How Early Can You Take A Pregnancy Test?
No matter if you are planning for ababy or not, many women end up wondering how early can you take a pregnancy test?
No matter the reason, women who think they’ve become pregnant are usually very anxious to find out. Of course, your doctor won’t be able to tell you right away, but using an early pregnancy test can definitely give you some results. Here’s some information about these tests so you can decide if you want to go the route of finding out at the earliest possible convenience.
How they work – pregnancy tests work by detecting the presence of the human chorionic gonadotropin hormone, or HCG, which the female body starts to produce in the early stages of pregnancy. HCG is necessary to aid in some of the developmental processes of the fetus. So in reality, if your body hasn’t started to produce HCG, none of the pregnancy tests you take will show you’re pregnant, even if you are!
When they reveal you’re pregnant – a pregnancy test won’t be very helpful until after fertilization takes place. Basically, when the egg and sperm unite, they form what’s called a zygote. About 14 days into your menstrual cycle, fertilization will take place.
Once that happens, the zygote travels down the fallopian tube and into the uterus. Between seven and nine days after fertilization, the zygote will plant itself firmly into the cavity of the uterus. When there, an outer layer called trophoblast will form around the zygote, and this layer is what produces HCG.
As soon as your body starts to produce HCG, some of the home pregnancy tests should be able to determine that you’re pregnant.
What to look for – basically all early pregnancy tests work with the same system. A urine sample will have to be place on the “reader” of the home pregnancy test. The readers have a certain substance that will change color and tell whether a woman is pregnant once the urine contains traces of HCG. Typically, a reading of 5 mIU/L of HCG is enough to conclude that a woman is pregnant.
How soon to check – it is always recommended that women wait until at least 14 days after ovulation to use one of the earliest pregnancy tests to check whether they are pregnant. However, there are some extra-sensitive tests that can actually produce results as soon as seven days after ovulation. If you want more concrete and definite results, however, your best bet would be to wait until 14 days after ovulation.
With this information, you should be able to decide whether you want to go the route of taking the earliest pregnancy test, or wait until your doctor can give you a definitive answer.
Search Tags: when is the earliest I can take a pregnancy test
Related posts: