Get The Most Accurate Result From Home Pregnancy Kit
When you are really serious about it and just want to get an accurate result from your home pregnancy test kit, I will recommend you to go with the following.
When you are buying a home pregnancy test kit, it is always best to check the expiration date on the box. As the expiration dates might need a little wiggle room, and that depends on how the test kits are stored. That is why you should always look for a date which is just more than a few months away.
I will always ask you to wait to do the test until your period is late. I know this is a little hard. Also, there are tests which promise early results up to a time period of 6 days before you miss your period.
However, these tests are some of the most accurate 1 or 2 days after you miss your period. Even if you go through the fine print, you will be able to see that advertised claims of 99% accuracy only apply during this particular time frame.
It is always advised to test the first-morning pee for testing. Usually, at this time, your urine has the highest level of concentration of hCG.
Once the time limit is over, I will advise you to discard the test strips. In most cases, the major brands are told to read the test results within the time period of 5 to 10 minutes. I know the problem is actually digging a test kit out of the trash later.
If Youre Not Sure You Want To Be Pregnant
Its natural to feel a range of different emotions when you find out youre pregnant. If youre not sure what you want to do, it’s important to take some time to think about your options.
Talking to people you trust and getting information about your options can help you decide. You may want to talk to a partner, family or friends. Other people may give you some helpful advice, but ultimately this is your decision.
If you prefer to speak to someone less close to you, you can talk to your GP or a local community sexual health clinic. These services are confidential.
Whats Next If The Results Are Positive
Your next steps depend on two things: whether youre pregnant and whether or not you planned to get pregnant.
If your test results are positive and youve been planning to have a baby, take another test to make sure youre pregnant. Then, see your doctor before you reach the 8-week mark. You can ask them about prenatal care options or specialists who can help guide you through your pregnancy. Ask your doctor about any changes you need to make to your lifestyle, medications, or diet to keep yourself and your baby healthy for the next nine months.
If your test results are positive but you didnt plan to get pregnant, ask your doctor about available options, including:
- carrying the pregnancy to term for adoption
- what to do if you want to continue your pregnancy
You can also receive help from a clinic or health center that specializes in reproductive health and child care, like Planned Parenthood.
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Youre Not Pregnant Youre Having Psychosomatic Symptoms
Heres the tricky thing many of us have found about wanting to be pregnant really badly: Sometimes, that desire is so intense that your brain has a hard time thinking of anything else.
We get it once you decide youre ready for a baby, getting a negative test result can be crushing.
Your very real desire can lead to symptom spotting, and to be honest, Dr. Google doesnt help.
Put in any symptom + pregnant and youre bound to get some hits. Your nausea isnt because you skipped breakfast, its because youre pregnant. Your fatigue isnt because you started a new diet, its because youre pregnant.
When you put on pregnancy-tinted glasses, its hard to think objectively.
If you can, try to avoid the symptom spotting trap. If you are pregnant, youll know soon but if it turns out youre not, you may end up feeling even more disappointed.
How To Tell If Your Period Is Late
Many people have irregular menstrual cycles, either longer or shorter than others. Sometimes its hard to remember the exact date of your last period and when to expect your next period. Between 10% and 20% of pregnant people get a negative pregnancy test because they test too early.
Tracking your cycle can help you know a few things: when you ovulated, the first day of your last period, when to expect your next period, and a general idea of the length of your cycle.
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How Early Can Home Pregnancy Tests Show Positive Results
Since the earliest recorded history, women have had a strong desire to know whether they are pregnant as early as possible. The body goes through countless changes in the first trimester, and one of the first indicators is a change in the hormones that leave the body through urine.
Ancient Egyptians relied on a form of urine testing to determine pregnancy status way back in 1350 BCE. A woman urinated daily on wheat or barley seeds and if the plants grew, it meant she was pregnant. Modern-day validation suggests that test was about 70% accurate in detecting human chorionic gonadotropin , a hormone produced by a womans body soon after implantation of a fertilized egg inside the uterus.
Thankfully, urine-based pregnancy tests have evolved substantially. Women now have access to advanced tests that can detect a pregnancy as early as eight days after ovulation. But while many home pregnancy tests are marketed as simple and effective, getting accurate results comes down to how early in your ovulation cycle you take the test.
Ovulation generally occurs around day 15 of a 28-day cycle. In a normal pregnancy, an egg is fertilized in the fallopian tube and then travels into the uterus, where it implants in the uterine wall. After implantation, production of hCG starts from cells in the developing placenta . Trace levels of hCG can be detected as early as eight days after ovulation.
How Do Pregnancy Tests Work
Knowing how pregnancy tests work can help you understand when to take them. Pregnancy tests relay how urine reacts with a piece of paper that can detect the presence of hCG. Results are usually shown as a single or double line or a plus or minus sign.
An at-home pregnancy test can’t measure the exact amount of pregnancy hormone in your urine. What it can do is detect whether a minimum amount is present.
Getting a negative pregnancy test result doesn’t mean your urine doesn’t contain the pregnancy hormone . It just means it doesn’t contain enough to trigger a positive result.
“Early results” pregnancy tests promise results as soon as three to six days before your missed period. These tests are more sensitive than standard tests, but getting accurate results that early is more difficult simply because ovulation and implantation times can vary. If you have irregular periods, it can be even more difficult to know when might be an accurate time to try an early test.
If you’re having fertility treatments, be aware that this may result in a false positive pregnancy test, especially those performed early. That’s because pregnancy tests may detect the remains of fertility medications like Ovidrel, Pregnyl, or Novarel.
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When To Take A Blood Pregnancy Test
Maybe youve taken a home pregnancy test, but now your health care provider is suggesting you take a blood test. What exactly is and when should you take a blood pregnancy test?
Home pregnancy tests measure the levels of hCG in your urine. A blood pregnancy test measures the hCG levels in your blood. Health care providers suggest taking a blood test because theyre more sensitive and can offer more information than a home urine test.
The best time to take a blood pregnancy test is if your period is several days late. If your home pregnancy tests are negative, but youre experiencing all the symptoms of pregnancy, its a good idea to take a blood test.
The most accurate blood tests are quantitative blood pregnancy tests, because they determine the exact amount of hCG in your blood. This is important because it can tell your health care provider if youre pregnant or if you need to do another test in a few days.
Health care providers also recommend blood tests if youve experienced an ectopic pregnancy or a miscarriage in the past. This ensures your health care provider will be able to observe your hCG levels more closely in the first weeks of your pregnancy.
For best results, take the pregnancy test in the morning. First-morning urine exhibits the highest concentration of hCG. Taking your pregnancy test sooner than eight days past ovulation might result in a false negative. Blood tests are more sensitive and can offer more information than a home urine test.
When You Should Get A Pregnancy Blood Test
A pregnancy blood test at your doctors office is another way to confirm a pregnancy.
The blood test can detect the pregnancy earlier than an at-home urine test eight days after ovulation is the earliest a blood test could detect a pregnancy, says Dr. Merhi.
Should you receive a positive at-home pregnancy test result, your doctor will often perform an in-office blood test to confirm the presence of HCG. This and additional blood tests also provide additional information about your health and the health of your pregnancy.
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Blood tests are also needed to check for complications of pregnancyfor instance, if you are at risk for ectopic pregnancy , miscarriage or an abnormally progressing pregnancy, says Dr. Culwell. because they can measure whether your pregnancy hormone levels are progressing normally or decreasing.
Should you experience a miscarriage, HCG can remain in your body for a few weeks, and additional tests taken in the weeks following can lead to a false-positive result, says Dr. Merhi.
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When To Take A Pregnancy Test After Miscarriage
Miscarriage can be an intensely emotional and painful time. Its also a time of immense physical change. It can take between four and six weeks for your hCG levels to drop following a miscarriage, and this can vary depending on how far along you were.
Your health care provider may carry out a pregnancy test in the weeks following your miscarriage to confirm that all your hormones have returned to pre-pregnancy levels. If the test comes back positive, it could mean a number of things. Your health care provider will help you get it figured out.
Many health care providers recommend waiting until you have your next normal period before trying again for pregnancy. This will help make sure your body fully heals. Ask your provider what their recommendation is.
However, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists explains that getting pregnant as soon as two weeks after having a miscarriage is possible if youve had unprotected sex. If this is the case, the hCG detected in the pregnancy test could indicate a new pregnancy.
In this situation, rather than doing a pregnancy test at home, Dr. Jones suggests, a blood test would be best. Your health care provider will look at your hCG levels and may then repeat this test 48 hours later.
rising by at least 35% can mean there is a new pregnancy. If they decrease, it can mean it is from the miscarriage, Dr. Jones adds.
Youre Pregnant But You Bought A Faulty Test
Just like any other mass-manufactured product, pregnancy tests can arrive at the store damaged, expire on the shelves or in the back of your bathroom cabinet, get exposed to too-high or too-low temperatures during transit, or just not work. Nothings perfect!
