If you have just had sex and are worried that you could be pregnant here are a few things to keep in mind.
1. You can have sex and not get pregnant.
For a woman to become pregnant, a few things must take place. About halfway through her cycle, a woman’s body releases an egg into her uterus – something called ovulation. That egg has up to 24 hours to be fertilized by sperm before it dies.
Sperm can survive for around five days. This means a woman can conceive (become pregnant) from sex that took place five days before her body released an egg. Sex that takes place in the 24 hours after the egg is released can also lead to pregnancy.
According to yourfertility.com, if a woman “has sex five days before she ovulates, her probability of pregnancy is about 10 percent. If she has sex on the day of ovulation, or the two days before, the chance of getting pregnant is around 30 percent.” This means that even if all the stars align there is still only a 30 percent chance that a woman will get pregnant.
2. A pregnancy test measures your HCG levels.
HCG (the easy way of saying human chorionic gonadotropin) is a hormone that appears in your body after the fertilization of an egg. According to the American Pregnancy Association, HCG is “made by cells formed in the placenta, which nourishes the egg after it has been fertilized and becomes attached to the uterine wall.” The earliest signs of HCG can be detected through a blood test. For a woman taking a urinary pregnancy test, it is best to take the test 12-14 days after sex.
3. Have you missed your period?
If you are unsure of when you ovulated, or are concerned you conceived during that time, check to see if you’ve missed your period. Missing a period is one of the earliest signs of pregnancy. When checking to see if you’ve missed your period, count 28 days out from the first day of your last period. If you’ve passed the 28-day mark, you may want to take a pregnancy test. As Health Line states “Keep in mind that your period can sometimes be delayed or skipped due to stress, diet, exercise, or certain medical conditions.” Missing your period is not a guarantee that you are pregnant but for your peace of mind, it may be worth taking a test.
4. When is the best time to take a pregnancy test?
a. If you believe you could be pregnant and have missed your period
b. If you believe you could be pregnant and have not yet missed your period, you can take a test 12-14 days after sex.
If you think you may be pregnant, consult a women’s clinic, or a medical facility, like your local hospital or gynecologist. Your most important resource is information.
Call (815) 242-6402 to schedule your free and confidential appointment. Our staff is here to provide the most accurate and up-to-date information about your options for the future.
Written by: Dr. Amy Beckley, PhD, Founder and Inventor of the Proov test — the first and only FDA-cleared test to check for successful ovulation at home.
Written on: 6/1/22
Understanding how long it takes to get pregnant after sex can help you know when to test for pregnancy.
If you are trying to conceive, you have likely experienced the (sometimes agonizing) wait between trying for a baby and taking a pregnancy test. It can feel like forever!
It can also be confusing since some pregnancy tests can be used earlier than others, so it’s hard to know exactly when you should be testing for pregnancy. Understanding how long it takes to get
pregnant after sex is a great place to start.
Let’s dive in!
How long does it take to get pregnant after sex?
It’s typically recommended that you don’t test for pregnancy until you’ve missed a period. You’ll usually know if your period is missed about 2 weeks after getting a positive ovulation test and having sex.
That
said, some pregnancy tests can detect pregnancy even earlier so understanding how long it takes to get pregnant after sex can help know when you could start testing (although we always recommend following the instructions included with your specific pregnancy test kit).
After sex, sperm and egg often don’t meet immediately. In fact, it can
take up to 6 days for egg and sperm to actually form an embryo.
After sperm and egg meet (this is called the moment of conception), the newly formed embryo starts to make its way through the fallopian tube and down into the uterus. This can also take a few days, sometimes 3-4.
Once
the embryo reaches the uterus, it’s time for it to find a comfortable spot where it will spend the next 9 months. This is called implantation and it’s when the embryo attaches itself to mama.
Implantation most commonly occurs on
days 7-10 past a positive ovulation test. After the embryo implants into the uterus, that’s when it starts producing hCG (human Chorionic Gonadotropin).
The presence of hCG in your bloodstream or urine is what confirms pregnancy.
That’s the hormone that pregnancy tests measure.
Technically, an early pregnancy test could detect hCG in urine up to 6 days before a missed period, depending on what day the embryo implants on. If it implants earlier, you may get a positive pregnancy test earlier. But if the embryo implants later, you may not get a positive pregnancy test until after a missed period.
Getting a positive pregnancy test 6 days before a missed period means that you would get a positive pregnancy test as early as 8 or 9 days after an ovulation test or after having sex.
Once you get that positive pregnancy test, we always recommend following up with your doctor to confirm pregnancy and for next steps.
Once you get a positive pregnancy test, we always recommend following up with your doctor to confirm pregnancy and for next steps.
How do I know when I can take a pregnancy test?
Again, we always recommend following the instructions included with your specific pregnancy test. Typically, you’ll want to try and wait until a missed period to take a pregnancy
test.
However, we know how tempting it can be to test earlier! And of course, just because you should wait doesn’t mean that you have to.
If you have an early pregnancy test that can detect pregnancy up to 6 days before a missed period, you may be wondering when exactly you can actually start testing — it’s a little confusing!
If you know when your next period should come, you can simply count back 6 days. So if your period is
supposed to come on June 15th, you can start testing for pregnancy on June 9th.
If you don’t know when your next period is supposed to come, you can count out from a positive ovulation test. Implantation occurs about
7 to 10 days after a positive ovulation test.
You could get a positive early pregnancy test about 8 or 9 days after a positive ovulation test. Once you get a positive test result, you should always follow up with your doctor to confirm pregnancy and discuss next steps.
Is there anything else I can do to increase my chances of getting pregnant?
In fact there is! Implantation can only occur if the uterus is prepared and ready to receive that embryo.
Progesterone is the hormone that is released during the implantation window (days 7-10 after a positive ovulation test) to make the uterus “sticky” enough so that an embryo can implant. Elevated progesterone levels during the implantation window can increase the chance of pregnancy.
While you cannot test for progesterone directly in urine, you can test for PdG — the marker of progesterone found in urine — with Proov Confirm. Want ovulation tests and PdG tests in the same kit? Try Proov Predict & Confirm!
Understanding how long it takes to get pregnant after sex can help you better use the tools on your fertility journey!