Choosing an Early Pregnancy Test

You have quite a few choices when selecting an early pregnancy test. If you're trying to conceive you'll want to know all your options.

Have a supply of tests on hand so you don't want to have to worry about going to the store when you're anxious to know if you're pregnant or not!

Mid-Stream Tests

These are the most familiar looking pregnancy tests. Midstream tests consist of a long plastic handle with an absorbent fiber tip. There's also a window on the test where you'll see your results.

You remove the early pregnancy test from the foil package it comes in just as you are ready to use it. You then sit on the toilet and allow your urine to hit the test for a few seconds. Next you place the test on a flat surface, usually for 3-5 minutes. After the allotted time period is up, you check the early pregnancy test to see if it's positive or not.

Most midstream pregnancy tests show one or two lines in the window. The first line is a control. If you see only that line, you are most likely not pregnant (or you tested a bit too early, more on this further in the article).

If you see two lines, then you are probably pregnant, even if the second line is very faint (I have "very faint line" children blessing my life)! Some new, digital early pregnancy test types read either "pregnant" or "not pregnant" in the test window.

Mid-streams tests are very convenient and you can buy them at any drugstore, discount store, or even dollar store. Buying from a specialty source can give you a discount and you usually get a more sensitive early pregnancy test than you would at the drugstore.

Pregnancy Test Strips

If you're looking for the best early pregnancy test to buy in bulk, test strips are probably a great pick for you. In addition, test strips are easy to use, easy to store, easy to take along with you on vacation or during travel, and they're very sensitive.

Test strips are the most often used pregnancy tests in doctor's and midwife's offices. To use them, you simply collect a small amount of urine in a cup, then dip early pregnancy test strip in for a few seconds. There will be a line on the strip to let you know how far to dip it. After 3-5 minutes, your results are ready to view.

Each test strip will have a place for the control line. You'll see this line first. If you are pregnant, you'll also see a second line appear on the strip. Even if the second line is very faint, you are most likely pregnant!

You'll want to have a lot of test strips on hand - and you may want to buy them at a bulk discount price. I used these early pregnancy test result strips and got a positive test result at 10 days post ovulation!!! That was 4 days before my period was due! I was so thrilled, and I recommend them highly. I used the rest of the strips I'd purchased in the days that followed and my positive tests got darker and darker. They were very easy to use and gave me that wonderful early positive!

You can catch the urine for your early pregnancy test in a small, clean cup. You can also purchase a mess-free collection cup made especially for test strips. These cups have a small handle so your hands stay clean, and they also make it easy to get only the part of the strip you'd like into the urine.

Cartridge Tests

Using a cartridge test is very simple. Early pregnancy test cartridges are made up of a test strip within a small plastic cover. They're sturdy and compact. They are also very clean.

To use cartridge pregnancy tests, you collect a sample of urine in a cup, just as you do with a test strip. Instead of dipping a strip into the urine however, you use a small pipette (disposable eyedropper) to collect some of the urine. Then you simply drip a few drops onto the cassette and wait 3-5 minutes for your result. You'll easily be able to see where you should place the droplets.

You read a cartridge in the same way you read mid-stream and test strip pregnancy tests. One line will appear for the control. If a second line appears (even a faint one) then congratulations, you're pregnant!

Understand How Pregnancy Tests Work

The key to selecting a good early pregnancy test of any style is to understand how the test can tell if you're pregnant.

During pregnancy, your body will produce a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin, known as hCG for short. This hormone begins being manufactured as soon as you are pregnant. Pregnancy tests look for this hormone in your urine.

A very sensitive early pregnancy test will pick up small levels of this hormone in urine, meaning that you can get a positive pregnancy test earlier. Tests that detect 20 mIU/ml hCG are some of the most sensitive on the market and allow you test 6-10 days after ovulation.

Less sensitive pregnancy tests will usually pick up hCG in urine around the first day of a missed period. If you think that you are pregnant and you get a negative test result then you may want wait several days and test again. Remember that even if you get a very faint line you are probably pregnant!

Natural Birth and Baby Care.com