Ep. 112: Implantation Bleeding

If you're curious about implantation bleeding, you've found the right podcast episode! We're answering all your major questions: what is implantation bleeding? When to expect implantation bleeding? Is it an early pregnancy symptom? How does it relate to hCG? And more! When you're trying to conceive, you're eager for any sign of possible pregnancy. Could implantation be your sign during the two week wait? This quick episode is for you!

NOTE: This episode is acceptable for most audiences. It includes a reference to times of intimacy for conceiving a pregnancy and a short description of the reproductive process (no anatomical terms are used).

SHOW NOTES:
Ep. 22: Menstrual Products and Menstruation

Interested in learning about fertility awareness based methods, or specifically the Creighton Model System? You're in the right place! 

• Register for Creighton Introductory Session: Register here for our next Introductory Session

Looking for ways to implement fertility awareness into your life and faith? Check out out most helpful resources: 

• Substack Newsletter (free)
• Website Resources (free)

Transcript

Caitlin: 0:06

Welcome to the Woven Well Podcast. I'm your host, Caitlin Estes. I'm a certified fertility care practitioner with a master of divinity degree. Each episode will cover a topic that helps educate and empower you and your fertility while honoring the deep connection your fertility has with your faith . Let's get started. Welcome back to the Woven Well Podcast. Today we're talking about one of the most internet-searched, pregnancy-related phenomenons there is--implantation bleeding. I hear so much about implantation bleeding, and I get it. You know, understandably, this is a priority for women who find themselves in that notorious two-week wait. Why? Because it's one of the absolute earliest possible indicators of pregnancy , yet it can be really difficult to catch and even harder to figure out. There are a lot of questions about implantation bleeding , and I hope to answer many of them for you today. So let's start with the basics. What is implantation bleeding? Well, when you are trying to conceive a pregnancy, there are several key events that have to happen in order for that to take place. First, you have to ovulate. This is when an egg leaves the ovary and enters into the fallopian tubes. Without ovulation, there's no egg available to possibly meet up with a sperm. Now, this meeting between an egg and a sperm, that's that second critical event that's absolutely necessary, and that's called fertilization. But even after a sperm and an egg meet to develop into an embryo, a final event has to happen long before a positive pregnancy test is possible. That's called implantation. This is when the embryo travels to the uterus and then burrows into the lining of the uterus to implant and grow a placenta and continue into a healthy pregnancy. So there are ways to know if you've ovulated or not. At Woven Natural Fertility Care, we teach women how to confidently spot that main signal of ovulation and use it to avoid or conceive pregnancy naturally. So you can know when you're ovulating. But fertilization is impossible to identify and for the most part, so is implantation. Unless of course you get a positive pregnancy test later on, that's a sure sign. That is, unless the embryo happens to kick up a little blood in the process of implanting in the uterus. And this my friends, is what we call implantation bleeding. So of course women trying to conceive want to see this because it can be their first possible sign of pregnancy. They're also wondering, are there any other symptoms that I can look to to let me know I'm pregnant? But truly though, implantation itself doesn't typically have symptoms other than that slim possibility of bleeding. Now, you could, however, notice symptoms related to your natural cyclical hormone changes. So you see, during every menstrual cycle, there are major hormonal shifts happening in your reproductive system. At the start of your cycle and until ovulation, there is the slow but dramatic rise in the hormone estrogen. And then after ovulation, that dominant reproductive hormone switches over from estrogen to progesterone. Now, progesterone makes us feel good. It helps us to rest well, sleep soundly, feel calm, combat anxiety--we love progesterone. But if your progesterone is low, like when it naturally plummets right before your period starts, you may notice fatigue, difficulty sleeping, bloating, cravings, mood changes. So what stinks about this is that these are all things you may experience right before your period or right before a positive pregnancy test. There are so many articles or blog posts out there about how to know if you're pregnant before you get a positive test. But the honest truth is that it's often too early at this point to actually experience pregnancy symptoms. The embryo has to be implanted at least two to three days before it can start producing enough of another hormone, HCG. This is the pregnancy hormone, and it's also what would give you a positive pregnancy test result. So without these levels of HCG, that pregnancy hormone in your body, there aren't actually going to be pregnancy-specific symptoms. You may be feeling things, but they're not necessarily related to pregnancy. So the truth is you just have to wait, which stinks. I acknowledge it. But that's why so many ladies want to see some bleeding that could be from implantation. It still doesn't give you a definitive answer, but during that two-week wait, you are looking to hold onto anything. And I get it. So when does it occur? How long does it last? What does it look like? So as you already know, an egg must first be fertilized by sperm before it can travel to the uterus and possibly implant. So this traveling time from the fallopian tubes to the lining of the uterus takes about six to nine days. So knowing when you ovulated and therefore when that egg was possibly fertilized is really the best way to help you pinpoint implantation bleeding. If you know when you ovulated, you can know when to be on the lookout for that bleeding down to the day. Also, very conveniently, it lets you know exactly when to expect your next period. And this really is the best time to take a pregnancy test regardless of whether or not you saw any bleeding, so I always recommend that when trying to conceive. But identifying ovulation also helps you feel really confident with what's happening each cycle so that you're not easily thrown off by something like maybe an unusually long