How Quick Can You Find Out If You Are Pregnant

What Is An Hcg Blood Pregnancy Test

There are two types of blood tests to determine pregnancy:

• Qualitative hCG blood serum tests check to see if a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin is present in your blood. HCG is a hormone produced by the body during pregnancy. A positive result means you are pregnant and a negative result means you are not pregnant.
• Quantitative hCG blood serum tests also check to see if hCG is present in your blood, but these tests can detect even trace amounts of the hormone. Because it is more precise, this test helps to determine whether the pregnancy is normal and healthy.

Dandelion Leaves Pregnancy Test

This home pregnancy test has been proved to be super accurate. So, if you have a dandelion plant in your backyard, you can take advantage of this test. All you need are some dandelion leaves, a plastic sheet and your urine sample collected early in the morning.

How To Improve The Accuracy Of Your Home Pregnancy Test

• Wait until your period is one week late
• Read the instructions carefully and follow them to the letter
• Take the urine test in the morning, with your very first urine of the day
• Dont drink large amounts of liquids before the test
• Pee into a clean cup and put the test stick into it for 15 minutes
• Store your test in a cool dry place. Extreme temperatures can damage the test.
• Check the expiration date of the test

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Pregnancy Blood Vs Urine Tests

Blood tests:

• are more expensive than home urine tests
• have to be given at a doctor’s office
• can be done just one week after ovulation
• can take up to 48 hours to produce a result
• are more accurate than urine tests.

Urine tests:

• are only accurate when done seven days after a missed period
• produce more false positive results than blood tests.

How Soon You Can Take A Pregnancy Test

Step back from the supermarket shelves you should wait until the first day of a missed period before you do a pregnancy test . This is usually about two weeks after you think you conceived. So get your diary out and start counting.

Too keen to wait? Some tests are more sensitive than others and can be taken earlier . This might be four or five days before your period is due .

If you can though, its most reliable to wait for the first day of your missed period. And that way you wont get any upset from an inaccurate result.

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Early Changes To Breasts: Tingling Aching Growing

Breast changes can occur between weeks 4 and 6. Youre likely to develop tender and swollen breasts due to hormone changes. This is likely to go away after a few weeks when your body has adjusted to the hormones.

Nipple and breast changes can also occur around week 11. Hormones continue to cause your breasts to grow. The areola the area around the nipple may change to a darker color and grow larger.

If youve had bouts with acne before your pregnancy, you may also experience breakouts again.

Missed Period During Early Pregnancy

Once implantation is complete, your body will begin producing human chorionic gonadotropin . This hormone helps the body maintain the pregnancy. It also tells the ovaries to stop releasing mature eggs each month.

You will likely miss your next period four weeks after conception. If you have an irregular period, youll want to take a pregnancy test to confirm.

Most home tests can detect hCG as soon as eight days after a missed period. A pregnancy test will be able to detect hCG levels in your urine and show if you are pregnant.

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When Can I Take A Home Pregnancy Test

Although you may start to feel early pregnancy symptoms before your period, most women have to wait for an average of two weeks from the time they ovulate for a positive home pregnancy test result. Home pregnancy tests measure levels of human chorionic gonadotropin in your urine.

This placenta-produced hormone makes its way into your urine almost immediately after an embryo begins implanting in your uterus, between six to 12 days after fertilization. You can start using most home pregnancy tests as soon as hCG can be detected in your urine and hCG levels usually arent high enough to be picked up by a home pregnancy test until your periods expected.

Cant wait until then? Some HPTs promise 60 to 75 percent accuracy four to five days before you expect your period. Wait until your period and the rate jumps to 90 percent wait another week and the results are 99 percent accurate.

Know that false negatives are much more common than false positives, so if the time for your period comes and goes without your monthly flow, check in with your health care provider. Either way, youll want to get a blood test to confirm your pregnancy status.

No matter what symptoms you’re having, the only way to know for sure that you’re pregnant is to make an appointment with your OB/GYN.

Manage Your Early Pregnancy Symptoms

The first few weeks of pregnancy can be the toughest when it comes to feeling iffy. Tiredness, sore boobs and morning sickness are all common in the first few weeks of pregnancy. Find out how to cope with them.

There are some symptoms that could be a sign that something is wrong. Be aware of these with our symptom checker and get in touch with a midwife promptly if you have them.

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When To Take A Pregnancy Test

A pregnancy test measures the amount of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin hormone in the urine. This hormone is only present when a woman is pregnant. As the egg grows into an embryo, the cells that surround it and later become the placenta produce hCG.

Planned Parenthood indicate that it is best to take a pregnancy test as soon after a missed period as possible. A pregnancy test may return a positive result as early as 10 days after a person has had sex without contraception. However, it typically takes about 3 weeks before theres enough hCG in the urine to produce a positive pregnancy test.

There are many affordable and reliable pregnancy tests available over-the-counter or online. A home pregnancy test can tell whether you are pregnant in a few minutes, with most claiming to offer almost 99% accuracy .

To help ensure an accurate result, the best time to take a pregnancy test is 1 week after a missed period. Results of a pregnancy test are either positive or negative.

If a woman takes the pregnancy test earlier than 1 week after a missed period, it may give a negative result, even if the person is actually pregnant.

If a person believes they are pregnant despite a negative test result, they should repeat the test after 1 week.

To avoid a false negative result, check the pregnancy tests expiration date, and carefully follow the written directions.

How Accurate Are Urine Tests

Urine tests or home pregnancy tests are around 97% accurate when done correctly. Home pregnancy tests are great to use because they can be done at home, they are usually low in cost , private, they give a fast result, and are easy to use.

However, if done incorrectly or taken too early, the result can be inaccurate. If you get a negative result and still have symptoms of pregnancy , wait a week and take another test or contact your doctor so you can have a blood test done.

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Early Result Pregnancy Tests

Some pregnancy test kits boast early results that promise an answer three or four days before your missed period. These tests assume a 14-day luteal phase, which is the time between ovulation and when you get your period. The problem is that you may have a shorter or longer luteal phase.

If your luteal phase is usually 12 days, four days before your missed period would be nine days after ovulation. Thats way too early to test. For you, taking the test four days before your missed period would be pointless.

If you have a luteal phase of 15 days, four days before your missed period is 12 days after ovulation. You still may not have enough hormones that early. However, you have a better chance than someone with a shorter luteal phase.

If youre having fertility treatments and you have had an hCG trigger shot, then you should not take an early pregnancy test. An early test may detect the remains of fertility medication.

The Most Common Sign Of Early Pregnancy A Missed Period

Your menstrual cycle is your bodys way of preparing for a possible pregnancy each month. Part of that is the thickening of your uterine lining, which is where a fertilized egg would implant to begin a pregnancy.

If youre not pregnant, your period is how your uterus sheds that extra lining. If you are pregnant, that lining stays put and you dont get your normal flow. This is why a missed period is often the earliest sign of pregnancy.

Of course, a delayed or missed period doesnt always mean youre pregnant. If your body is under a lot of stress or you have a hormonal imbalance, you could be experiencing an irregular menstrual cycle.

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What If The Result Is Positive

A positive result generally means that you are pregnant. You should make an appointment to see your GP to confirm the pregnancy and to sign up for antenatal care.

If you are not sure you want to be pregnant it is good idea to make an appointment with your GP to discuss your options.

Your GP will listen and will not judge you.

Free advice may also be available from a family planning clinic.

Sometimes counselling can help you to work through your feelings about the pregnancy. It may help you make a decision on what is the right choice for you.

www.myoptions.ie has details of the support services available to you.

When Do Pregnancy Symptoms Start

how soon do you get symptoms of pregnancy?

It takes about 2 to 3 weeks after sex for pregnancy to happen. Some people notice pregnancy symptoms as early as a week after pregnancy begins when a fertilized egg attaches to the wall of your uterus. Other people dont notice symptoms until a few months into their pregnancy. Usually the first sign of pregnancy is a missed period.

Common symptoms of pregnancy include nausea or vomiting, and feeling tired. Other signs are sore or swollen breasts, headaches, and peeing more often than usual.

Taking a pregnancy test is the only way to know for sure if youre pregnant. You can take a home pregnancy test , visit your nurse or doctor, or contact your local Planned Parenthood health center for testing.

Tags: pregnancy, symptoms of pregnancy

Planned Parenthood delivers vital reproductive health care, sex education, and information to millions of people worldwide. Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. is a registered 501 nonprofit under EIN 13-1644147. Donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowable under the law.

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How Early Can You Tell If Youre Pregnant

Again, youll need to take a pregnancy test at the right time to confirm your hopes or suspicions. But when it comes to the first symptoms of pregnancy, everyone is different. Some people start to notice changes within a week after conception. Others might not notice anything until they miss their period.

How Far Along Am I

Knowing how far along you are in pregnancy is useful for both you and your healthcare provider. Your provider will use this information to check on your babyâs growth and development, to keep an eye on your health, and to schedule tests and exams.

