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Is Brown Cervical Mucus In A 33 Year Woman A Symptom Of Infertility?

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Posted on Wed, 22 Jun 2016
Question: Hi, I am a relatively healthy 33 year old female. The start of my last period was April 24th. I have on average a 30 day cycle. I normally have mittelschmerz and know when I am ovulating. Well, on May 6th I had unprotected sex twice with my partner. It dawned on me I was like on CD 13 after the fact. I am on no form of BC. I hadn't noticed any signs of ovulation, but I freaked out. Two days later I took an OPK and it was negative. I have repeated the tests since and all are negative (OPK's). Last night I had a lot of lower back ache and I did a self check of the cervix and there was some brown cervical mucus. Today I have noticed some cramping on the left lower side of my back and some watery CM and a little bit of EWCM, bot much though. This is not a good time for pregnancy and I am very concerned about this one time getting me pregnant. My partner is 44 and has erectile dysfunction, but is treated with medication. What are my chances of being pregnant? Any advice or anything? I am a nervous wreck.
doctor
Answered by Dr. Jacqueline Brown (2 hours later)
Brief Answer:
Your chance of having conceived is about 15 percent

Detailed Answer:
Hello, and I hope I can help you today.

Even if your partner has ED, if he ejaculated inside you, you have a chance of becoming pregnant.

Women are actually most fertile in the few days before they ovulate, so if you did not ovulate in the few days after your episode of unprotected sex, you either ovulated right before, or long after. Cervical mucus is not a reliable indicator of either ovulation or pregnancy, nor is abdominal or pelvic pain. Most of the symptoms we commonly associate with pregnancy can also happen during normal hormonal fluctuations, and the stress of worrying about pregnancy can alter your normal symptoms of a typical menstrual cycle.

Your overall chance of conceiving if sperm were in your system when an egg is present is about 10-15 percent per cycle.

Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done at this point to alter the chances of conception. You just need to wait until your period is due and of it does not come on time, perform a urine pregnancy test.

For the future, emergency contraception kits are available over the counter and are 90 percent effective in preventing pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse.

I hope this information was helpful to you and that I was able to adequately address your concerns. If you need anything further, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best wishes,

Dr. Brown
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Jacqueline Brown (1 hour later)
Thank you. I am having extremely high levels of anxiety. I am pro life but I don't know how I can explain a pregnancy to everyone if it happens by that rare chance. I have a 4 year old daughter and 7 year old son. When I got pregnant with them I had sex almost every day for two weeks. They were very planned. And please don't think I am a horrible person because of what I am about to say. My husband and I had some issues with infidelity two years ago. He cheated and we were seperated, and during that time I had a relationship with another man (the man who I just had sex with). My family encouraged me to work it out with my husband and we got back together after several months. The man I just had sex with has been a friend, but we have not had any romantic or sexual encounters in two years. We talked last Friday and he wanted me to come see him and as I knew I shouldn't I went anyway. We talked and things just happened. I am so remorseful and I can't believe I got myself into this situation. I am 33 but I'm so scared of this. I am
still married and I don't want to wreck my children's lives. Also, I cannot imagine the disappointment and disgust my family will have with me. I just don't know what to do.
doctor
Answered by Dr. Jacqueline Brown (1 hour later)
Brief Answer:
I know this is hard, but you just have to wait and see

Detailed Answer:
Hello again,

I am so sorry for your situation and the stress that it has caused you.

The good news is- conception is not a guarantee. As I've mentioned before, your overall chance of conception is about 15 percent, but that means 85 percent of the time you will not get pregnant.

I cannot advice you about your personal values about how to proceed if you conceived, but again, there is still the majority of a chance that you won't.

I do want to let you know that there are methods of medical abortion, where oral or vaginal medication can be taken to induce a miscarriage. The medication must be prescribed by a doctor, however it does cause pregnancy loss at home with privacy and without a surgical procedure.

But for now, you will just have a few more weeks to wait to see how everything turns out, and again, the most likely scenario is for you to have not conceived.

I do wish you the best during this difficult time and I encourage you to try not to worry about what you will do if you conceived until it actually happens.

Take care, and best of luck,

Dr. Brown
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Jacqueline Brown (16 hours later)
Thank you for your detailed response and concern. I needed to get it off my chest and I have no one to talk to. I can't even talk to him because he would flip out. I've always been really good at pretty much knowing where I was in my cycle and I really thought I was safe. Thanks again.
doctor
Answered by Dr. Jacqueline Brown (1 hour later)
Brief Answer:
You're welcome, and take care

Detailed Answer:
Thank you for your kind feedback and for using healthcaremagic.com.

Feel free to contact me if any other concerns arise.

Best wishes again,

Dr. Brown
Note: Revert back with your gynae reports to get a clear medical analysis by our expert Gynecologic Oncologist. Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Naveen Kumar
doctor
Answered by
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Dr. Jacqueline Brown

OBGYN

Practicing since :1996

Answered : 1425 Questions

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Is Brown Cervical Mucus In A 33 Year Woman A Symptom Of Infertility?

Brief Answer: Your chance of having conceived is about 15 percent Detailed Answer: Hello, and I hope I can help you today. Even if your partner has ED, if he ejaculated inside you, you have a chance of becoming pregnant. Women are actually most fertile in the few days before they ovulate, so if you did not ovulate in the few days after your episode of unprotected sex, you either ovulated right before, or long after. Cervical mucus is not a reliable indicator of either ovulation or pregnancy, nor is abdominal or pelvic pain. Most of the symptoms we commonly associate with pregnancy can also happen during normal hormonal fluctuations, and the stress of worrying about pregnancy can alter your normal symptoms of a typical menstrual cycle. Your overall chance of conceiving if sperm were in your system when an egg is present is about 10-15 percent per cycle. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done at this point to alter the chances of conception. You just need to wait until your period is due and of it does not come on time, perform a urine pregnancy test. For the future, emergency contraception kits are available over the counter and are 90 percent effective in preventing pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse. I hope this information was helpful to you and that I was able to adequately address your concerns. If you need anything further, please do not hesitate to contact me. Best wishes, Dr. Brown