Positive pregnancy test but curious symptoms and timing
Hello, I'm new here. This first one is going to be a bit long but am very curious about the timing of pregnancy and the sypmtoms I've been experiencing.
For context, I stopped taking low dose HBC the end of Nov '22 after being on it for almost a decade. I wanted to give my body some time to adjust and see what my cycles were like before actively trying to conceive. I had my first period off HBC end of Dec (brown spotting from Dec 29th-Dec 31st, red blood Jan 1st-4th). I had cramps that were a little more painful than when on HBC, but nothing too severe. Prior to being on HBC I had very long, painful periods, so moderate cramping and a shorter period were welcome. Come Jan 29th I had brown spotting again, red blood Jan 30th-Feb 3rd. Same moderate cramps. My period was never this consistent pre-HBC so I wasn't sure if the first few months were a fluke.
After Feb 3rd my husband and I started to try to get pregnant. The end of Feburary came and went, no period. Still no period so I tested March 9th, negative. the next day I had brown spotting, similar to the start of my last two periods, so I assumed it would come soon. From March 10th-14th I had brown spotting, nothing too heavy, but the dark blood never came. I had a consistent headache for a few days around that time, but just chalked all of it up to my hormones trying to balance out finally. Not long after I started getting random cramping, which has been fairly consistent now for about 2 weeks, fatigue, and mood swings. I just assumed it was more of my body finding a balance of hormones, but took a test this morning out of curiosity. Sure enough it came back positive!
My biggest thing is I cannot figure out if the brown spotting March 10th-14th was my period or something else? Having a hard time using a due date calculator as a result (although I'm sure those probably aren't really accurate). I'm also concerned about the cramping. Most of the time it's a dull, consistent pain, but there have been a few times they were as bad as my worst period cramps. I haven't had any spotting, but wanted to know if it was normal?
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