We dont want to give you the kind of false hope that sends you running out for duplicate and triplicate tests every time you get a negative result, but it is possible for tests to malfunction.
If you have a legit reason to think something may have been wrong , by all means buy a fresh test from a different store and try again.
But maybe take a break after that its unlikely youll get two faulty tests in a row.
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When The Embryo Implants
In 10 percent of women, implantation doesn’t occur until the first day of their missed period, which means they might not get an accurate reading even until they wait until a day or two after they miss their periods.
So with every additional day you wait, there’s a better chance you’ll have hCG in your system, and the home pregnancy test gets more accurate.
What If Im Pregnant
If your home pregnancy test shows you are pregnant, always consult your doctor.
Your doctor will confirm the pregnancy, work out your estimated due date, and check your overall health. They will talk to you about any previous pregnancies, your medical history, and any changes you should make to your lifestyle to ensure a healthy pregnancy for yourself and the baby. They will also talk to you about how you would like to be cared for during the pregnancy and where you would like to have the baby.
If the pregnancy was unplanned and youre not sure what to do, its best to take some time to think about your decision. Your doctor can help you work through the options.
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Is There Anything Else I Need To Know About A Pregnancy Test
Most pregnancy tests simply measure whether or not you have hCG in your sample. But certain pregnancy tests also measure how much hCG you have. These tests are called quantitative hCG tests, and they’re usually done on blood samples.
The amount of hCG in your body can give your provider important information about your pregnancy and the health of your unborn baby. Quantitative hCG tests are sometimes used to help:
- Find out the age of the fetus if you’re very early in your pregnancy
- Monitor your pregnancy if you have a high risk of miscarriage
- Check for certain problems, such as:
- Ectopic pregnancy, which is a fertilized egg that tries to grow outside of the uterus. The egg cannot grow into a baby when it’s in the wrong place. It must be removed to avoid damage to your organs. This can be a medical emergency.
- Molar pregnancy , which is an abnormal growth of tissue in the uterus. It’s caused by a fertilized egg with such severe genetic problems that it cannot become a baby. The growth can turn into cancer and must be removed.
- Problems in the unborn baby, including Down syndrome, other chromosome problems, and certain birth defects
Your provider may also order a quantitative hCG blood test to help diagnose or monitor health conditions that aren’t related to pregnancy. These include ovarian and testicular cancer along with other conditions that can increase hCG levels.
When Should You Take A Home Pregnancy Test
Most home pregnancy tests advise you to take the test after you miss your next period. If you have a standard 28-day cycle, you’ll be most fertile two to three weeks before your period.
So if you get pregnant during that fertility window, you’ll need to wait at least 14 to 18 days after conception to take a home pregnancy test.
If you get a negative result and suspect you’re pregnant, check the instructions on the box. Home pregnancy tests typically recommend retaking the test 5 to 7 days later, when the hCG levels in your body will be higher.
This type of result is called a “false negative.” Sometimes you can receive a false negative result if you take a pregnancy test too soon when your hCG levels are too low for the test to detect them accurately.
Moreover, recent miscarriages, fertility drugs, and rare hCG secreting tumors can interfere with the results of at-home urine tests. If you receive conflicting results after taking a home pregnancy test multiple times, doctors recommend a blood test.
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Blood Pregnancy Tests Used By Doctors
Your doctor can give you a blood pregnancy test as early as 1114 days after ovulation. To perform a blood pregnancy test, the doctor draws blood from a vein in your arm. This blood is sent to a laboratory for testing. The results of most blood pregnancy tests take at least a couple of days. The laboratory then advises the doctor of the result.Blood test results are about 99 per cent accurate and can detect lower amounts of hCG than urine pregnancy tests. The 2 main types of blood pregnancy test include:
- Quantitative blood test measures the exact amount of hCG in the blood and can give you an estimate of how far along the pregnancy has progressed.
- Qualitative blood test only checks for the presence of hCG. Since this test doesnt measure the exact levels of hCG, it cant offer an estimate of gestation.
Pregnancy Tests Performed By A Doctor
Nurses, doctors or specialists confirm a pregnancy with either urine or blood tests. The urine tests are similar to the home ones.
The blood tests for pregnancy are more sensitive and accurate than urine tests. They can detect whether the hormone is present in your blood and how much hCG there is.
Testing the level of hCG and the rate at which it increases is one way your doctor can tell if your pregnancy is normal. For example, an extremely high hCG level may be a sign you are expecting twins or have some disorder.
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