What Does DPO Mean for Pregnancy?

Whether you’ve been hoping to get pregnant or are just beginning to get a handle on the ins and outs of fertility, predicting when you ovulate and understanding DPO can be incredibly helpful for your reproductive journey.

What does DPO mean for pregnancy?

“DPO” is shorthand for days past ovulation. Typically, women are only alerted to the possibility of a pregnancy at 14 or 15 DPO. This milestone is generally considered the soonest a woman can observe (very subtle!) symptoms of early pregnancy.

While a home pregnancy test will deliver more accurate results, assessing DPO symptoms can nevertheless be a helpful way to tune into your body as you gear up for a major change. Consider the following a crash course in when to take an at-home test, early pregnancy symptoms, and the critical link between ovulation tracking and fertility.

How early can you find out if you’re pregnant?

If you’ve stumbled across the term DPO, you may have been surfing the mom forums for answers about when you can finally take a home pregnancy test.

Some at-home pregnancy tests can tell you as early as 10 days after an egg has been fertilized—but not all early pregnancy tests are 100% accurate. For some people, it may be worth waiting a few more days (less than a week!) to reduce your chances of getting a false positive pregnancy test result or negative result.

At-Home vs. Clinical Pregnancy Tests

OTC at-home pregnancy tests work by screening your urine for human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). This hormone surges in the first trimester of a healthy pregnancy, and can usually be detected in urine or blood around 2 weeks after conception.

At-home OTC pregnancy tests are the norm for many American women, but they aren’t the only way to find out whether you’re pregnant. Some women may seek out a blood pregnancy test with their healthcare provider if:

• Their family has a history of carrying multiples
• They’ve experienced a miscarriage or high-risk pregnancy before

While an OTC pregnancy test screens for the presence of hCG, it can’t tell you how much of the hormone is circulating in your body. Different hCG hormone levels may indicate certain traits of a pregnancy. For instance, high levels of hCG in the first trimester might indicate you’re expecting twins (or more). In contrast, low hCG hormone levels are often treated with caution, as they may signify possible complications, like an ectopic pregnancy or high-risk pregnancy.

With that, if you have any concerns regarding pregnancy outcomes, it may be worth having a pregnancy test performed by a physician as opposed to using a store-bought test.

8 Subtle Early Pregnancy Symptoms

When you’re planning a pregnancy, the days and weeks before it’s time to get tested can be filled with anticipation. If you’re eager to take a test but it’s not quite time yet, note that some women observe subtle body cues indicating expectancy even before that 2-week mark.

Some commonly reported ultra-early signs of pregnancy include:

• Tender breasts, caused by the influx of estrogen and progesterone following conception.
• Darker-looking nipples, which some women report in addition to breast tenderness
• Spotting, which some ⅓ of pregnant women notice as a result of implantation bleeding.
• Fatigue, a result of the extra work your body is doing to protect and support your embryo’s growth.
• Nausea, which in some women can start as early as 2 weeks after a sperm fertilizes an egg. Fortunately, there are several methods to deal with headaches during pregnancy.
• Escalating trips to the bathroom, as your dilating uterus may put extra pressure on your bladder.
• Mild pelvic pain, thanks to the surge of reproductive hormones encouraging the uterus to expand.
• Bloating, constipation, or digestive discomfort, resulting from extra progesterone’s effect on your digestive tract.

Importantly, many of these signs overlap with common PMS symptoms. While it can be inspiring to tune into your anatomy, an accurate verdict will require a pregnancy test in addition to observing your body’s cues.

How to Track Ovulation

The single most effective measure of enhancing your chances of conception is to become more fluent in your body’s rhythms. Your fertile window is a period of time, right around ovulation, when you’ll have the highest chances of introducing your egg to viable sperm suitors.

Your fertile window—and the best times to have procreative sex—encompasses:

• 5 days before you ovulate
• On the day you ovulate
• 1 day after you ovulate (i.e., DPO)

Determining your window with precision will require you to get a clear sense of when you ovulate. There are several methods for doing so.

Cervical Mucus

The most readily available way to know when you ovulate is by monitoring your cervical mucus, sometimes called vaginal discharge.

Around ovulation, you may notice two distinctive differences in your cervical mucus:

• Consistency – When you’re fertile, your cervical mucus feels viscous, wet, and clear (it’s often compared to the texture of egg whites). This consistency assists with lubrication and makes it easier to “trap” any sperm and coax them closer to your egg.
• Volume – Moreover, cervical mucus output during ovulation is typically higher than during other parts of your menstrual cycle, and you may notice it in your underwear or when you use the bathroom.

It’s recommended you track your cervical mucus patterns for at least 1 month before trying to get pregnant. However, if you experience menstrual irregularity, you may find some difficulty in timing your fertile window. In this case, it may be worth implementing other methods of ovulation tracking.

Basal Body Temperature

Basal body temperature, or BBT, refers to the temperature of your body when it’s at rest. A woman’s BBT elevates very slightly when she ovulates (usually by no more than .5ºF).

Using this method requires a slightly more proactive approach. You’ll need to wake up at the same time each morning—before you engage in any activities—to take your temperature using a special BBT thermometer. Moreover, it’s recommended you track your BBT for several months before using data to try to get pregnant: when your BBT rises, you’ve already ovulated, leaving a smaller window for you to attempt conception with a partner.

Ovulation Kits

Ovulation kits work by screening urine for escalating levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), the hormone responsible for triggering an egg’s dispatch from the ovary. These tests will alert you approximately 1 day before ovulation, giving you around 3 days to try for a baby naturally.

However, like cervical consistency tracking, this method may be less effective if you experience menstrual irregularity.

Fertility Challenges and When to See a Specialist

Not everyone has an easy time getting pregnant, and national data estimates some 11% of women and 9% of men have dealt with infertility. The further fertility research progresses, the more discoveries scientists are making about the complex potential factors that may contribute to adversities.

Some variables currently being researched include:

• Body weight – Recent studies have shown that obesity is associated with a lower-than-average sperm count in men. In women, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and obesity are closely related, both of which can contribute to fertility issues. Fortunately, weight loss is one effective way to rehabilitate ovulation cycles and fertility in many women.
• Thyroid disorders – Anovulation, or the absence of ovulation, is responsible for 40% of female infertility cases. Thyroid disorders, a group of endocrinal abnormalities that interfere with healthy hormonal cycles, can often contribute to anovulation. Fortunately, infertility caused by a thyroid condition can often be reconciled with medication.
• Endocrine disruptors – Research into endocrine disruptors is still relatively new, but scientists are in consensus about their potentially adverse effects on both male and female fertility. Phthalates and phenols, for instance, were not only found to interfere with reproductive cycles but may interfere with the development of babies in-utero.

It’s normal to feel overwhelmed by the possible inhibitors of fertility when your heart is set on having a baby. Consulting with a fertility specialist can be an efficient, reassuring way to assess and troubleshoot any challenges you’re contending with. You might consider seeing a specialist if:

• You’ve been trying for 6 months or more to get pregnant
• You’re over the age of 35
• You have a history of miscarriage
• You have irregular menstrual cycles
• You’re living with an STI
• You’re being treated for a major health condition, like cancer

One of the hardest parts of confronting fertility challenges is accepting that some factors are within our control, and others aren’t.

If you’re struggling to get pregnant on your own, it can help to focus on those variables you and your partner do have agency over. With a professional ally in your corner, you’ll have the clearest possible picture of how you can advance that agency for the benefit and well-being of your future family.

Keep Informed On All Things Fertility with SneakPeek

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Sources:

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