How To Tell If Your Egg Was Fertilized: 4 Ways To Know Implantation

Question: How to tell if your egg was fertilized? What are the symptoms and signs of early implantation?

Whether you are trying to get pregnant or not, it’s important you know the changes that will happen between your periods and early signs of pregnancy.

Expecting mothers use different techniques to determine their most fertile period, and when they do, they quickly have frequent sexual intercourse with their male partner.

Your fertile period are days within your menstrual cycle that makes it easy for you to conceive. There is usually a fertile window of about 5–6 days in your cycle – the five days before ovulation and the day of ovulation (and sometimes the day after). This is because sperm can live inside the female reproductive tract for several days, while the egg only survives a short time after ovulation. (However, for most women, the egg will die in the first 12 to 24 hours after ovulation).

During your fertile days and after sexual intercourse, sperm moves through your watery cervical mucus into your fallopian tube and fertilizes the egg released during ovulation.

After fertilization, you will begin to experience signs of pregnancy only after the fertilized egg is implanted into your womb. Soon after implantation, spotting and cramping pains in your abdomen may occur, and it usually will last for a few days. Not every woman notices this, and some women have no symptoms at all.

If you do not get implantation cramps and spotting, it still does not mean you are not pregnant. Breast pain, headache, frequent urination, and change of mood are other pregnancy signs, but they are not specific and can also happen before your period.

This article explains

• What ovulation means (and how to know when it happens)

• What is fertilization

• How to tell if your egg was fertilized

• Successful signs and symptoms of fertilization and implantation

• When to take a pregnancy test

Important: These signs can suggest early pregnancy, but the only reliable way to confirm pregnancy at home is a positive urine pregnancy test, and later an ultrasound scan by your doctor.

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What is ovulation?

Ovulation means that your ovaries, situated on each side of your lower abdomen, release an egg. The egg is picked up by the fallopian tube, and this is where sperm can fertilize it before it later moves into the uterus.

If you have a regular menstrual cycle, ovulation occurs about the middle of your cycle. In a 28-day cycle this is usually around day 14 (counting from the first day of your period), but it can be earlier or later in other women.

There are many signs that tell you are ovulating. Some are:

1. Watery cervical mucus

This type of vaginal discharge makes it easy for you to conceive and eases the transport of sperm through your genital tract.

A watery, egg-like, jelly or slimy discharge occurs because of high estrogen hormones during ovulation. After ovulation ends, your cervical mucus becomes thick white discharge.

2. Increased basal temperature

After the release of an egg from your ovaries, your body hormones change with increased dominance of progesterone. This hormone causes your temperature to increase slightly above normal.

This can be detected if you’ve consistently monitored and recorded your basal temperature daily.

3. Abdominal pain

When ovulation occurs, some women will feel a sharp pain either on the right or left side of the abdomen. This pain usually subsides in a few hours (Only about 1 in 5 women experience ovulation pain, so if you don’t, it doesn’t mean something is wrong).

Other signs of ovulation are feeling weak and tired, nausea, vomiting, abdominal distension and bloating.

You can also use ovulation predictor kits or apps to help track ovulation:

• MedlinePlus – Ovulation home test: https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007062.htm

• Cleveland Clinic – Ovulation: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/23439-ovulation

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What is fertilization?

After ovulation, the end part of the fallopian tube, called fimbriae, picks up the released egg into the tube.

If you have a partner and already had unprotected sexual intercourse, sperm easily transports itself to the fallopian tube. With millions of sperm that are released during ejaculation, only one sperm can fuse with your egg.

During fertilization, the sperm fuses with the egg, and then causes a reaction that prevents other sperm from fertilizing the same egg.

After fertilization, the embryo moves slowly back towards your womb where it finally attaches itself to the wall of the uterus and starts growing. This attaching process is called implantation.

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How to tell if your egg was fertilized?

If you’ve been expecting a baby and had sexual intercourse during your fertile days, you can get pregnant. After ovulation, the egg released slowly migrates along the fallopian tube. In the fallopian tube, it waits and can be fertilized by sperm if already present.

