Whether you’ve missed your period or had a scare with a split condom or, as in my case, been really stupid and allowed your partner to ejaculate into you when you don’t know where you are in your cycle and didn’t go and get a morning after pill, you need to know whether you’re pregnant or not.
Blood and urine can both be used to test for the presence of hCG (human Chorionic Gonadotrophin), a hormone which is secreted by the developing placenta shortly after fertilisation. It appears first in your urine and then can be detected in your blood a little later. Whilst blood tests are less sensitive, they are also more accurate because they can tell you not only if hCG is present, but also how much, which is helpful in dating a pregnancy or checking that all is progressing normally as the level usually doubles every two days during the first few weeks.
Urine is the method used for home testing kits and it is usually recommended that you wait until the day that your next period would have been due to carry out the test. This would be about two weeks after conception, although some tests are more sensitive than others and can give a reading as early as eight days after conception. However, since fertilisation may take place several days after the date of the intercourse, the date of the intercourse should not necessarily be viewed as the actual day of conception.
The sooner after the date of conception that the test says it can be done, the more sensitive it has to be to the amount of hCG it can detect in your urine, so it is vital to follow the instructions carefully to get the correct result.
The accuracy of home pregnancy tests is normally 97%. However, the few inaccuracies tend to be down to user error – either in application or in failure to follow the instructions carefully – although other factors such as nutrition, fertility medication, emotional state and the quality of the urine sample can also influence the test’s results.
Always read the instructions from start to finish before you begin.
Check the date on the test to ensure that it is not out of date. The test I found at the back of a drawer had a use-by date of April 2010, so I was just in time.
I waited until two weeks + 2 days had passed after the original intercourse to try to allow for any delay in fertilisation and I also used one of the more sensitive tests which claimed to be able to give an accurate reading up to six days before my period would have been due.
I got up this morning and did the test with my first wee. The first morning urine is ideal to ensure the accuracy of home pregnancy tests. If you are not using first thing in the morning urine, you must ensure that the urine has been in your bladder for four hours or the hCG is harder to detect so it will affect the results of the test.
Do not drink excessive amounts of water the night before (or prior to taking a test during the day) in an attempt to increase the volume of urine as this can dilute the urine sample, again making hCG not as detectable.
If you are taking any medications, especially fertility drugs, read the leaflet or consult with your doctor before testing to see if these could interfere with the results. The only medications that can cause a false positive on a home pregnancy test are those that contain hCG itself.
You have the choice of collecting some wee in a clean container and then dipping the test strip into it (dip test) or holding the strip between your legs and putting it into the stream mid-wee (stream test). Whichever method you use, make sure that you allow sufficient urine to soak the test strip by immersing it for the recommended length of time specified in the test’s instructions – but no longer – and be careful not to let that liquid touch the ‘results’ area. So, don’t dip the strip below the submersion marker and, if you’re holding it under you to do a mid-stream test, try to hold it so that the test area window is facing away from the urine stream. (Is it just me, or does it always come out like a spray hose when you’re trying to be delicate?)
Be alert and read the test results as soon as the instructions tell you that they will be ready. Evaporation lines can occur if you leave it for too long before checking.
So, there you go! A potted guide to the accuracy of home pregnancy tests and how to use them.
Oh, and by the way, mine was negative. So, six months after my last period, I guess the doctor was right and it is impossible now for me to ovulate or conceive.
But, just in case I was merely ‘lucky’, Ruf will just have to wait out the remaining six months to confirm the fact before he can ejaculate into me again.
I really don’t want to have to buy any more home pregnancy tests.
Although part of me doesn’t want to have to accept the fact that I’m Menopausal either!
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