by When women are trying to get pregnant, the sheer anticipation can drive them to take multiple pregnancy tests. This can rapidly turn into an unnecessary expense; buying one or two tests every month gets pricey.
You can simplify matters a good deal by learning a little more about what’s going on with your body. A particularly important detail to figure out is your precise ovulation date. With that key point established, you can start counting days past ovulation, or DPO, and anticipate the earliest changes that will occur if you’re pregnant.
This article will examine 10 DPO, a date that becomes very important when you get pregnant. I’ll focus particularly on the idea of DPO in some depth, defining it thoroughly and explaining the many helpful roles it can play when you’re making a conscious effort to conceive.
In this article:
- DPO Defined
- 8 Common Symptoms at 10 DPO
- DPO Symptoms by the Day
- Can I Take a 10 DPO Pregnancy Test?
- 7 Reasons Why a Pregnancy Test Should Not Be Taken Early
- 10 DPO without Any Pregnancy Symptoms
- What Causes a Lack of Symptoms 10 DPO or A Negative Test 10 DPO with Pregnancy Symptoms?
DPO Defined
As briefly noted above, DPO stands for “days past ovulation.” This becomes a commonly seen abbreviation when you talk about cycles and pregnancy.
One of the most common DPO questions asked by prospective mothers is “how many days past ovulation should I take a pregnancy test?” Beyond that, women also want to know exactly when, in terms of DPO, the first symptoms of pregnancy start to appear.
It’s completely normal to be curious about early pregnancy symptoms when you’re trying to conceive. 10 DPO – ten days after ovulation – is a key point because this is generally the earliest possible moment when symptoms begin to appear.
Ovulation is the most convenient and reliable benchmark for pregnancy measurement because it is fairly easy for most women to identify. But how about implantation?
- Implantation would be a more pregnancy-specific start point, but it’s a lot harder to detect.
- Some women experience implantation bleeding that makes implantation easy to identify, but the majority (about two thirds) do not.
- Implantation may also cause cramping, but the sensations are much less severe than menstrual cramps and therefore easy to overlook.
If you consult with a doctor about when to take a pregnancy test, 11 DPO or 10 DPO will be the most common answer you’ll get.
Pregnancy symptoms typically start showing up one and a half weeks after ovulation if you’ve conceived. This is merely a general baseline, and many women begin experiencing symptoms as early as 8 DPO or as late as 11 DPO.
Correctly deducing what’s going on past 11 DPO can sometimes get tricky because this is roughly the same time you’ll start to experience PMS if you’re not pregnant.
Common Symptoms at 10 DPO
This collection of pregnancy symptoms simply represents the most common experiences of pregnant women. You may experience all of them or only some of them. The question of when these different symptoms will make themselves known will largely depend on how quickly your body starts to produce hCG. The most common 10 DPO symptoms include:
1. Fatigue and dullness
Fatigue is by a wide margin the most common first symptom of pregnancy. This is nearly universal; almost all pregnant women experience more feelings of fatigue than usual throughout the first trimester.
This is not hard to explain. The first trimester of the baby’s development is packed with important milestones that all demand energy from the mother’s body. Lethargy and exhaustion will gradually trail off after the first trimester.
Additional changes that contribute to feelings of tiredness include increased progesterone production and the production of more blood to meet the growing baby’s nutritional and oxygen needs.
Whenever possible, avoid the excessive use of stimulants (e.g. caffeine) to combat fatigue in the early stages of your pregnancy. High doses can harm the fetus. The best way to handle tiredness is to get more rest and ensure that your diet is healthy and well-balanced.
2. Nausea and appetite loss
Morning sickness is a special challenge that makes the first trimester that much more of a hassle for most mothers. Feelings of nausea and vomiting are caused by pregnancy toxicosis. This simply means that your body’s chemistry is changing after implantation.
Loss of appetite is a closely-associated experience that is a natural extension of vomiting and feelings of nausea. Pregnancy cravings are also caused by the same chemical changes.
3. Tenderness/tingling in the breasts and nipples
If you are pregnant, the increased levels of progesterone in your body will cause the amount of blood flowing in your breasts to increase. This can manifest itself as a feeling of tenderness that begins very early in your pregnancy.
Pain and feelings of heightened sensitivity can continue throughout your pregnancy, and some mothers may even feel the expansion of the breasts to be painful.
The growth and increased blood flow going on in this area can lead to feelings of “fullness” as well as increased sensitivity.
4. Cramps without a period
In most women’s menstrual cycles, their period is due to begin roughly ten days past ovulation. If you have successfully conceived and started a pregnancy, you won’t have a period. You can, unfortunately, look forward to having many of the same negative effects as you would have if you weren’t pregnant.
