12 DPO – Early Pregnancy Symptoms
12 dpo, you are on the home run and likely to be just a few sweet days away from finding out if you have your bun in the oven, chances are that you may be experiencing some pregnancy symptoms now, if you are not experiencing any yet please do not worry, you may just be super lucky.
At 12 dpo (12 days post ovulation) this is still very early when it comes to there being enough pregnancy hormones (human chorionic gonadotropin otherwise known as HCG) to detect a pregnancy.
What is Happening at 12DPO (12 Days Post Ovulation)?
At 12 dpo you could be experiencing lots of pregnancy symptoms or perhaps your egg has just implanted and you haven’t yet got any pregnancy symptoms, please don’t worry. The egg can implant on any day from day 5 dpo – day 12 dpo and no person is the same.
Pregnancy or PMS at 12DPO?
This is where things get a little tricky, for many of you, your period will just be a few days away and early pregnancy symptoms are very similar to early pregnancy symptoms. When trying to conceive (ttc) it can be easy to carried away with every feeling and worried about every pms symptom as you pray for signs that you are pregnancy.
The truth is the symptoms are fairly similar, here are some symptoms at 12 DPO that can be early pregnancy symptoms but can also be pms symptoms;
- Nausea at 12 DPO
- Cramps like period cramps (cramping 12 DPO)
- Tender breasts at 12 DPO (If you are experiencing less breast pain, our article decreased breast tenderness in early pregnancy may explain why.)
- Fatigue at 12 DPO
- Low mood at 12 DPO
- Headache at 12 DPO
- Increased body temperature at 12 DPO
12 DPO Cramping – Period or Pregnancy
If you are experiencing cramping at 12 DPO and you are trying to conceive- it can be disheartening.
However, cramping at 12 DPO can actually be a positive sign that implantation has occured- where the fertilised egg implants itself into the lining of the uterus.
It is through this connection that the fertilised egg receives all of the nutrients and blood supply it needs to grow.
Symptoms of implantation at 12 DPO may include:
- Implantation bleeding at 12 DPO (12 DPO spotting or light bleeding that is brown or pinkish brown in colour)
- Implantation cramps at 12 DPO
- Implantation dip
Would I Get a Positive Pregnancy Test at 12 DPO?
Chances are you would get a bfn (big fat negative) at 12 dpo as it could still be too early to test on a pregnancy test.
It really depends on when you ovulated and when the egg implanted, the longer ago the egg implanted the more likely you are to have a positive home pregnancy test if you are pregnant.
Implantation at 12 DPO is possible- as implantation typically happens between 6 DPO and 12 DPO- so you could receive a positive pregnancy test. At 12 DPO, it is likely to be a faint positive.
We wouldn’t recommend that you take a pregnancy test at this stage, as a 12 DPO negative pregnancy test at this stage doesn’t confirm that you are definitely not pregnant.
If you do decide that you would like to take an early pregnancy test (12 DPO test), Clear Blue Ultra Early pregnancy tests are brilliant at detecting early pregnancies (from 6 days). You can get some here.
If you receive a negative pregnancy test result at 12 DPO, you should test again in a few days time (at least 14 DPO), as that is when the pregnancy test is likely to be much more accurate (as at 12 DPO, your hCG levels are not very high, meaning the 12 DPO pregnancy test accuracy is not great).
You can book an ultrasound pregnancy scan as early as 5 weeks pregnant.
What are Early Pregnancy Symptoms at 12 DPO?
Here is a list of some of the most popular and earliest pregnancy symptoms (12 DPO symptoms) ending in a BFP our audience of mums reported;
- Cold/flu like feeling
- Sensitive smell
- Sensitive breasts (You can read more about how breast pain and ovulation relate in do breasts hurt during ovulation?)
- Implantation bleeding
- Cramps
- Fatigue
- Constipation
- Increased urination
- Dizziness
It is important to remember that it is completely normal to have no symptoms at 12 DPO.
Many women do not know they are pregnant until they miss their period (at around 4 weeks pregnant!)
If you would like to maximise your chances of getting pregnant, we recommend using our fertility planner! Our fertility planner will help you to track your menstrual cycle and find your fertile window.
Does Implantation Bleeding Always Happen After Ovulation?
Only 10% of pregnancies report implantation bleeding so if you haven’t experienced implantation bleeding this does not mean you are not pregnant and this should not be used as an accuracy when trying to predict a pregnancy. It can be difficult to know when implantation has taken place as it is different for everyone. Implantation is when the egg burys in to the womb, it does take a few days for the egg to travel to the womb and implantation can occur anywhere between 5 dpo and 12 dpo.
Is it too Early to take Folic Acid at 12 DPO?
It is never too early to start taking prenatal vitamins, we recommend taking prenatal vitamins when before trying to conceive. Folic acid is a very important prenatal vitamin. You can read more about vitamins that we recommend you take here.
What Symptoms did other MyBump2Baby Mums have at 12DPO when they had their BFP (positive pregnancy test)?
“my husband and i met late in life and i was worried about getting pregnant, we had been trying for a couple of years and then we just decided that it was time for us to stop, i keep a journal and wrote down my symptoms as i decided i wanted to start recording my cycles and moods for my own personal development and i never imagined i was pregnant, here is what i made notes of
6 dpo fatigue and sore breasts
7 dpo dizzy and feeling a little low in my mood
8 dpo i felt a strong pain in my left ovary
9 dpo cramping all day, i thought my period was on her way
10 dpo constipation and cramping
11 dpo cramps and sharp pains near my hip bone
dpo 12 body temperature was still high but i felt un well so put it down to this
12 dpo sore boobs, heavy feeling and light a lightening bold randomly soaring through them.
12 dpo pms symptoms
13 dpo cramps and headace, sensitive to smells
14 dpo postive test, i did one because i had one left over and just felt different and it was finally my bfp that we had been waiting so long for.
Fingers crossed for any of you reading this today, keep an eye on your dpo symptoms and then next month do the same and you will see if you have any different symptoms during your cycle which could indicate pregnancy.
-Julie, 42
” I should have shares in home pregnancy tests, i probably did around 14 home pregnancy tests a month when we were trying to conceive and it was so disheartening when aunt flo arrived each time. The month i got my bfp i had told myself that i am not doing it anymore, i am not filling myself with hope only to get another negative test. I stopped body scanning, stopped reading content and reviews about all of the magical things you can buy on the internet that can help you get a positive test and i decided that it was time to trust my body and just let it happen if it was going to happen. Don’t get me wrong, it took me a long time to get here, i grieved and grieved about not having any children and then finally i accepted it and jsyt thought “fingers crossed” if it happens it happens and the same month i got my positive test. I am not sure what happened but i didn’t even think i was pregnant. Infact i had no idea but when i look back i had sore boobs, low mood, nausea and cramps so the signs where there but i had just stopped looking out for them. Baby dust to you all and i hope you get your positive”
-Sarah, 25
More from MyBump2Baby
To read about pregnancy symptoms at each day past ovulation, click the links below:
- 1DPO Pregnancy Symptoms
- 2 DPO Pregnancy Symptoms
- 3 DPO Symptoms
- 4 DPO – Early Pregnancy Symptoms
- 5 DPO – Early Pregnancy Symptoms
- 6DPO Pregnancy Symptoms
- 7 DPO Pregnancy Symptoms
- 8 DPO Pregnancy Symptoms
- 9 DPO Pregnancy Symptoms
- 10 DPO Pregnancy Symptoms
- 11DPO Pregnancy Symptoms
- 13 DPO Pregnancy Symptoms
- 14 DPO Pregnancy Symptoms
Or, why not read our next article: what causes a faint positive pregnancy test then negative next day?
Carla is the founder of MyBump2Baby. Carla has a huge passion for linking together small businesses and growing families. Carla’s humorous, non-filtered honesty has won the hearts of thousands of parents throughout the UK.
She has previously written for the Metro and made appearances on BBC News, BBC 5 live, LBC etc. Carla is a finalist for Blogger of the Year award with Simply Ladies inc. Carla is also the host of the popular Fifty Shades of Motherhood podcast and The MyBump2Baby Expert podcast.