cycle that doesn't actually have anything to do with pregnancy. That is the worst. But if you know what's going on, then you feel empowered, you feel confident, and you're not in that limbo that's absolutely killing you. So how can you know if you're ovulating? Well, my number one recommendation is to learn to interpret your body's reproductive biomarkers through a system of fertility awareness or appreciation. Hands down, my favorite way to do this is through the Creighton Model system. I've been teaching this for seven years. I teach full time . I consider it to be my vocation, but I've also been using it personally for over 10 years. It is so consistent and it doesn't matter if you have long or irregular cycles, constant mucus discharge, an unusual sleep schedule, or hormonal imbalances. Anyone can use the Creighton system to get an accurate picture of what's going on reproductively. It allows you to see when that window of fertility begins as well, not just ends, which also highlights that most ideal time for intimacy in order to possibly conceive a pregnancy. Plus, it's going to show you signs of hormonal health or reproductive concerns. Now, while OPKs and LH tests will only reflect the presence or absence of one, maybe two, hormones, learning to understand your particular cycle allows you to see the entire cycle as it happens and even identify signs of possible hormone imbalance, endometriosis, PCOS, and more. It is super, super helpful. So, after you identify ovulation, you can be on the lookout for possible implantation bleeding about six to nine days later. Now, the bleeding itself is honestly not much. It's usually very short and very light, and it's not going to last more than a day or two at the most. It could be that you see just one drop of blood on the toilet paper. It's really, really easy to miss, and that's assuming that you even have it. In all honesty, implantation bleeding, it's not nearly as common as you may think. There are a lot of articles out there about it. There's a lot of hype about it. It's like I said, it's one of those few early indicators of possible pregnancy. So everybody's really interested in it, but most women don't have any bleeding. So it's estimated that 15 to 25% of women experienced some sort of bleeding in early pregnancy, and only some of those ladies had implantation bleeding specifically. Most of the others have just some sort of bleeding in the first trimester, well after their positive pregnancy test. So, it's likely less than 15% of women who have that kind of bleeding. And yet, even with all of this information, the hardest part about identifying implantation specific bleeding is sometimes the confusion with the start of a period. So how can you tell if it's implantation bleeding or if it's your period? First of all, knowing what your period looks like is a great first step. And I know what you're thinking: Caitlin, I've had a period every cycle for the last decade or two. I think I know what I'm talking about. And you very well may. But there are a lot of differences that we can notice in our period, and sometimes it can be challenging to know the difference between unusual bleeding that happens every 30 days or your actual true menstrual bleed. So we have an episode about that and I'll be sure to link it in the show notes for you. Others have found it really helpful, and I hope you will too. So implantation bleeding is short and it's very light usually just spotting. Whereas a period may begin as a day or so of spotting, but then it picks up fairly quickly to be a heavy or moderate flow. Now, there are women out there who always notice a few days of spotting right before their period starts. And thankfully, this is not just like a constant occurrence of implantation bleeding, but it is actually really important to know about yourself because if you notice three or more days of spotting before your period begins, it's very likely that your progesterone level, that hormone that I talked about earlier, is deficient. So progesterone is absolutely critical to the success of both implantation and early pregnancy. So if you think that's you, I highly recommend connecting with a NaPro technology OBGYN or restorative reproductive medicine provider who can help with that specifically. Finally, knowing when you ovulated can help you know if it's implantation bleeding or your period. We know implantation bleeding happens about six to nine days after your period. But for women with healthy levels of progesterone, their period should start after those nine days, maybe closer to 12 to 15 days after ovulation. So if you have bleeding a week or so before your period is expected, it may very well be implantation bleeding. Honestly, I do believe that the key piece in all of this is self knowledge about your own ovulation. We want to be able to count on things like abdominal twinges or increased libido to let us know when we ovulate, but those things fluctuate. They can be influenced and caused by so many other factors. The best, the most accurate way to identify ovulation is through learning a standardized system that has proven to be accurate and successful. And Creighton is not the only way, you know. So this is not only about Creighton. There are lots of fantastic fertility awareness methods out there that can help you to identify that window. But for those who are interested in learning the Creighton system, that happens to be our area of expertise. And we host an online introductory session every single month where you can learn all about how your body works, the anatomy, the physiology, what the Creighton system is, how Creighton gives you insight into that process. It lasts about an hour. It gives you all that you need to decide if Creighton is the best system for you, whether you are actively trying to get pregnant, trying to identify some reproductive health issues, or any other scenario. So we'll make sure to have a link to our upcoming intro session in the show notes as well. I hope today's quick episode has been informative and really helpful for you. I know it can be hard to know where to get trusted information about your reproductive health, and our goal is to always provide that information in an easy, efficient, and faithful way. So if you found today's episode helpful, it would mean the world to me if you gave us a quick five-star review as a way to say thanks. This points others in our direction to get them the information they deserve as well. As always, thanks so much for listening as we continue to explore together what it means to be woven well.