Most mothers experience cramping, mood swings, and other PMS symptoms during the first missed period. For a few women, they may even experience a light period (i.e. spotting) during the first trimester.
5. Implantation bleeding
As mentioned above, some pregnant women—roughly one-third of all mothers—experience implantation bleeding. Implantation normally occurs a week after ovulation, and if you are going to have implantation bleeding, you can expect it to show up around 10 DPO.
Implantation bleeding is notably different than a period. It is extremely light and the color is usually brown. You may have cramps along with implantation bleeding, but they are generally less severe than during a period.
6. Increased cervical mucus production
The hormonal changes in your body following a successful conception will increase the amount of cervical mucus you produce. This should be detectable by 10 DPO. This is also a common symptom of an ordinary period, but if you are pregnant, your mucus should remain clear and stringy (like egg whites) instead of becoming thick.
7. Bloating
Your body’s increased progesterone production can cause incidental digestion problems. The new hormones will slow down your digestion, potentially causing constipation and bloating. This bloating and intestinal distress can also be the cause of early pregnancy cramping.
8. Lower back pain
The digestive and cramping symptoms already outlined above can cause back pain. Try to get through this experience without resorting to painkillers. Weight gain during pregnancy should be slow and steady rather than sudden. Maintain a healthy diet and you shouldn’t experience long-term back pain while you’re pregnant.
It’s important to bear in mind that none of these symptoms guarantees pregnancy. Stress, lifestyle changes, or changes in your diet could all be responsible for very similar feelings. The only certain way to confirm a pregnancy is to take a urine test far enough into your pregnancy for significant levels of hCG to show up in your urine.
This hormone is first produced when a fertilized egg implants in the uterus, but production doesn’t really pick up until the formation of the placenta. Some women have detectable hCG levels at 10 DPO, but others may have to wait until well after missing a period to get the big fat positive (BFP) pregnancy test line.
Early pregnancy tests can detect a pregnancy as early as five days before missing your period, which equates to 10 DPO. This is roughly the same time that a blood pregnancy test can deliver positive results.
DPO Symptoms by the Day
Although some women might experience numerous early pregnancy symptoms, other people will experience no or very few symptoms. Early pregnancy symptoms can also be quite similar to symptoms that get experienced by those who take fertility medications, during PMS, or around ovulation time.
1. Zero-seven (0-7) days past ovulation
Ovulation is the time when an egg is released by an ovary. Once an egg is released by an ovary, the menstrual cycle’s luteal phase starts. The ending of the luteal phase is a menstrual period unless a pregnancy happens.
During the earliest stages of the luteal phase, women won’t experience any pregnancy symptoms. That is due to the fact that pregnancy doesn’t occur until a fertilized egg has been implanted in the uterus wall.
More progesterone is produced by the body during the luteal phase. This is a hormone that helps with sustaining an early pregnancy. Progesterone levels peak at 6-8 days following ovulation even when an individual doesn’t become pregnant.
Levels of progesterone may affect an individual’s body and mood—meaning that after around a week, the person might experience symptoms in early pregnancy that are similar to what they have prior to a period.
Once a fertilized egg has reached the uterus, it then implants itself into the uterus wall. It is referred to as implantation and marks the beginning of pregnancy. Typically, implantation occurs 6-12 days following fertilization. That is the time when women may start experiencing pregnancy symptoms, which include:
- Muscle aches and headaches
- Increased nipple sensitivity
- Food cravings
- Bloating
- Breast tenderness
However, the symptoms might occur as well in women who aren’t pregnant. That is due to the fact that there are increased progesterone levels present during the final menstrual cycle stages.
2. Seven-ten (7-10) days past ovulation
Once the fertilized egg has implanted itself into the uterus, about one-third of individuals will notice some spotting or light bleeding, which is referred to as implantation bleeding.
Typically, the spotting only lasts for one or two days and is a very light flow. One of the earliest signs of pregnancy is implantation bleeding since it occurs around the same time that a woman becomes pregnant.
However, even after an individual notices bleeding around implantation time, they still might not receive a positive pregnancy test. The person might end up having a very early miscarriage referred to as a chemical pregnancy, or something else might cause the bleeding.
The body at implantation starts to produce human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), which is a pregnancy hormone. HCG, along with estrogen and progesterone, cause early pregnancy symptoms. Also, it is the hormone that is identified by pregnancy tests.
However, it may take several days before hCG reaches a level that can be detected, so the hormone might not be picked up by pregnancy tests, and symptoms might not immediately develop.
3. Eleven-fourteen (11-14) days past ovulation
Levels of hCG a couple of days following implementation might not be high enough for early pregnancy symptoms to occur. However, it is also the menstrual cycle phase where it is most likely for an individual to experience symptoms indicating that they are ready to get their period.
