flow, Dr. Dardik says.

Often, the timing can actually indicate whether you have implantation bleeding or your period. A fertilized egg typically implants about 10 days after ovulation, Dr. Dardik says. "So, on a 28-day cycle, you would ovulate on day 14, implant on day 24, and skip your period on day 28," she says. That is, it could be implantation bleeding if it's happening a few days before you expect to get your period. "This assumes you are very regular," she says. "If you have cycles that tend to vary in length, even by a few days, it may seem to happen when you anticipate your period." So you can see why this could get confusing.

Implantation bleeding can last a few hours or a few days, according to the American Pregnancy Association. The bleeding will go away on its own, and you don't really have to do anything when it happens — although it might be a good time to take a look at your calendar or pill pack and figure out where you are in your cycle, to see if it might just be an early period. Really, the only way to know whether you are pregnant or not is to take a test.

Of course, you'll have to wait a few days for an accurate read. After a fertilized egg implants, the placenta forms and produces a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), which is what pregnancy tests are looking for, according to the Mayo Clinic. HCG enters the bloodstream first and then moves into urine, so that's why you pee on a pregnancy test. For an ASAP answer as to what's going on, head to your doctor for a blood pregnancy test. Otherwise, wait a few days until you expect your period to arrive and, if it doesn't, test then.

If you are trying to get pregnant, paying attention to symptoms like implantation bleeding can later help you and your Ob figure out exactly how far along you are (romantically keeping tabs on the dates you've had sex helps with this, too). If you already know you are pregnant, and are experiencing light bleeding, it's a good idea to talk to your doctor. Some spotting early in pregnancy is usually not a big deal, and happens to 15 to 20% of people during the first trimester, according to the American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology. But heavier bleeding, or bleeding later in pregnancy can be a sign of something more serious.

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