Technology has made it possible to find out if you are pregnant without even visiting an ob-gyn. A home pregnancy test is the best way to find out. You can just wait for the home pregnancy test to detect human chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG), which is a hormone that is produced by the developing placenta. Once it has detected levels, you will find out if there are any signs of pregnancy.
These kits are reliable, but how reliable? Parents.com’s Stephen Rechner, M.D. is the division chief for General Obstetrics and Gynecology at Spectrum Health, Michigan, USA. He says that home pregnancy tests have made great strides over the years. They can detect pregnancy much earlier than before and they are very accurate at all times of the day. “
Heidi Murkoff, Sharon Mazel and What to Expect When You’re Pregnant, say that hCG can be detected in blood and urine as soon as the embryo starts implanting in the uterus. This happens between six and 12 days after fertilization. However, it is possible for some pregnancy tests not to detect hCG after a week.
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There are other factors that could lead to a false positive.
- Do not take the test before your period.
- Using an old pregnancy test.
- I took the test incorrectly.
What is the best way to know if my pregnancy test results are positive?
To show a positive pregnancy test result, the most common kit would require two visible lines. Murkoff and Mazel wrote that if your test shows a second line, it doesn’t matter how faint, you are pregnant.
Even with all this information, it is easy to doubt or be confused about the pregnancy test results. To get a better picture, we asked members of our Facebook group Smart Parenting Village for their help. Here’s what we discovered:
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Two dark, visible lines mean you’re pregnant.
Mom Ivy Sanchez felt “off” for several weeks. However, it never crossed her mind that she might be pregnant. “I thought I was just putting on some weight,” she tells SmartParenting.com.ph.
Ivy decided to buy medicine from a pharmacy and instead bought a pregnancy test. She says, “It was the longest fifteen seconds of my life but the results were clear as day.”
PHOTO BY COURTESY OF IVY SANCHEZ
Belle Alconcel Salido (a mom) says that her period was delayed, but she didn’t want to lose heart because she’s been disappointed many times before. “
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Belle had her period one week later, so she took a pregnancy test. The results showed “two very dark red lines.”
PHOTO BY COURTESY OF BELLE ALCONCEL-SALIDO
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Other moms like Kristin Valencia Dy, Leslie Tripoli–Bautista and Zanette Ortega had to repeat the test twice to see if they could get two visible lines.
Zanette tried a test in the morning, but was not impressed by the second line. So she did another test in afternoon. The result? Positive!
PHOTO BY COURTESY OF ZANETTE ORTEGA
Leslie shares that her first pregnancy test was negative at two weeks.