Individuals who are aware of the way that their bodies behave every month may be able to identify better whether the symptoms they have are due to regular menstruation or pregnancy.
Other early pregnancy symptoms include:
- Gastrointestinal changes, like diarrhea or cramping
- Increased need for using the bathroom
- Increased hunger or food cravings
- Fatigue
- Darkening in nipple color
By the time that an individual has experienced several symptoms of early pregnancy, it may be that there are high enough hCG levels that a pregnancy can be indicated by a pregnancy test. However, levels of hCG can vary so that isn’t always true.
Can I Take a 10 DPO Pregnancy Test?
Yes, a pregnancy test can be taken any time one week from ovulation and receive a positive result. However, most likely the results will be inaccurate.
It is best to wait to take a pregnancy test until the day following your missed period. Your body at this point should have sufficient pregnancy hormone levels to trigger a result that is positive if you really are pregnant. A specific hCG concentration in urine is detected by the pregnancy tests. To be classified as pregnant, a woman needs to have 25 mIU/mL hCG levels.
Also, trying to guess by watching for the 10 DPO symptoms and charting your basal body temperature doesn’t guarantee you are pregnant. At times, you might have exaggerated PMS and a late period, so even when you’re not pregnant you may have similar symptoms.
A pregnancy test may be taken one week after ovulation. However, the best time for taking a pregnancy test is one day after missing your period. That helps to ensure that you get results that are 90% accurate at least.
Implantation at 10 DPO has just occurred recently. That means your body is only beginning to make those initial changes that take place during a pregnancy’s first trimester.
A majority of women taking a pregnancy test at that stage to find out if they are pregnant will see a faint or very faint positive result. A standard positive result will be received by a smaller percentage.
If you take a pregnancy test during this stage and you get negative results, just be patient and then try again in a couple of days. Your body should be given some time for it to develop high enough hCG levels so that a positive result is triggered.
Reasons Why a Pregnancy Test Should Not Be Taken Early
Whether you pee on a stick numerous or one time per month, there are a number of good reasons why early tests should not be taken. Here, we will be defining “early” as a test that is taken prior to when your period is due. Although technically, if you take a pregnancy test on the due date of your period that is early as well.
If you are tempted to take a test right now, set your pregnancy test aside and first read this.
1. Your worries really won’t be calmed even if you receive an early positive result.
Say you do receive an early positive result on your pregnancy test. Time to celebrate! Well, kind of. As an aficionado of pregnancy tests, you are aware that early testing may detect a pregnancy that doesn’t end up lasting.
You can’t really consider your cycle to be truly positive until you receive a positive result at 15-16 DPO, or after your period is already late. Also, if a cheap test is giving you a positive result, most likely you’ll want to “test” these results by using a more expensive brand of test.
If it is negative, you will just be worrying and fretting until you are able to test once again on the following day.
2. You will be disappointed if it is negative.
You are aware that the chances of obtaining a positive result when you are 10 DPO are very, very, very small. If you are at 5 DPO, you are simply wasting testing kits.
Still, you feel disappointed whenever you see the negative result even though you are aware that it probably will be negative even when you have been pregnant during this month.
Don’t take a pregnancy test and avoid all of the extra disappointment.
3. You are not going to believe the results anyway.
Whenever you get a negative result, you don’t rest easy and accept the result. No questions are really answered by the early test. All it does is confirm there is no pregnancy hormone in your urine yet.
You never really know whether it is really negative until you either get your period or not and then you test. But you already know this.
4. Detecting a really early miscarriage is more likely.
You are a lot more likely to detect a pregnancy ending in a really early miscarriage with early testing. A really early miscarriage at times is referred to as chemical pregnancy.
Although a majority of women may just think their period was a bit late, your early tests will tell you that it was a lost pregnancy and not just a period that was a day late.
According to one study at least, early miscarriages can occur as much as 31% of the time. However, a majority of women do not realize that they have had one.
If pregnancy is picked up on by an early test, it gives you time to bond with the small embryo. If you do end up having a miscarriage, even when your period comes on time exactly that month, you will still grieve.
That can be very heartbreaking. If that early test was never taken, then you wouldn’t have known about the miscarriage. However, we do understand there are some women who want to know whether they were pregnant or not, even if it was only for one or two weeks.
5. You might pick hormones up from fertility treatments accidentally.
If you are undergoing fertility treatment, the hormones from the injections might be picked up by an early pregnancy test. More specifically, if you took a trigger shot—or an hCG injection, sold under certain brand names such as Profasi, Pregnyl, Novarel, or Ovidrel—then pregnancy hormones are being injected into your system.
That means that taking a pregnancy test on the day after you had an injection will give you a positive result. That doesn’t mean that you are really pregnant.
