You may experience a lot of milky or pale yellow vaginal discharge during early pregnancy. Once sperm and egg meet, the volume of discharge can increase as your vagina tries to get rid of bacteria that might be harmful to the new pregnancy.
An increase in vaginal discharge can be a sign of pregnancy. It is typically a thin clear, or milky white liquid. Changes to discharge appearance can indicate several health conditions.
However, if you conceived at ovulation, you may still produce some cervical mucus. This can indicate to some women that they might have conceived. In other cases, implantation bleeding occurs. Implantation cervical mucus is tinged brown or pink.
Fertile discharge is thin, clear or white, and slippery, much the same as an egg white. This type of discharge signals that ovulation is approaching. Fertile cervical fluid helps sperm move up the cervix to fertilize an egg. It also keeps the sperm healthy during the journey.
The bleeding and cramps, however, are slight. Besides bleeding, a woman may notice a white, milky discharge from their vagina. That's related to the thickening of the vagina's walls, which starts almost immediately after conception.
After ovulation, your cervical mucus thickens or dries up, then you eventually get your period. However, if you conceived at ovulation, you may still produce some cervical mucus and vaginal discharge. This can indicate to some women that they might have conceived.
Cramping and spotting: A brown vaginal discharge for 1-2 days is experienced after a successful implantation. Some women may also experience cramping on the days during implantation. Breast discomfort: Tenderness of the breasts can be experienced along with light swelling.
Also, what some people consider "implantation symptoms" might actually be premenstrual symptoms. Some examples are sore breasts, nausea, darkening of the areolas, fatigue, headaches, bloating, mood swings, a metallic taste in the mouth, and changes in appetite, says Dr. Acevedo.
Some pregnant people (but not all) see a small amount of brown or pink discharge or spotting at the very beginning of pregnancy, around the time their period is due. This may be a sign of implantation—when an embryo implants in the uterine lining, about 10 days after fertilization.
Clear and stretchy — This is “fertile” mucous and means you're ovulating. Clear and watery — This occurs at different times of your cycle and can be particularly heavy after exercising. Yellow or green — May indicate an infection, especially if it's thick or clumpy like cottage cheese or has a foul odor.
After ovulation, your body starts producing less and less cervical mucus. The mucus that you do see after ovulation, whether on your underwear or on your fingers, may look cloudy and feel sticky.
In early pregnancy, there may be noticeably more of this mucus than usual. It may also have a runny, watery consistency. If a person experiences implantation bleeding, the cervical fluid may have a pink tinge.
After fertilisation, the egg and sperm very quickly merge and divide to become an embryo and chemicals are released to stop other sperm from entering. Over the next four or five days the fertilised egg continues to divide and to travel towards the uterus.
This hormone sends a message to the corpus luteum to keep producing progesterone. Progesterone will keep the uterus lining intact and ready to maintain the pregnancy. Implantation happens around 6 to 10 days after ovulation, but it can happen as early as 6 days or as late as 12 days.
Some fertile eggs will have visible embryos as early as day 4, but many fertile eggs will not until Day 7. This is why most people candle eggs on day 7.
An increase in discharge can be a sign of early pregnancy. This discharge may look similar to the discharge you experience when you aren't pregnant, but it may be slightly more yellow and have a sticky texture.
You may feel very tired and have nausea, breasts that feel tender or sore, and heightened sensitivity to smell. You may also notice light spotting (from implantation bleeding). Other common early pregnancy symptoms include mood swings, frequent urination, bloating, food aversions, and excess saliva.
You can predict this by checking and tracking cervical mucus changes. To do this, look at and/or touch your vaginal discharge to determine its consistency and color. If it is very watery and stretchy and resembles raw egg whites, you are likely to ovulate soon.
A few days before ovulation, the mucus will be thin and slippery, similar to the consistency of egg whites. After ovulation, the mucus will go back to being cloudy, white or yellow, and possibly sticky or tacky.