How To Read A Pregnancy Test?
Aside from which of the many available at-home pregnancy tests is the best one to use, many women have a second and equally important question when it comes to pregnancy tests. That question is how to read a pregnancy test. The answer differs greatly depending upon the pregnancy test you choose to take at home. Before we talk about how to read the results of a pregnancy test, let’s talk about the other reading involved with pregnancy tests to give you a bit of background.
How To Read A Pregnancy Test Result From The Start
If you want to get the most accurate reading on your pregnancy test, you need to do two things before you take the test. The first is wait until the day you expect your period to arrive and the second is to fully and completely read the instructions on the pregnancy test you take. Each test is created differently, which means that even if you’ve taken an at-home pregnancy test in the past, it might have different instructions. Not reading the instructions with care might mean your results are not accurate.
Additionally, it’s imperative you wait for the best possible accuracy in your results. Pregnancy tests works by reading the levels of hCG in your urine. Your hCG is the pregnancy hormone, human chorionic gonadotropin. This hormone does not appear immediately in your urine after conception, rather it waits until your fertilized egg travels through the fallopian tube, into the uterus and then implants itself into the uterus. From that point, hCG produces slowly, doubling or tripling every two to three days. For this reason, even if a pregnancy test tells you it can tell if you’re pregnant six days before your period is slated to arrive, the results might not be accurate. It all depends on the level of hCG the test is sensitive enough to detect and the level of hCG in your body at the time you test.
Now that you’re aware of these two factors, you can learn how to more accurately read a pregnancy test result. If you don’t follow the instructions and/or take a test too early, the results you read may not be accurate.
How To Read A Home Pregnancy Test
Most traditional pregnancy tests are simple. However, there is occasionally confusion when it comes to reading the results of these tests. Typically, you have two different scenarios when it comes to reading these results.
On the test, you will see two different result windows. One of the result windows is called a test window. This window is typically the second one in line, though some tests only have one test window. If there are two windows, you will notice that the second window immediately begins to show a line when you use the test, even before time to read the results. This line merely indicates that the test is in good working order.
If there are two windows, the answer to your pregnancy question will appear in the second window. When the allotted wait time is over, you will either see a single line or two lines in the form of a plus sign in the first window. If there is a line, no matter how faint it is, present, you are pregnant. If there is no line, you are not pregnant.
If there is a single window, both the test line and results line will appear. If there is a second line next to the test line, you are pregnant. If not, you are not pregnant. However, it’s important to remember that sometimes the faintness of the pregnancy indicator line is very light. You might not see it at first. If you see any sign of a line there, you are pregnant.
How To Read A Digital Pregnancy Test
Digital pregnancy tests are much easier to read than traditional pregnancy tests. On a digital test, there is no wonder whether or not you see a very faint line that could indicate your pregnancy. Your result window reads the result of your test in two simple phrases. You will either see, “Pregnant” or “Not Pregnant” in the result window. There is no disputing either answer.
It’s important that you understand that there will be an hourglass shape in the results window while you wait for the result to appear. If you do not see this hourglass, it indicates that the test is not working correctly and you should discard it and get a new test.
If ever you’ve wondered how to read a pregnancy test, now you know. While you can take either a traditional pregnancy test or a digital test, it’s often easier and less stressful to see the words “pregnant” or “not pregnant” on the test than it is to decipher whether or not there is the faintest of lines on the pregnancy test.