Am I Pregnant Test

May 26th, 2011



Being pregnant is an exciting time. But not knowing whether you’re pregnant, especially if you don’t want to be, can be a trying, nerve wracking experience to say the least. Thankfully, nowadays, there are multiple ways to find out if you might be pregnant. For starters, you can take the pregnancy quiz located above. While not 100% accurate, it can give you a good idea whether or not you might be pregnant based on certain signs of pregnancy.

Alternately, you could take a home pregnancy test. These are the typical am I pregnant test units such as EPT and First Response that you might have heard of. You can purchase these types of tests here.

Finally, you can just do an am I pregnant test the old fashioned way, by looking at pregnancy symptoms.

The following are known as “Presumptive Evidence of Pregnancy“. If you experience the symptoms in this first group, then you “might” be pregnant.

Lack of menstruation: Other things can cause this, but pregnancy and menopause top the list of possibilities.

 

  • Changes in your breasts Are your breasts tender or sore? Are your nipples or areolas changing color or growing larger? Are you noticing any white or yellowish discharge from your nipples?
  • Chadwick’s sign This is a discoloration of vaginal tissue. Is your vaginal tissue looking bluish? It could be Chadwick’s sign.
  • Nausea Particularly in the morning.
  • Increased Urination This happens early on in the pregnancy when the uterus grows and puts pressure on the bladder.
  • General Fatigue Even when you’ve gotten plenty of rest.
  • Perception of Movement If it’s possible that your at least 16 weeks pregnant, then you may feel the  baby moving.

Next, we have a list of symptoms that are known as “Likely evidence of pregnancy“. If you’re doing a home pregnancy test, sometimes known as an Am I Pregnant test, and you have 2 or more of these, than there is a fairly good chance that you are pregnant and that you should see your doctor.

Enlargement of the abdomen, presumably due to increase in size of the uterus. The uterus can usually be felt through the abdomen after 12 weeks. This sign is more obvious in abdomens that have been “pre-stretched” with a previous pregnancy.

  • Changes in uterine tissue Now, most women probably won’t be able to tell this from home unless you have medical training. However, if you do have a way to find out (if, say, you have a friend or relative who works in the medical field), then this can help you to diagnose a pregnancy. At about 6 weeks of pregnancy, the uterus will soften. Shortly thereafter, the cervix will do the same.
  • False Contractions Also known as Braxton Hicks contractions. These resemble spasms in the uterus and cervix.
  • Ballottement This is a sign that shows up around the 2nd trimester. The fetus can be pushed in by pushing on the mother’s stomach area, and will then “bounce back”.

Finally, the following signs, when doing an am I pregnant test, are certain signs of pregnancy. If you have these symptoms, you are certainly pregnant!

  • Fetal Heartbeat
  • Seeing the baby on an ultrasound

 

 

Early Pregnancy Symptoms

July 5th, 2011

If you are thinking that you need an “am I pregnant test“, then you probably didn’t just come to that conclusion out of the blue. Odds are, you’re experiencing some symptoms that are leading you to believe that you may be pregnant. In today’s post, I’d like to discuss a few of those symptoms.

Pregnancy Symptoms

1)The first, and best known, of all the early signs of pregnancy, is a missed period. Missed periods can be a pregnancy symptom, but they can also be caused by other factors. If you’re trying to conceive, or if you’ve had unprotected sex, then a missed or late period may very well mean that you’re pregnant. However, don’t use this one symptom on it’s own to diagnose pregnancy.

2)Another early symptom of being pregnant is nausea. It’s commonly known as morning sickness, since the most common time to experience it is in the morning. However, frequent bouts of nausea at any time of day can be a sign of pregnancy.

3)Swollen or tender breasts is a third sign of pregnancy. This usually occurs 3 to 4 weeks after conception, but can occur as early as 1 to 2 weeks after conception. Your breasts may be enlarged, tender, sore, or even painful just to touch them.

4)Tiredness or general fatigue. Like most of these symptoms, you’re looking for something out of the ordinary. If you’ve experienced sleepiness and lethargy for years, then this probably isn’t a good indicator to look for when it comes to pregnancy. However, a general fatigue which comes on all of a sudden may be a reason to take an am I pregnant test.

