Can you be pregnant and still have a period?
To start with, always remember that pregnancy and periods can never go along simultaneously. If you are indeed pregnant, technically, you cannot get your periods. Missing your period is actually the first sign of pregnancy. Bleeding in early pregnancy is a common occurrence, but this does not signal a true menstrual cycle. You must realize that the hormones that are active during pregnancy totally prevent ovulation. As we know, ovulation is the time in your cycle when the egg is released into the uterus and women experience menstrual bleeding. Since the egg in pregnant women is already fertilized, ovulation does not occur and hence no bleeding.
Early Pregnancy Bleeding
However, it is not uncommon to find that many women do report getting what seem like regular periods during early pregnancy. The bleeding that pregnant women complain about though is not truly a menstrual period. It can be called as early pregnancy bleeding. The perception of having a menstrual period (or more than one) in early pregnancy can confuse the due date and delay some pregnant women from seeking appropriate and timely medical care. In instances where a couple is unaware that they are expecting, it can be particularly emotionally challenging to find out about the pregnancy at the same time they are told that the bleeding might signal a problem.
It can be hard to calculate your date of delivery when you aren't sure which period was the true last menses. A number of timing issues can help provide a ballpark estimate of when conception took place. Pay attention to these dates for help - when did you have unprotected intercourse, when did the pregnancy test turned positive (especially if there were some negative results before the positive one), and when you first noticed symptoms of pregnancy (such as breast tenderness or nausea). An ultrasound is the best technique to determine the baby's due date if you are not sure about one or more of these dates.
Identifying the due date is quite important in prenatal care, since some tests, like the triple check, are standardized by the exact number of weeks of gestation. In addition, most couples as well as their practitioner want to have some idea of when to expect the baby. Here are some explanations for what may seem like regular menstrual flow when you are pregnant.
Implantation bleeding
Many mothers-to-be get a few days of bleeding right around the time that the early embryo is implanting into the wall of the uterus. Generally, this occurs five days after conception and may be confused with an early period. This implantation bleeding is normal and is not a sign of any problem with the pregnancy.
If you have irregular periods or have not kept track of your cycles, you can easily confuse this bleeding with a menstrual period. If it is counted as a menstrual period, this can lead to a mistakenly later due date. In reality the last period from which the due date should be calculated would be the one prior to the implantation bleeding.
Conceiving while using birth control pills
Studies have shown that women who get pregnant while on the Pill might also have intermittent bleeding. There can be a few episodes of this bleeding in these women before they can ascertain that they are pregnant. The calculation of the due date based on the last menstruation will most likely be inaccurate. In such women, it is advisable to go on for ultrasound to date a pregnancy.
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