If you like hoarding pregnancy tests, then you may want to take the test to see a positive result just for fun. However, assuming that you take the test in order to find out whether you are really pregnant or not, then with these injectables you should avoid taking early tests.
Wait 10 days at least following the injection, or it is even better to wait for 12 days at least.
6. You waste a lot of money.
You say you buy a really cheap test. It really isn’t a lot of money. That is true only if you take only one test for each cycle. With really cheap tests, or dollar store ones, you are not spending a lot of money.
However, if you take multiple tests, then the costs definitely can add up. Particularly, over many months of attempting to get pregnant.
7. When early tests are taken, it feeds into insanity for two weeks.
Waiting for two weeks is an anxious, crazy time already. You might think taking a test will make it less intense; however, it doesn’t really.
This two-week insanity comes from the uncertainty that occurs between ovulation and your usual menstruation. You wonder whether this month you will really get pregnant. You won’t ever know until you have a later period and take a test then.
See above what occurs if an early test gives you a positive or negative result. Neither is a satisfying result. You will still be in doubt. If you have read through all of the above reasons and are tempted still, at least you did try.
10 DPO without Any Pregnancy Symptoms
If you are 10 days past ovulation (DPO) but still haven’t noticed any symptoms of pregnancy, there is nothing to worry about. Symptoms are uncommon so soon in the pregnancy. Most women don’t even know that they are pregnant until their period fails to show up on time.
Any symptoms that do appear this early in the pregnancy are often attributed to other factors. For instance, if you feel more bloated than usual or experience an increase in gas, your first instinct is probably to blame your diet rather than attributing it to pregnancy.
Even if you don’t have symptoms at this point, you still may be pregnant. Typically, symptoms don’t appear until later in the first trimester. Keep in mind as well that even if your period is late or doesn’t show up at all, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are pregnant.
If you are taking birth control, 10 DPO symptoms are even more unreliable. Oftentimes, women misidentify the side effects of stopping their birth control pills, thinking that they are early symptoms of pregnancy. It is equally as possible to have absolutely no PMS symptoms 10 DPO and still wind up with a positive pregnancy test.
While many women experience cramping, changes in mood, and pain during menstruation, other women don’t have any symptoms at all. Any symptoms that occur during this time in the cycle are easy to overlook. In fact, women sometimes don’t even notice that they are experiencing any changes in symptoms even though they are pregnant.
Alternatively, they may think they are pregnant when they really are not. In extreme cases, a condition known as pseudocyesis can occur where a woman has all of the symptoms of pregnancy even though she is not pregnant.
What Causes a Lack of Symptoms 10 DPO or A Negative Test 10 DPO with Pregnancy Symptoms?
The 10 days following ovulation are a short blip on the radar when compared to the total length of a typical pregnancy. Although it is possible to have symptoms this early on, it is equally as possible that you are misidentifying them or causing them by being too focused on them. Here are some commonplace explanations for some symptoms:
- Symptoms like gas commonly occur as a result of eating the wrong types of food.
- More severe symptoms like vomiting can result from food poisoning.
- If you are taking birth control pills, late periods can occur.
- Sleepiness or fatigue can be the result of having too much going on in your life.
- Mood swings are also quite common and can occur without any underlying cause.
If you don’t experience any symptoms of early pregnancy 10 days past ovulation, you shouldn’t be concerned. It may take up to two weeks after you miss your first period to obtain a positive test for pregnancy.
Oftentimes, not having early pregnancy symptoms is a good thing since it means that development is occurring gradually. Nausea this early on may be caused by toxicosis, indicating that your body is struggling with the pregnancy.
In most cases, however, there aren’t any symptoms 10 DPO. During the time between ovulation and your period, it is still extremely early in the pregnancy, meaning that your body probably hasn’t begun undergoing any major changes.
In Summary
You might be surprised to learn that doctors consider a lack of symptoms to be a positive sign. If you have any symptoms during this time, it usually means that your period is going to come.
Whether you are hoping for pregnancy or worried about an unwanted pregnancy, the two weeks between ovulation and your period can feel like an eternity. A lot of times, people try to estimate when they ovulate by keeping an eye on their symptoms or through the use of over-the-counter tests for ovulation.
If you don’t experience any 10 DPO symptoms, it is nothing to worry about. Even though a lot of women say that they knew that they were pregnant right at conception, the majority of doctors disagree since it is impossible to know for sure so early in a pregnancy. The best option is to wait and see if your period arrives.
Early pregnancy can’t be confirmed only by symptoms. In fact, many people who are pregnant don’t have any symptoms at all during the earliest days. The most reliable way to know whether or not you are pregnant is by taking a pregnancy test. If you are overly focused on how you feel, you can actually create symptoms with your mind even when they don’t really exist.
