You spent hours documenting your cervical mucus, taking ovulation tests, and checking your basal body temperature. You’re pretty sure that you had implantation signs – but how long after implantation can you test?
Trying to conceive is more complicated than most realize. A lot happens in our bodies to have a successful conception and pregnancy.
Waiting to find out if the stars lined up this month feels like ages – that’s why they call it the two-week wait.
It’s no fun!
The temptation to take a pregnancy test earlier is real, but that often leads to false results and serious disappointment. Waiting for a few more days after implantation will ensure the results you get are accurate.
Let’s take a deeper look at implanting and when you can test after implantation.
When Does Implantation Occur During Pregnancy?
Implantation is when the fertilized egg attaches to the uterine walls, but before the egg is able to implant, it has to take a bit of a journey.
Everything starts when you ovulate, typically around cycle day 14 (but this varies for every woman). Once you ovulate, the egg lives for 12 to 24 hours, waiting for fertilization to take place.
After sperm meets egg, the journey starts.
The fertilized egg has to travel down your fallopian tube, a narrow, hollow structure that leads from your ovaries to the uterus. This process takes around five days.
At that point, you are between six and seven days post-ovulation.
Once the fertilized egg arrives in your uterus, it begins the process of implantation, but implantation doesn’t happen immediately. On average, implantation takes place between six to 12 days after you ovulate.
It’s a huge range, but conception isn’t the same for every person, which makes it hard to determine when to test after implantation.
What Are The Signs of Implantation?
It’s impossible to know for sure if implantation took place, but look for these signs of successful implantation.
- Implantation bleeding
- Sore Breasts
- Increased Basal Temperature
- Frequent Urination
- Missed Period
It’s important to note that several of these signs are also common during the luteal phase, pregnant or not, because of the rise of progesterone that takes place after ovulation.
Hormones are wild!
Is It Implantation Bleeding or a Period?
Not all women have implantation bleeding, and even if you had it once, nothing guarantees that you’ll experience this again when you get pregnant again.
Having implantation bleeding is a bit concerning, especially if you aren’t expecting it. You need to distinguish between an implantation bleed and a period.
- Spotting or discharged caused by implantation is often dark brown or light pink. Period blood is bright or dark red.
- Implantation bleeding will not cause any clots, but clots happen with menstrual cycles often.
- An implantation bleed lasts for several hours to a day. It’s typically light, stopping and starting. If your bleeding gets heavier and lasts longer than four days, it’s your period.
- Implantation bleeding happens typically eight to ten days after ovulation, but your period should happen 14 days after ovulation.
- The cramps associated with implantation are mild and rarely last long. Period cramps are stronger.
How Long After Sex Does Implantation Happen?
As you can tell, the process from sexual intercourse to implantation takes time; it’s a detailed journey.
It all starts with the release of an egg from the ovary. Then, you need to have sex, releasing sperm to seek the egg.
Conception, when the sperm fertilizes the egg, takes place as soon as three minutes after sex – yes really! – or as late as five days after sex. Sperm lives for several days if you have the right cervical mucus, which is why you don’t have to have sexual intercourse exactly when you ovulate.
Within a week, the fertilized egg is in the uterus and implants into the uterus.
That means that implantation takes place anywhere from seven to 14 days after sexual intercourse.
Related Post: 35 Fertility Affirmations for Hope and Positivity
How Long After Implantation Does HCG Rise?
Let’s learn about the rise of HCG after the egg implants in your uterus.
When the egg leaves the ovary, it leaves behind the egg remains called the corpus luteum. This is what releases estrogen and progesterone.
When the egg isn’t fertilized, the progesterone levels drop, and the lining comes away. That’s your period.
However, once a fertilized egg implants into your uterus, your body sends a signal to the corpus luteum to continue producing progesterone to maintain the uterine lining. Then, the placenta starts to form, releasing a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin.
Try saying that three times fast.
Everyone calls this hormone hCG. All women have small amounts of hCG in their bodies – yes, even when you aren’t pregnant – but implantation triggers the increased production. Natural levels are too low for pregnancy tests to detect.
This rise is gradual, doubling every 48 to 72 hours, but that takes time.
The rise of hCG begins almost immediately after implantation, but those levels won’t be detectable for several days.
How Long After Implantation Can You Test?
If you’re able to pinpoint the exact day of implantation, it will take four to five days for the level of hCG to be detectable.
Even then, your pregnancy might only be detectable on a blood test, which is significantly more sensitive than at-home urine pregnancy tests.
Typically, most at-home pregnancy tests don’t detect hCG until it’s above 25 mIU/ml, but a blood test tells you the exact levels in your body. Taking a test when your levels are too low will cause a super faint positive line or a false negative.
To test or not to test, that is the real question.
Testing early is fine if you understand the pregnancy test may not be accurate. Pregnancy tests are most accurate after you’ve missed a period. Taking it any sooner, even if you think the egg implanted, leads to inaccurate results.
That’s why, if you wonder how long after sex can implantation happen, I recommend waiting longer and missing a period before testing.