How to Identify Early Pregnancy Signs Using Fertility Tracking

Written by Vicky Chehade

If you're trying to conceive (TTC), you're likely familiar with the emotional rollercoaster of the two-week wait. While fertility tracking is an amazing tool in the process of trying to conceive, it can be easy to read into every symptom you experience or a change you observe in your fertility chart and hope that it’s an early pregnancy symptom or sign. 

So let’s bust some myths about early pregnancy symptoms and show you how you can accurately detect pregnancy using your fertility chart and make the process less stressful and more empowering.

Can you detect pregnancy by your basal body temperature (BBT) patterns?

If you track your basal body temperature then you may have heard of temperature variations like an “implantation dip” (where BBT will drop for a day as implantation is happening) or a “tri-phasic” pattern (where there are three distinct phases of temp rises), but those are NOT indicators of pregnancy on a chart. 

When utilizing temperature tracking whether, for pregnancy prevention or conception, there will be variations in your cluster of temps above the coverline (the red line on your fertility chart), but day-to-day temperature fluctuations do not indicate whether or not you are pregnant.

If you have 18 or more sustained high temperatures in your luteal phase that is a good indicator of pregnancy. Remember: you can take a pregnancy test earlier, but we recommend waiting until at least 10 days after ovulation. 

When should you take a pregnancy test?

Even though it’s tempting to start taking pregnancy tests as soon as you know your fertile window is over, the truth is that there’s an important timeline that you have to think about to get the most accurate results from your pregnancy test.

1. Once ovulation occurs, it takes the fertilized egg 4-5 days to travel the length of the fallopian tube. 
2. Once that happens, if implantation occurs, it happens 6-7 days post-ovulation (DPO). 
3. If implantation occurs, then and only then, will the pregnancy hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) be produced. It can take around 4-5 days for the presence of HCG to build enough to be detected by a pregnancy test.

So let’s do some fertility math here: If you believe ovulation occurred on day 14 of your cycle (CD14)  then seven days later (day 21 of your cycle) is when implantation could occur and if you wait another 4-5 days to make sure a pregnancy test could pick up HCG, it would put you at day 26 of your cycle. This would be the earliest you could test and get an accurate result. 

BUT you can take an even easier approach by using your Tempdrop and waiting until you’ve gone past your typical luteal phase length. If your luteal phase is consistently 11-12 days, my advice is to wait until you’ve gone past those 12 days to take a test to detect pregnancy. 

But what about early pregnancy symptoms?

The trickiest part of the “two-week wait” is that a lot of “early pregnancy” symptoms could also just be occurring due to the normal hormonal fluctuations at the end of a cycle; before you get your period. 

However, there are true early pregnancy symptoms that will show up most prominently after a missed period or a positive pregnancy test. I’ve listed the top ones below:

• Missed period – this will be the first significant noticeable sign, if you have a regular cycle.
• Implantation bleeding – light spotting when the embryo attaches to the uterus, usually around 6-12 days after conception.
• Mild cramping – similar to period cramps but can be milder and occur earlier.
• Tender or swollen breasts – hormones can cause breast changes early on.
• Fatigue – feeling more tired than usual due to increased progesterone.
• Nausea and vomiting– also known as morning sickness, though it can happen any time of day.
• Increased urination – hormonal changes cause more blood flow to the kidneys.
• Mood swings – hormonal fluctuations can lead to irritability or emotional changes.
• Bloating – similar to PMS, but caused by the hormonal shifts of early pregnancy.
• Heightened sense of smell – some women experience sensitivity to smells early on. 

Final Thoughts

The process of trying to conceive can be confusing and overwhelming due to the amount of information out there, so having support is one of the best things you can do on this journey. If you are having a hard time while trying to conceive I recommend the following:

1. Working with a trained fertility awareness educator and nutrition coach like myself, to review your charts and give nutrition and lifestyle suggestions to support your fertility.
2. Seek medical support from someone with a functional approach to fertility.
3. Look into your partner’s sperm health as well! 

Vicky Chehade is a certified nutrition coach and FEMM instructor based in New Jersey who helps women optimize their cycles to minimize symptoms of PMS or achieve pregnancy through charting and holistic nutrition habits. She discovered fertility awareness when she came off of hormonal birth control after being on it for 11 years and feeling lost in understanding her cycle and preventing pregnancy naturally. After learning the true empowerment that comes from using fertility awareness, she decided to get certified to help other women looking to understand their bodies to prevent pregnancy naturally or fast-track their timeline to pregnancy. You can learn more about Vicky’s virtual FEMM classes and other coaching programs here.