Hello - I don't really have anyone to ask about this in my personal life, and I'm just hoping to hear the thoughts of some other folks without the fear of judgment. I am wondering if I experienced a chemical pregnancy or just an abnormal period.
For context, I have what I would call predictably irregular periods, but what I am experiencing now does not follow that pattern. Typically, I have a monthly cycle, however, every other month I have "phantom" periods. What I mean by that is that every month, my hormones seem to fluctuate, I get PMS, bloating, cramping, etc., but I only bleed every other month. When I do bleed, it is dark brown or dark red and only lasts 3-4 days.
At the end of September (23-29th), I was sexually active for the first time in 2.5 years. I have a birth control implant in my arm, but it is out of date and I am also overweight which I read makes it less effective, and my partner and I did not use any other birth control method (ie., condoms).
I was set to have a proper period with blood this month on October 15th. The 15th came and went with no period, so I took a pregnancy test that day, and it was negative. On the 17th, I had a small amount of very watery pink blood come out, which only lasted a few hours and was very minimal. When it stopped so quickly, with so little blood, and the blood was a color atypical for me, I became a bit concerned about it potentially being implantation bleeding. I know that you wouldn't test positive until a few days post-implantation, but I tested anyway, and it was negative (no big surprise). Today, however, I started to feel some cramping and pain in my abdomen and lower back, so, out of an abundance of caution, I got another test, and when I went to take it, there was already some dark blood in my underwear. I took the test anyway, and it was negative.
My question is, could this have been a very, very early chemical pregnancy? Would there be any way to confirm? It's the not knowing that is chewing me up.
I believe I lost a chemical or early pregnancy about 3-4 years ago. In that case I'd had really abnormal amounts of blood and pain, followed by a faint positive test then a later negative test. Part of me feels that this experience has sort of primed me to be cautious about this now.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!