Unusual Spotting during Luteal Phase?

[gongbubug]

Hi,

I'm wondering how normal spotting is all throughout a luteal phase. In my particular case, I started "spotting"/seeing unusual CM on the 8th, two days after I was supposed to have ovulated (this is according to my period tracker app). The first two days saw light to medium brown CM only in the morning. On the third day, I saw pink/red bleeding, which was a one-time occurrence that day. I saw dark red bleeding on the morning of the fourth day and dark brown / black blood around noon on the tampon I had put in. There was no other spotting that day. For the next two days, I saw light brown CM sporadically throughout the day. On the seventh day, I saw little to no CM. But then the cycle repeated itself for another week with the only exception of seeing reddish brown CM on both the third and fourth day. Today, I am supposed to start my period, but my CM is completely clear.

For some background info, I had protected sex on the 6th (ovulation day; I wasn't aware it was ovulation day until I went to log having sex on the app) and again on the 13th. I'm not on birth control for personal reasons. I tested negative for chlamydia and gonorrhea. I also took a negative pregnancy test on Monday, five days before my expected period start. My average cycle is 32 days with little variances; the one time I had an unusual cycle (early period) was due to extreme stress, after which my cycle returned to normal. Around the time the spotting began, I was going through some stress and anxiety due to a (now resolved) mouse problem in my apartment and some relationship roadblocks.

I'm going to wait a few days for my period to show up before buying another pregnancy test, but as I've never had this spotting before between my periods, I've been concerned and stressing out about it. I'm hesitant to say I'm pregnant because of the protected sex and the negative test, but I still feel uneasy. What other factors contribute to this kind of spotting between periods and especially after ovulation?

[Redskies]

Sometimes mid-cycle spotting just happens, and it's not an indication of anything being wrong. The stress you were under may well have had something to do with it.

Given that you tested negative - I assume that those were all the tests your healthcare provider felt you needed - I'm not seeing any health concern with this. If it's only happened in this one cycle, I'd simply chalk it up to just one of those things our bodies do sometimes Of course, if the spotting did continue into your next cycle or comes back again soon, then that would be a good idea to check in again with a healthcare provider and ask them to investigate further. But as things are, this sounds like your body simply being a body, and no cause for concern.

[gongbubug]

Thank you for your response!