Pregnancy Tests – How soon can you take them

If you have been trying to conceive then you already know the torture of the “2 week wait”. The period of time between ovulation and your expectant period. You will find many advertisements for pregnancy tests claiming you can test several days before your expected period. Go on any trying to conceive forum and some women take pregnancy tests everyday following ovulation. On many of these forums I have seen women report getting positive pregnancy tests as early as 5 days past ovulation. While other women don’t get a positive until their expected period or for some even a little longer. So the question is, how soon can you take a pregnancy test? The answer depends on 3 factors:

1. Implantation Time

Implantation is the time it takes the fertilized egg to travel down the fallopian tube and implant into the uterus lining. On average implantation takes about 6 to 12 days after ovulation. An average means that some people might implant a little earlier than 6 days while others a little longer than 12 days after ovulation. The hormone hcg ( human chorionic gonadotropin hormone) is what pregnancy tests detect. This hormone is not produced until implantation has happened. Therefore a pregnancy test will not come back as positive until after implantation has occurred.

1. 1. 2. HCG Levels

Hcg is the human chorionic gonadotropin hormone. This is the hormone that home pregnancy tests detect in your urine. It is produced by the placenta, or by the cells that will eventually form the placenta. Every woman has a small amount of hcg in their body even when not pregnant. This amount of hcg is called your baseline and it varies from woman to woman. After the fertilized egg implants in your uterus hcg starts being produced. In a healthy pregnancy hcg levels double every 48 hours. A home pregnancy test has a minimum amount of hcg that is needed to produce a positive result, which is the sensitivity. How soon you can get a positive pregnancy test depends very much on your baseline hcg and your doubling time.

In order to make sure your urine contains as much hcg as possible be sure to test with a first morning urine because it is more concentrated. Or at the very least reduce your fluid intake a few hours before testing.

1. 1. 3. Pregnancy Test Sensitivity

There are so many different pregnancy tests to choose from. Many make claims that they can detect pregnancy several days before your expected period. While that may be true for some we know from discussing implantation time and hcg levels that is not always the case. If you are dying to test early, using the most sensitive test you can get your hands on is your best bet. Pregnancy tests use the units mIU/ml for hcg. The lower the number the more sensitive the pregnancy test. A more sensitive test means the less hcg you need in your system to get that positive result.

First Response Early Result:

Known to be the most sensitive test on the market, with a sensitivity level of 6.5 mIU/ml. Hands down if I was to recommend one for testing early, this would be this one.

Easy to read pink dye with one line indicating a negative result while two indicates a positive result. Often times in early pregnancy the second line is faint, but regardless two lines indicates a positive result.

They also have a digital version :

First Responce Early Result Digital

With an easy “yes +” if you are pregnant or “no-” if you are not. Which saves you the debate with your significant other as to whether that second line on the manual test is existent or not. Often times people that use a manual test first run out and buy a digital to confirm the positive result.

For anyone that wants to keep their test as a keepsake, I urge you to take one of the manual ones. The positive results on the digital will magically disappear eventually and you will be left with a blank screen. I imagine pulling out my pregnancy tests every time my child hits any milestone in their life, just so I can remind myself how it all started.

Twenty-five SurePredict(TM) 10mIU Super Early HcG Pregnancy Tests:

These have a sensitivity of 10mIU/ml. They are one of the most basic pregnancy tests you can buy. Just a simple strip, there is no plastic covering or fancy reading window. One line indicates a negative result while two indicates a positive. The second line can be faint but still indicates a positive result. It uses pink dye which many people find easier to read. They come with 25 in a pack, so if you plan on doing a lot of early testing this is a good option.

Clearblue:

Has a sensitivity level of 25mIU/ml. Despite it not being all that sensitive it is still very popular. To suit your preference they offer 4 different versions:

Clearblue Early Detection Pregnancy Test: Which uses blue dye with one line indicating a negative result and two a positive result. This being a manual test one line may be faint but regardless two lines indicates a positive result. Many people avoid the blue dye tests because they find them harder to read, although I never had that problem.

Clearblue Plus Pregnancy Test :

This is a step up and uses a “–“ to indicate a negative result and a “+” to indicate a positive result. Although this test is still manual it is easier to read than the one with the two lines.

Clearblue Pregnancy Test with Weeks Indicator: This is a digital test that tells you either “pregnant” or “not pregnant”, what could be easier. It will also give you an idea of how far along you are based on the HCG level in your urine. I don’t think the weeks indicator is all that important as it can be very inaccurate, If you recall the level of HCG varies for different people, and doesn’t tell you much about how far along someone actually is.

Clearblue Digital Pregnancy Test with Smart Countdown: This is the digital test indicating “pregnant” or “not pregnant”. It does not indicate how far along you are but it has a countdown to your results. Personally I think the countdown is a bit gimmicky and doesn’t offer any real value.

As you can see everyone and every pregnancy is unique. You may find out days before your expected period with one pregnancy and not till a few days after with your next.