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Home Pregnancy Tests:  Are They Reliable?

Home pregnancy tests are a tool that you have that will help you to determine if you are pregnant.  There are many of these tests available today, all of which can help you to determine sooner than your missed period if you may be pregnant.

If you are trying to get pregnant, these tests will help you to know very soon if it has actually happened.  In most situations, they are very accurate.  You can obtain them readily, use them and know within minutes.  Yet, purchasing a quality, approved product is important, as not all products work the same.

How Do They Work?

Early pregnancy tests work by detecting special hormones in your urine stream.  These hormones are not normally seen in the body unless you are pregnant.  They are the body’s tools to help craft your body into the home for an embryo to grow and flourish.  In particular, home pregnancy tests are looking for a hormone called Human Chorionic Gonadotropin or hCG.  If you have a high amount of this hormone in your urine stream, then it is likely that you are pregnant.  These tests are performing the same test that your doctor would use in his office to determine if you are pregnant.  In order for them to be accurate, though, you have to use them exactly as they are directed.

The amount of hCG in your urine will continue to grow as much as doubling every two to three days during the first weeks of pregnant.  This amount enters the urine when the placenta begins to develop and releases the hormone into the woman’s blood stream.  At the same time, the hormone will pass from the blood stream into the urine, which is why it is an effective tool at measuring if you are pregnant.  The process of getting to this point, though can take some time.

For example, once you become pregnant, with the egg fertilized in the fallopian tube, the egg then has to travel to the uterus.  That process can take as long as nine days.  Once there, it will implant into the uterus and begin to grow.  At that time, the egg’s placenta begins to grow, which is what will later excrete this hormone.

Accuracy

When considering the accuracy of these early tests of pregnancy, there are several factors that will determine it.  Each woman will have a different amount of accuracy, too.  The number of days in your menstrual cycle will determine when you can become pregnant.  More so, you may not know the date that the you became pregnant, nor the date that implantation happens.  Plus, each home test will have a different amount of accuracy based on how sensitive it is to the hormone.

More Ways To Tell

If this is your second pregnancy, you may know that there are a number of early signs of pregnancy that your body gives off, including implantation bleeding, fatigue and tender breasts.  These can be contributing factors to helping you to know if you are in fact pregnant.  In first time pregnancy including teen pregnancy, you may not recognize these signs of pregnancy.  Yet, in many cases, including teenage pregnancy, you can purchase home pregnancy tests to help you to determine if you are pregnant.  If you believe that you are, or a test shows that you are pregnant, seek out your doctor’s care as soon as possible.  They will likely perform more conclusive tests to determine that you are pregnant.  From here, they will determine when you need to be seen and if there are any risks during pregnancy you should be aware of.

First Signs Of Pregnancy

The first signs of pregnancy may happen long before a home pregnancy test can tell you that you are pregnant.  Sometimes, the body is the best way to know what is happening within it but it can be difficult to pinpoint actually what is happening.  For many women, pregnancy will differ from one pregnancy to the next.  In situations where this is your first pregnancy, there is no warning or indication that you may notice.  The fact is, some of the early pregnancy signs are so hard to spot that anyone could miss them.  Still, there are some things that can help you to know that you are pregnant.

Early Pregnancy Signs and Symptoms

If you believe you are pregnant, or could be, then consider what changes you may have noticed in your body recently.  Have you seen changes in terms of the way you feel or the way you are acting?  Here are a few of the first signs of pregnancy that you may face.

Fatigue

Fatigue is one of the first things you will experience as you begin the first weeks of pregnancy.  The fatigue is caused by several things, though.  For example, many women will become tired constantly, even with a full night’s sleep due to the number of changing hormones in the body.  The increase in hormones is normal as these are what will signal changes in your body to prepare for baby.  Hormones help your uterus to develop and help your breasts to work on filling with nourishing milk, for example.  Fatigue can also be caused by other conditions such as a lowering of your blood sugar. This too may be hormone related but it can also be because of the body’s demand for increased nutrients is causing it.  As one of the early pregnancy signs and symptoms, do as your body is telling and get some extra rest.

Another of the early signs of pregnancy is pregnancy bleeding.  This is one that most women overlook.  About 10 to 14 days after fertilization of the egg happens, the woman may experience pregnancy bleeding, which is actually the result of implantation of the egg into the uterus.  This type of bleeding is generally much lighter than menstruation.  It is not heavy in terms of amount and will be a pinkish color most often.  This too is an early pregnancy sign.  The bleeding usually only lasts a day and may be mistaken for the onset of a period.  This is also a normal phase of pregnancy.  If the bleeding continues and is very heavy and you know you are pregnant, talk to your doctor as this could be a sign of a miscarriage.

There are other such first signs of pregnancy that you may miss.  Vaginal discharge may increase about the first week after fertilization.  Your breasts may become tender and swollen as well.  You may even start to feel morning sickness come on.  If you are not sure you are pregnant, you may feel as if you are suffering from the flu.

Pregnancy weight gain does not happen at first.  In fact, you may lose weight the first month of your pregnancy as is common in teen pregnancy. If you are curious but are unsure of booking an appointment with your doctor, home pregnancy tests are a great way to find out as many of today’s better tests are fairly accurate.

Knowing the early pregnancy signs will help you to determine if you should seek out your doctor.  Of course, a missed period is perhaps the most tell tale sign of pregnancy and you definitely should give your doctor a call when this is the case.

Early Pregnancy Test:  When You’ll Know

Today, there are many great ways to know you are pregnant including a number of early pregnancy test options.  Some of today’s best early pregnancy tests can tell you within a few days after conception if you are likely to be pregnant.  While it is important to many women to know exactly when they got pregnant, you may find yourself seeing signs and symptoms of pregnancy that are not there.  Whenever possible, relax and enjoy the process and let nature run its course.

When you have to know if you are pregnant, start by taking a look at your own body, which may start revealing clues about pregnancy long before you believe it is.  In fact, many women who begin to show signs of pregnancy do not realize it and believe that they are simply entering a menstruation cycle.  Knowing your body well and being prepared will be the best way to know what’s happening within.

What’s Your Body Saying?

An early pregnancy test is likely to be most effective after two or so weeks of fertilization.  Some tests may take longer to give you an accurate idea of pregnancy.   Yet, your body may be telling you that you are pregnant long before that.  Early pregnancy signs are common and they are often the most subtle of changes.  For this reason, many women will miss them throughout the course of preparing for baby.  That is why so many women do not realize they are pregnant until they first miss their period, which is likely to be several weeks after conception.

The body will show early pregnancy signs and symptoms because of the changing chemistry in it.  Your body starts preparing for baby long before the child becomes an embryo.  In fact, the body will start to release hormones into your blood stream to help prepare for the pregnancy long before you have missed a menstruation cycle.  It is here than you will see many of the early pregnancy signs that happen long before any early pregnancy test can tell you.

Tender Or Swollen Breasts

Sometimes, one of the best tools to help you to know that you are pregnant is your body’s changes.  Tender breasts or swollen breasts are likely to be one of the first indications of pregnancy.  As the hormone levels change in your body, your breasts will react.  They may feel sore, tingly, sensitive to the touch or even just slightly tender.  Sometimes, they may feel heavier or fuller, even from this early onset of symptoms of pregnancy.

Fatigue

It is very often the case that fatigue will play a role in the first weeks of pregnancy.  As your body becomes filled with hormones and before it can adjust to these changes, you are likely to start seeing some of this tiredness.  You may feel tired, even if you do get a full night’s sleep. While hormones are the most likely reason for this, it may also be related to low blood sugar levels during pregnancy.  Moreover, your body is working hard to increase the flow of blood through your body, which can also wear on you.

Discharge During Pregnancy

As you approach pregnancy, discharge may be something that you see.  If you notice a pink colored discharge that is not heavy like a period but thicker than normal, this may be implantation discharge which means that the fertilized egg is implanted itself into the lining of your uterus.

No matter if this is your first or second pregnancy, you are likely to see many of these early pregnancy signs and symptoms long before you actually will have an early pregnancy test that is accurate.