For couples who are trying to conceive, it is important to identify the right time of the month when women will be most likely to conceive. Knowing the fertile days of a woman can increase the chances of getting pregnant.
If you and your husband are trying to have a baby, you might be eager to know right away whether you have successfully conceived or need to try again. Online articles discuss how one can feel and see the symptoms of pregnancy even after a week after conceiving.
Still, this is not an accurate way of knowing whether you have conceived or not especially since not all women can experience the same symptoms. There are women who experience morning sickness while some may not experience this at all. Some also feel physical changes immediately while some don’t.
For women who are trying to conceive but have irregular periods, knowing whether they have conceived or not can be very complicated and can sometimes lead to false alarms. This is why it is better to take a pregnancy test to have better and accurate results.
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How Soon Can You Take a Pregnancy Test?
Pregnancy tests nowadays have a high level of accuracy such that it can detect pregnancy days before you miss your period. While nobody is stopping you from taking a pregnancy test a week after your fertile period, the results can still be inaccurate.
Pregnancy tests detect the human chorionic gonadotropin hormone (HCG) which is passed on to the urine. When pregnancy develops, this hormone increases so detecting it through a pregnancy test becomes more accurate.
While getting pregnant will immediately produce HCG in your body, the amount produced can be very little such that it cannot be detected by a pregnancy test easily. This is why women who take a pregnancy test too early see negative results even when they are already pregnant.
So if you are trying to conceive, it would be better to take a pregnancy test a few days before your period is due. The safest day to test is about 3-4 days before your period. While some may claim that they can detect pregnancy as early as a week before your period is due, this may still be inaccurate.
If you are going to consult your doctor, he may tell you that the safest way to take a pregnancy test is after you have actually missed your period. One day after you have missed your period will most likely provide you with real results.
For women who have irregular periods, trying to identify the safest date when to use a pregnancy test can be quite tricky since you can’t really pinpoint when your period is due. Generally, it is best to test three weeks after your last unprotected intercourse since the HCG in your body can be detected better during this time.
When is the Best Time of the Day to Use a Pregnancy Test?
While pregnancy test kits nowadays are accurate in detecting HCG in urine, it is still advisable by most to test early in the morning. Specifically, using your first pee in the morning for your pregnancy test is the best option since this will contain a higher HCG concentration.
There are some instances when women who are pregnant see negative results when testing midday or in the afternoon. Although rare, there can be instances when the HCG in your urine goes down especially if you have peed a lot before testing.
How Should I Use a Pregnancy Test?
As we have already discussed, the best time of the day to take a pregnancy test is early in the morning. Try to do this at home so you can take your time. Depending on your pregnancy test kit, there are different instructions that you will need to follow.
A pregnancy test strip will require you to immerse it in urine below the arrow indicated. There is also a pregnancy kit where you will have to use a small dropper included in the package and drop a small amount of urine in the indicated area. Lastly, a handheld pregnancy stick will only require you to place it where your urine stream will flow.
All types of pregnancy test kits will show results of either one line for negative or two lines for positive results. Others have an indicator where it will state “pregnant” or “not pregnant”. No matter what type of pregnancy test you are going to use, carefully read the instructions to show valid results.
Will Testing Before a Missed Period Show Fake Results?
The answer can be yes and no. First of all, you can get fake results when testing too early such that your pregnancy test will show you negative results. This happens when women still have a low level of HCG in their urine which the pregnancy test can’t detect yet.
On the other hand, you can get positive results even before you miss your period. This is when the HCG level in your urine has increased significantly for the pregnancy test to detect it accurately.
While HCG becomes present in a woman’s body as soon as she conceives, not all will experience an increase in this type of hormone immediately. This is why it still recommended that you take your pregnancy test after you have actually missed your period.
Can Women Who Have Irregular Periods Use a Pregnancy Test?
Of course! Even if you have an irregular period, this does not mean that you cannot conceive or your body cannot produce a fertile egg that can be fertilized by a sperm. Unless you have a deeper fertility or ovulation problem, women who have irregular periods can use a pregnancy test and see results without a problem.
The only difficulty with women who have irregular periods is knowing when they actually missed a period yet or not. Unlike women who have a regular period, they do not have a general idea when they are expecting their period and whether they missed it or not.
Women who have irregular periods can sometimes have a 40-day menstrual cycle while some even experience missing a month’s period. This is why it is advisable for women who have irregular periods to test at least three weeks after their last unprotected intercourse.
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