If you’ve not had sexual intercourse before ovulation, it decreases your chances to conceive. Sperm can stay alive inside your reproductive tract for up to about 5 days, so if you had sexual intercourse a few days before ovulation, sperm may still be present waiting for “the released egg”.

On the other hand, your egg has a shorter life span and only lasts for about 12 to 24 hours. So, it’s important you track your ovulation period and have regular sexual intercourse during this time.

If your egg gets fertilized and implanted, here are symptoms you may experience. Remember that many women do not feel anything special at this time and can still be pregnant.

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1. Spotting from your vagina

After the egg and sperm fuse to form your baby, genetic materials are exchanged, and your baby begins to divide and slowly move to your uterus. At the uterus, the fertilized egg will dig through your endometrium and attach itself and start growing.

During this process of fixing itself to the endometrium, some women may experience vaginal spotting (implantation bleeding).

Implantation takes about 7–12 days after ovulation has occurred, and if you have blood from your vagina that is lighter and usually darker or brownish compared with your usual menstruation, it could be a sign of successful fertilization and implantation. However, not all spotting is implantation bleeding, and not all pregnant women will have it.

More on implantation bleeding and early pregnancy signs:

• Mayo Clinic – Symptoms of pregnancy: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/getting-pregnant/in-depth/symptoms-of-pregnancy/art-20043853

• Cleveland Clinic – Implantation bleeding: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/24536-implantation-bleeding

Red flag: Heavy bleeding, passing clots, severe one-sided pain, dizziness, or fainting are not normal implantation signs. You should see a doctor or go to the hospital urgently, as this could be a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy.

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2. Cramping in your lower abdomen

Pain in your lower abdomen is also common during implantation and occurs about a week before your next menstrual period. It is usually mild and short-lived.

If the pain is severe, getting worse, or comes with heavy bleeding, dizziness, shoulder-tip pain, or feeling very unwell, you should see a doctor immediately to rule out serious problems.

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3. Breast pain

After fertilization and implantation are completed, your baby starts growing and causes pregnancy hormones (progesterone and estrogen) to become elevated.

High levels of these hormones affect many parts of your body and your breast. During early pregnancy, you may experience breast pain and discomfort. Also, you may find that your breast feels much heavier than usual, or your nipples become more sensitive.

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4. Increased cervical mucus

Another possible sign of successful fertilization and implantation is a change in your vaginal discharge.

If you become pregnant, implantation occurs around the third week, which is a week from your expected next period.

Around this time, non-pregnant women will notice their vagina becomes dry, or they have a thick white vaginal discharge due to fall of estrogen and progesterone just before the start of period.

If pregnant, your hormone will stay elevated and cause you to feel wet due to more vaginal discharge. However, discharge alone cannot confirm pregnancy because it can also change with infections, sexual arousal, or normal cycle changes.

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Other signs of successful implantation are mood changes, headaches, pink or brown discharge from vagina, nausea, and vomiting. These are general early pregnancy symptoms and can vary a lot from woman to woman.

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When can I take a pregnancy test?

Because you already are experiencing early pregnancy symptoms does not mean you will always get a positive pregnancy test.

Like most women who have been trying to conceive for a long time, you quickly want to check with a urine pregnancy strip to determine if these signs translate to pregnancy.

The truth is you may still get a negative result if you carry out a test too early, especially before your period is due. The right time to take a pregnancy test for most women is from the first day of a missed period. Some brands suggest you can test a few days earlier, but the chance of a false negative is higher at that time.

To ensure you don’t get a false negative result, read your strip’s instructions and ensure you follow them carefully. If your period still does not come after a few days and your first test was negative, repeat the test or see your doctor.

Helpful pregnancy test information:

• NHS – Week 4 of pregnancy and home tests: https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/pregnancy/week-by-week-guide-to-pregnancy/1st-trimester/week-4/

• Tommy’s – When to take a pregnancy test and how they work: https://www.tommys.org/pregnancy-information/planning-a-pregnancy/when-to-take-a-pregnancy-test-and-how-they-work

Remember: This article is for education only and does not replace a consultation with your doctor or fertility specialist. If you have been trying to get pregnant for 12 months (or 6 months if you are 35 years or older) without success, you should see a doctor for fertility evaluation.