5)Backaches. If you suddenly start experiencing a lot of pain in your lower back, you may want to consider taking a home pregnancy test. Like all symptoms, this doesn’t mean much on it’s own. However, if this goes along with several other symptoms, you may wish to take a pregnancy test or see your doctor.

6)Food Cravings. Suddenly craving things you’ve never had cravings for before? Craving food that you like but don’t typically NEED? This can be a pregnancy symptom for many women. You crave foods because your body is requiring a nutrient that is in that food. Cravings are not normal for most non-pregnant people, unless they are suffering a disease, or have just smoked marijuana. However, when pregnant, your body is always in need of specific nutrients, making cravings a common occurrence.

In summary, use common sense. If you are experiencing just 1 abnormal symptom, it’s probably not pregnancy unless you’ve been trying to conceive or have had unprotected sex. On the other hand, if you’re experiencing multiple symptoms that are normally related to pregnancy, it’s a wise idea to take an am I pregnant test, or even to take a pregnancy test at your doctor’s office, where they can test for hcg and tell you with 100% certainty whether or not your are pregnant.

And don’t forget, we offer our own pregnancy tests right on our website, complete with the ability to chat with doctors online!

 

How to Use an Am I Pregnant Test

May 26th, 2011

Many young women who have never been pregnant before are intimidated by the thought of taking an Am I Pregnant Test. From the outset, they’re already nervous about the thought of pregnancy – whether they’re hoping that they are pregnant or hoping for the opposite.

I remember being young (still in high school as a matter of fact) and worried that I might be pregnant. I went to the store and bought a pregnancy test kit, and I was so embarrassed and self conscious about it. I was only 17, and I didn’t want my parents to find out. So I brought it home, and locked myself in the upstairs bathroom. Initially, I had no idea at all how to use the thing. I remember having some vague notion that when you took an am I pregnant test, you had to actually insert the damn thing into my vajayjay! Luckily, once I opened up the package and read the instructions, I found out that was not the case!

Home Pregnancy Test Kit

So, in case there are any young women taking a home pregnancy test for the first time, here is a tutorial on just how to go about using one:

  1. Plan to take the test first thing in the morning. It can be difficult to wait, but you’ll get a more accurate result this way. Do not take your first “piss” of the day until you’re ready to take the test.
  2. Take the test stick out of the package and set it aside. Read through the instructions carefully.
  3. Some tests have you simply hold the stick in your urine stream, while others have you collect your pee in a cup and then dip the stick in it. Read the instructions to see which type of test yours is.
  4. If you have the “hold it in the urine stream” type of test, then sit on the toilet, and spread your legs slightly, and hold the stick in your hand.
  5. As you release your pee into the toilet, hold the stick in your pee stream (try not to splash yourself – yuck)
  6. If you have the “collect it in a cup” type of test, then hold the cup in the toilet underneath you, and fill it half-way with pee. After it’s half-full, you can simply finish peeing into the toilet.
  7. For the cup method, you will next dip the stick into the cup and allow it to sit for the length of time specified in the instructions.
  8. Whichever type of test you have, you’ll now need to set the stick aside for 3 to 5 minutes and wait for the result. If you are a smoker, now will be a good time to have a cigarette, as your nerves will certainly be on edge.
  9. Check the result.
  10. If it’s positive, make an appointment with your doctor to confirm the results.

That’s it!  I sincerely hope that you found it helpful!

Pregnancy Tests

May 26th, 2011

When you think you might be pregnant, it can be a time of worry. Even if you have been having fertility problems and are trying to conceive,  you are facing such a huge life change, and it’s natural to feel some trepidation. Luckily, these days we have something called an am I pregnant test, also known as a pregnancy test, that can tell women with a high degree of accuracy whether or not they might be pregnant. If you’ve been experiencing some early signs of pregnancy, such as morning sickness, a missed period, tenderness in the breast area, or an unusual amount of fatigue, you should consider taking an am I pregnant test to find out for certain if you are going to have a baby.

Am I Pregnant TestMany women, especially those who have  never had a baby before, have a lot of questions about pregnancy tests. Here is a brief FAQ:

What exactly IS a pregnancy test? How does a pregnancy test work?