The weeks of pregnancy are also grouped into three trimesters:

• First trimester: 0 to 13 weeks

• Second trimester: 14 to 27 weeks

• Third trimester: 28 to 40 weeks

So that you can see at a glance how far along you are in your pregnancy, and which trimester you are in, check out the illustration below:

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What Is Phantom Hcg

Phantom hCG is a false positive pregnancy blood test.

In these cases, the blood test for hCG cross-reacts with non-pregnancy related proteins in the blood called heterophile antibodies.

“When this occurs, it can actually have serious consequences unless your physician is aware of this false positive risk,” says Dr. Mark Trolice. “What are the risks? Ectopic pregnancy, where an embryo implants outside the uterus. This is a potentially life-threatening event but is often conservatively treated using an injection of the chemotherapy agent, methotrexate.”

But if the blood test for hCG is a false positive, and there is, in fact, no ectopic pregnancy, the woman may be needlessly exposed to repeated injections of methotrexate with risks of serious side effects from this medicine.

Another condition that can lead to a false positive, says Dr. Trolice, is gestation trophoblastic disease, or cancer of pregnancy tissue. In this scenario, persistent low levels of phantom hCG can be misinterpreted for this disease resulting in aggressive but unnecessary medical intervention. How to avoid over-treating a false positive hCG test? The urine pregnancy test, because heterophile antibodies are not present in urine.

When Will You Be Able To Confirm That Youre Pregnant

If your period is fairly regular, your first clue that you may be pregnant could be that your period doesnât come on time. If you think you might be pregnant, take a home pregnancy test.

These tests can confirm a pregnancy by checking for a pregnancy hormone called hCG in urine.

Keep in mind, if you take the test too early there may not be enough of the hormone in your urine yet for the test to be accurate. Check the packaging on the test you buy for information on when to take the test. Some require you to wait until at least the first day of your missed period. Others can detect lower levels of hCG, and may be accurate a little earlier on.

If you think you may be pregnant but the test says otherwise, try again after a few more days or speak to your healthcare provider.

You can also ask your healthcare provider to confirm your pregnancy. Your provider will do a blood test.

Think you might be pregnant? Take our Am I Pregnant quiz. It wonât tell you for sure, but itâs all good fun!

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What Other Symptoms Can Be Early Signs Of Pregnancy

Every person and every pregnancy is different. So, if you are pregnant, youll likely experience a unique combination of common, not-so-common and sometimes overlapping symptoms. And, they may show up earlier or later than expected. Here are more than a dozen possible symptoms of early pregnancy.

1. Spotting or light bleeding

Many women are surprised to learn that spotting or light bleeding can be an early sign of pregnancy, but about one-third of women experience it. This is often called implantation bleeding because doctors believe it occurs as the fertilized egg attaches itself into the uterine lining.

Implantation bleeding typically occurs 10 to 14 days after conception, which is just before or right around the time your period is due. So, you may think youve gotten your period.

But implantation bleeding is a light flow, which may start and stop over a couple days. And while it can take on a range of colors, its more likely to be pink, brown or light red.

Your period, on the other hand, may start off light in flow and in color but after a couple days becomes heavier, changes to a crimson red color and lasts up to a week or so.

2. Lower abdominal pain or cramping

While cramps and lower-abdominal pain can signal a coming period, they can also be a sign of egg implantation.

But menstrual cramps can often feel like a throbbing or dull ache, and typically start a day or two before your period.

3. Higher basal body temperature

4. Changes in cervical mucus

6. Fatigue

How Soon Can I Take A Home Pregnancy Test

It is recommended that you wait until you have missed a period to take a home test. A missed period is often one of the first signs of pregnancy. If you cannot wait that long to find out and you know the day you may have conceived, then the earliest you can take a test would be 14 days from possible conception.

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What Precautions Should You Take If Youre Trying To Conceive And During Early Pregnancy

If youâre trying to get pregnant, you might need to make some healthy lifestyle changes. Since you wonât necessarily know you are pregnant during the first few weeks, itâs best to take some precautions as soon as you start trying to conceive and then continue with them during your pregnancy.

For example, make sure youâre eating healthily and getting regular exercise.

Your healthcare provider may also recommend you start taking folic acid when you start trying for a baby. Folic acid is a B vitamin that helps reduce the risk of certain birth defects that affect the babyâs brain and spine. Your healthcare provider will be able to recommend a prenatal vitamin that contains the 400 micrograms of folic acid needed.

Pre-pregnancy is also a great time to eliminate some less healthy habits. Quit smoking and drinking alcohol. Some healthcare providers may advise you to limit your caffeine intake, too. Secondhand smoke can be harmful to you and your baby, so if your partner is a smoker, itâs best if he or she quits, too.