Finding the best pregnancy test might not be as easy as you may think. There are dozens of different pregnancy symptoms that women will experience during the first trimester of their pregnancy. While nausea, dizziness, breast tenderness, and exhaustion are common symptoms, these symptoms do not necessarily mean you are pregnant. The only way to know for sure if you are pregnant is to get a positive blood or urine pregnancy test. While blood tests can detect pregnancy earlier than urine tests, they are only administered when complications can be expected.
The most affordable and practical way to detect a pregnancy without a doctor’s appointment is to invest in the best pregnancy test designed for use at home. Learn how pregnancy tests detect early pregnancy and then compare the best pregnancy tests on the market so you can know whether or not it is time to prepare for your new bundle of joy.
How Do Home Pregnancy Tests Work? What is the Best Pregnancy Test?
The idea of diagnosing your own pregnancy may sound more complicated than it actually is. The best pregnancy test is designed to detect the smallest levels of the pregnancy hormone in a woman’s urine. The hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, is produced at high levels during the first trimester of pregnancy.
The placenta starts to secrete this hormone very shortly after fertilization. Fertilization generally occurs 5 to 8 days after conception. After the fertilization occurs, the hCG hormone levels will start to rise every two days as the embryo develops.
The best pregnancy test can detect very low levels of the hCG hormone. Because the levels start off very small, it is recommended to wait for at least one to two weeks after conception to take your first home pregnancy test.
Even the best tests cannot detect pregnancy just days after fertilization because the hormone levels are too low to detect for an accurate reading. All women should keep in mind that not all home pregnancy tests are completely accurate whether you wait until your missed period or you decide to take the test days early.
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How Do You Choose the Best Pregnancy Test For the Most Accurate Readings?
Waiting for a positive pregnancy test is never fun if you have been trying to get pregnant for months. If you are excited and nervous, the last thing you want to do is wait days after your missed period to take your first test.
If you have already taken a test and you got a negative read, that does not necessarily mean you are not pregnant. You could have administered the test at the wrong time of the day, you may not have put the test in your urine stream for long enough, or the test you chose might not be able to read low levels of hCG.
When you are looking for the best pregnancy test for use at home, the test you choose should be able to read very low levels of the pregnancy hormone. The home pregnancy kit that has performed the best in each and every test that has been thrown at it is the First Response Early Pregnancy Test.
This is a very reliable and sensitive test that is able to read concentrations of the hCG hormone at very low levels. In fact, one study showed that the test was able to detect concentrations as low as 6.5 mlU/ml. These levels are found common after implantation.
You should remember that not all home pregnancy tests can detect pregnancy days after implantation. Some women produce higher levels of hCG and the hCG that is detected in your urine depends on what time of the day you are taking the test. Most manufacturers recommend taking the best pregnancy test immediately when you wake up so the concentrations are higher. Do not drink too much water or urinate before you take the test.
Some less sensitive tests can only detect levels of 100 mlU/ml or less. Keep in mind that your levels will double every one to two days. This means that the test will generally read pregnancy just days after your missed period. You should look for a test that is able to detect 25 mlU/ml or less if you want to know whether or not you are pregnant early. If you choose a less sensitive test, you may be disappointed by a false negative.
Women who are trying to get pregnant should never disappoint themselves by investing in a test with poor hCG sensitivity. If you want to know you are pregnant just days after the egg is fertilized, you need to invest in the best pregnancy test.
The best bet to getting the most accurate readings is waiting for your missed period. Go to your local pharmacy or even the retail store and pick up your home pregnancy test so you can end the anticipation. Once you know you are not imagining the symptoms you will feel relief.
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