When you are pregnant, your body produces a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG. The body starts making this hormone soon after an egg is fertilized. The levels of hCG in the blood and urine increases every day after the egg is fertilized, and reaches levels that will show up on a home “am I pregnant test” within 1 week of conception. A home pregnancy test looks for this hormone. If you have the hormone in your urine, you are pregnant, and the test will tell you so. If you do not have this hormone, then you cannot be pregnant.

 

Is there more than one type of am I pregnant test?

Yes. There are urine tests, and blood tests. Urine tests are the kind that you can do at home, on your own, while blood tests can only be carried out by a doctor. Both types look for hCG, but the blood test is more accurate. Doctors often encourage women to take a urine test at home first, and then to come into the doctor’s office if the urine test is positive. The doctor can then do a blood test to confirm the symptoms of pregnancy.

You can find these products at your local grocery store or pharmacy, as well as online.  A urine test can often detect pregnancy within 2-3 weeks or so after conception, while a blood test can detect a pregnancy as soon as 6 days after fertilization. A urine test gives results instantly, while a blood test needs to be sent to a lab.

 

In addition, there are two different types of blood tests for pregnancy, both of which check for the aforementioned hormone, hCG:

The first type of blood pregnancy test is referred to as a qualitative test. This is actually the same type of test that is used with urine home pregnancy tests. This am I  pregnant test simply tests for whether there is any detectable amount of hCG present in the blood. It does not check to see how much hCG is present.

The second type of pregnancy test done on a woman’s blood is referred to as a quantitative hCG test. This type measures the quantity of hCG that is present in a woman’s bloodstream. Why would it be helpful to see how much hCG is present when the presence of any detectable quantity indicates a pregnancy? Because it is useful to check for problems with the pregnancy. If hCG levels start to decrease, it can be a sign of a coming miscarriage or other issues.

 

Everyone has heard of am I pregnant tests that are wrong. How accurate are these tests?

Home pregnancy test kits that test the urine for hCG are about 97% accurate, meaning that out of every 100 women who take the test, 3 will be given incorrect results. Blood tests are nearly 100% effective. There are certain things that you can do to ensure the highest possible degree of accuracy for a urine test. These are:

  • Wait at least 7 days after you miss a period to test
  • Do the test first thing in the morning, since your urine is the most concentrated at this time
  • Follow the instructions to the letter
  • Purchase the best home pregnancy test (am I pregnant test) that you can afford

Another common question that women ask about online is related to the cost  of a home pregnancy test. Are they expensive?

Home urine pregnancy tests are fairly inexpensive. You can pick one up at your local drugstore, pharmacy, or grocery store for anywhere from $7 to $22. It is recommended that you spend at least $10 to get a test that will be accurate enough for you. The tests are available over the counter (OTC) without a prescription.

Are home pregnancy tests difficult to use correctly?

Absolutely not. They are very simple. Even teenagers have been using them accurately for years. You just need to be sure to follow the instructions carefully. The basic method of use is:

  • Sit on the toilet
  • Urinate
  • Hold the pregnancy test stick in your urine stream as it goes from your vagina to the toilet bowl
  • Some tests are a little different here in that they want you to catch your urine in a plastic cup first, and then dip the stick in the cup.
  • All tests require you to wait from 3 to 5 minutes for a result. For most tests, the results will be indicated by a color, or a plus or minus sign.
  • If you have questions, you can call the 800 number listed on the package, or just talk to your doctor.

 

What to do once you have the results:

If you have a positive result, you are about 97% likely to be pregnant. You should make an appointment with your doctor right away. There is such a thing as a false positive, where the test says that you are pregnant, but you really are not. You can be more certain of an accurate result if you take more than one tests. Some am I pregnant tests come in packs of 2 or 3 so that you can do the test multiple times.

If you have a negative result, then it is about 97% likely that you are NOT pregnant. You can get a false negative if you did not follow the instruction carefully. Again, if you want to be certain, take another am I pregnant test the following day. If you continue to experience signs or symptoms of pregnancy, then you should consult your doctor.

If you are unsure of how to take the home pregnancy test, this video might help: