Pregnancy, undeniably, is one of the most beautiful experiences of a woman’s life. If you are a mamma trying your way around having a baby, you probably have already exhausted most of your time on the internet, researching your way around implantation. No matter how much you read, there is always something more you want to know about this phenomenon. Questions and curiosity never curb, and why should they? Pregnancy is a serious experience and it needs to be experienced with serious, viable knowledge.
However, in the noise of facts, there could also be a lot of misleading information that can have you find yourself in double minds. Let us talk about all of that and more.
Implantation & Fertilization correlation, implantation timeline, testing, signs, and symptoms: Here’s everything you need to know about when does the implantation occur
1.First things first- What is Implantation?
You, as a mother, might not even realize that you are carrying a baby in your stomach for the longest time. A lot of mothers have been uninformed of their pregnancy for as long as a month, and come to learn of it only after taking a test on missing periods. Your body, however, has been hard at work. Implantation is when the fertilized egg successfully attaches (or implants) itself to the lining of the uterine wall.
At this point, it needs to be cleared that fertilization and sign of implantation do not happen at the same time. An egg might have undergone fertilization as long a week before implantation. However, it is only after implantation that your body begins to produce Human Chorionic Gonadotropin or hCG- the hormone a pregnancy test looks at to determine a positive or a negative test.
2.So when does implantation really occur?
The female body really works in ways and lets us understand how- The ovaries release a mature egg into the woman’s fallopian tube each month which is called ovulation. Now, if you happen to have had intercourse up to a week prior to ovulation, sperms in the fallopian tube met this mature egg. If everything happens to work in your favor, fertilization occurs at this meeting of the mature egg and the sperm. This meeting happens over a week’s time.
Implantation timeline , on average, occurs about 8-10 days after ovulation; but in some cases, can happen also on the 6th day or even on the 12th day. Hence, for some women, implantation can occur on the 20th day of their menstrual cycle, while for some, it can also happen on the 26th day of their menstrual cycle. One code does not fit all women, making pregnancy and counting weeks really difficult.
3.How long does implantation last for?
While pregnancy does last for over months, implantation symptoms typically lasts only a few days. Funny for a process that causes a baby right? This is because once implantation is completed, the fertilized egg – or the embryo- snugged to the uterine wall begins to produce hCG or Human Chorionic Gonadotropin. It is only if your body has active hCG that your pregnancy test will result positive. Your body’s progesterone levels, at this point, also begin to rise as they are responsible for nourishing the uterine lining and canceling your periods.
4.But when should one take a pregnancy test then?
By the rules, you are pregnant as soon as the implantation takes place. However, even for the most sensitive pregnancy test, it will take at least 10 days to test pregnancy. Ovulation, fertilization, and implantation have their own timelines and frameworks and they all need to be in the correct harmony for you to test pregnant. And as we said, one code doe not fit all women and not all will test positive as others.
Post implantation of the embryo, hCG levels take time to rise to a level that can be identified by a pregnancy test. Hence, it will only make sense for you to wait AT LEAST until the day1 of your missed periods to pee on a stick and determine pregnancy.
5.Will I be able to feel the signs of implantation?
This could be a little annoying but there’s still no better way to say this- one code does not fit all women. While, for some, implantation could be a breeze and a process that they don’t even realize took place; for some, mild cramping could occur. Doctors, and professionals, so far, however, do not have a certainly proven theory to relate an association between the two. Just be your best and do not deny the chances of implantation just because you feel absolutely normal and painless.
6.Okay, are there at least some Implantation symptoms?
The symptoms of implantation can actually be related to the symptoms of early pregnancy. This is because there’s no real correlation between the actual time of implantation and actual implantation symptoms.
- Symptoms of early pregnancy include menstrual cramps right around the time when implantation is supposed to take place. This could be associated with the rise of progesterone levels that take place during the second half of your menstrual cycles; despite the fact, you are pregnant or otherwise.
- Another symptom that can be associated with implantation is implantation bleeding. A small amount of spotting and staining might occur right after the conception of a baby or a few days before your menstrual cycle, called implantation bleeding. It is experienced by almost a third of women but again, there exists no scientific data to proves a correlation between implantation and bleeding.
- Nausea happens to be another infamous symptom of implantation in early pregnancy. Women might also start to develop an unexplainable liking towards some food and also unexplainable dislike towards some others. (Cravings, ladies?)
- Tender breasts, bloating and constipation are also felt by most women at this point in time. Due to the change in levels of hormones, breasts tend to swell and feel unusually sensitive and sore. Just as common as tender breasts are constipation and bloating also take place for most women as an implantation symptom.
- Well, this one, no one can flight. You, as an expecting mother (aware or unaware), are producing a full-blown human being inside of you, and fatigue or tiredness is bound to happen. If you like aking a nap or crashing down even after the simplest of activities, such tiredness might signal early pregnancy – again, due to the rise in progesterone and increased blood volume.
- Mood swings and headaches might also be experienced by some women as a common implantation symptom. While pounding headaches may be caused due to the r increased blood volume; hormones need to be blamed for mood swings and being triggered by even the most irrelevant things.
Final Thoughts-
Bothered and overwhelmed with the information, or rather, at the thought of the symptoms and all that you might have to go through? Worry not! You have been given the power to produce because you can. Think about holding your little one, your own flesh and blood, your by-product in your hands at the end of all, and let the congratulation be in order!
Reviewed By:
Esha Chainani - Obstetrician and Gynaecologist
Dr. Esha Chainani is an Obstetrician, Gynaecologist, and laparoscopic surgeon who aims to break the stigma around women’s health by advocating an inclusive and open practice of obstetrics and gynecology and an author of several internationally published research papers and health articles in the media like the Swaddle.
She also founded Premaa, a non-profit to reduce maternal morbidity and eventual maternal mortality by providing lower-income pregnant women living in urban areas with cell phone access through an app that can feature an entire section about contraception as well for a whole gamut of reproductive health.
A panel for multiple health sessions including with the UN, USAID, BMC, gender at work, and multiple non-profit organisations, and is on the advisory panel of the South Indian medical students association.
