Back in September of 2023, I started my TTC journey and was hopeful it would go well and fast. I had been preparing my body for years and gathered a lot of knowledge regarding fertility so I was very confident. I knew that, unless we had fertility issues, it should be fine.

So when I got my first negative test, I was quite shocked to say the least.

My first mistake was watching all these Youtube videos about line progressions and 10 DPO stuff. Granted, it worked for some women, but it clearly didn’t work for me.

I was so obsessed I would literally watch them as soon as I had free time and it just really messed with my head.

I ended up taking a 6-day early ClearBlue test exactly six days before my missed period… And you guessed it : it was negative.

The box said I should try again in 3 days if the result was negative so I waited three days… But it was still negative.

At that point, although I had plenty of symptoms and signs that I might be pregnant, my confidence started to dwindle. 

Well, I am no scientist but I think I may know what happened.

One of the many things I did to prepare my body for pregnancy was to drink red raspberry leaf tea. One of the effects and benefits of this tea is that it promotes a strong and thicker uterine lining. I can’t find the article anymore but after doing a bunch of research during the two-week wait, I ended up finding out that implantation takes longer when the uterine lining is thick. However, I also read everywhere that implantation typically happens between 6 to 12 days after ovulation. I had taken the first test at 10 DPO then 13 DPO so I thought I should get a positive result but I didn’t. 

After taking the second test, I got very minimal bleeding, like a drop of brownish blood. The exact same thing happened to me the next day. 

So my best guess is that implantation happened at 10 DPO but my body was not producing enough HcG to be detected by a home pregnancy test, even at 13 DPO. 

I finally decided to stop watching all these videos, live my life and wait for my period, which never came. I ended up taking the final test two days after my missed period and got my BFP. 

All this to say that if you are trying to conceive, everybody will tell you this and I won’t be the exception : just wait for your missed period. Try to live your life and not think about it too much. One thing I have learned throughout this pregnancy is that there is very little you can control anyway so get used to it now and just wait the two weeks without taking a test too early. I thought these tests couldn’t be wrong (and they technically weren’t) but I was pregnant even though the tests said the opposite. 

I know that this situation doesn’t apply to everyone of course and if you have any fertility issues, then it certainly doesn’t apply to you but for everyone else, just don’t do it to yourself !!