You mentioned that you’ve gotten a positive pregnancy test result, a light positive, and then a negative, and you’re wondering what’s going. And I can understand why you’re confused with all those conflicting results. The most important thing to take from this is that you have had a positive result. That, in and of itself, is enough reason to call your doctor and let them know what you’ve been seeing. And based on their ability to ask you more specific questions and to even perform an exam, they’ll decide if another test is necessary. They’ll likely bring you into the office, have you do another urine test, and based on those results, they’ll be able to settle this for you once and for all.
Here’s a little bit about how home pregnancy tests work versus blood tests, and how it’s all related to HCG, or the hormone that the test is detecting. So when you get pregnant, your body starts to release a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin, or HCG. And these levels rise exponentially until around 8 to 11 weeks gestation when they peak. Levels don’t go up and then down, and then up and then down – they should be on an upwards curve. A home urine test is detecting that in the urine, and this usually can’t be detected until 2 weeks from conception. It’s not high enough at that point. But a blood test is more sensitive. It can usually detect pregnancy as early as about a week after conception. And of course, a urine test only gives you a positive or a negative. A light positive doesn’t mean that HCG levels are necessarily lower or anything like that. But a blood test can tell you either positive or negative, but a doctor can also order a more specific test that actually gives you an HCG level. And if they suspect that there might be complications with the pregnancy, they’ll typically do a blood draw on one day, and then 2 days later, draw your blood again and compare the results. And the HCG levels should be climbing. If they’re not climbing fast enough, they’re staying the same, or they’re going backwards, then complications are suspected.
Now for you, if you are actually pregnant, then there are a few things that could affect your results. For one, it’s the timing in relation to conception. So I mentioned before that the soonest a home pregnancy test can detect HCG in the urine is about 2 weeks from conception. So if a woman takes a test to early or too soon, then it’s very possible that she’s seeing false negatives. And so the best rule of thumb is to wait until your period should start, and then if it doesn’t, then it’s time to take a test. But even if that one is negative, you haven’t started bleeding, in another 5 to 7 days, it’s best to retest again and see what that result is, just in case the first one was taken a little bit too early.
Another factor that can affect pregnancy test results is the time of day that you take the test, especially in the early weeks when you’re just on that border of the test being able to read positive or negative anyway. Urine is most concentrated in the morning, so it’s best to take a home pregnancy test first thing in the morning. If you take it later in the day when your urine is more diluted, especially if you had a lot to drink or something, it’s possible to get a false negative or even a lighter positive, because, remember, it’s just detecting the presence of HCG.
A third factor that could affect these things is when you read the pregnancy test results. The manufacturers of most home pregnancy tests say that you should read it within a 3 to 5 minute window, and if you read it outside of those parameters, then those results aren’t reliable. So some girls let it sit on the toilet, initially it was negative, and then they come back an hour or 2 later and it looks slightly positive, those results can’t be relied upon, and a pregnancy test should be repeated in another 5 to 7 days to see what the results actually are.
Again, the best thing for you, I think, is to just go to your doctor, let them know what you’ve seen, and they’ll decide if further test are necessary. I hope the best for you, and if you have any other questions for me in the future, feel free to ask them on our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/IntermountainMoms, and recommend us to your friends and family too.
I've had positive, faint positive, and negative pregnancy tests. Do HCG levels fluctuate?
Take Care Of Your Health With These Simple Nutrition Ideas
Nutrition is important for all aspects of your life, not just in diet, but also in exercise and more. To have good nutrition you must keep a balanced diet, however, it can sometimes feel impossible. Actually, eating healthy foods is easy once you get into the habit and stay with it. You’ll find some great advice in this article to help you.
If you’re always traveling, try having protein bars on hand. It has become increasingly difficult to eat nutritionally in airports. You may be tied up in security, waiting for your flight or flying on a plane that does not serve meals. Eat a few of these healthy bars and have a complete meal when you can.
Every week, you ought to be eating many types of protein. Choose skinless poultry, fish and lean meats. Eggs are are good source of protein. We now know that having an egg every day will not harm you. Try going a whole day without eating any meat once a week. Have seeds, nuts, peanut butter and beans in place of the meat.
A good breakfast should be part of any diet that aims to provide your body with adequate nutrition. Breakfast really is the most crucial meal. Eating extra protein early in the day will help you stay fuller longer, and keep your metabolism running at its best.
If you want a good ground beef substitute when cooking, think about ground turkey breast that is lean. This will cut down on saturated fat and calories. Make sure you pick up the ground turkey breast since turkey dark meat has a very similar nutrition profile as ground beef. Make sure what you’re getting is genuine turkey breast, as some ground turkey packages mix turkey breast and dark turkey meat, which partially defeats the purpose of choosing turkey.
When you apply the tips in this article, you can enhance your nutrition in no time. Once you develop your healthy lifestyle, you’ll feel better, look better, and you’ll keep eating a balanced diet.