How Early Can I Take A Pregnancy Test After Ovulation Complete Fact Sheet

The Mechanics Of Pregnancy

In a woman’s body An egg is released by the ovaries every month which either get fertilized or is shed in the next period. If the egg is fertilized by a sperm, it takes roughly 2 to 3 days for the fertilized egg to attach itself to the body of the uterus, this is when a woman is called pregnant and from here the miracle of life begins. So if a woman is trying to get pregnant, she would wonder ‘how early can I take a pregnancy test’? Well, the answer is simple. Women tend to be stressful in these conditions when in reality there is nothing to be stressed about, so in this article, we will answer all your queries about how early you should take this pregnancy test and how exactly it should be done

How Do I Know I Am Pregnant?

A woman might get pregnant by accident or deliberately. Maybe you direly wanted to get pregnant or you forgot to take the conception pill that day and got pregnant or perhaps you got pregnant by chance because the protection did not work correctly.

Either way, it depends when you find out that you are pregnant that is, how early you take the pregnancy test, and it could be anxious for many women because some want to get pregnant or some do not want to get pregnant at all, which is why many women end up taking this pregnancy test to know if the result is positive or negative out of curiosity. Taking a pregnancy test at the right time is very crucial, and you should not take this pregnancy test too early to raise false hopes.

For instance, if you are trying to conceive a baby it is best for you to take a pregnancy test at least after 2 weeks of intercourse, and to be very precise with your timings, you need to make sure you were charting down your menstrual cycle every month. This is especially important to know when exactly you were ovulating when you were supposed to do intercourse and after how long should you take a pregnancy test.

On the contrary, if you were not trying to get pregnant and you have missed the date you usually get your period on, it will be beneficial to rule out pregnancy with a home-based pregnancy test.

And in this case, you can take a pregnancy test after you missed your periods. Similarly, if you forgot to take the conception pill on the day you had intercourse; it is very likely to get a negative pregnancy result if you do this test right away, so again you need to give some time like 12 to 14 days to know the results for sure.

What is the right time to take a Pregnancy Test?

Timing is particularly important because of the hormone called beta human chorionic gonadotropin hormone that is released by the zygote attached to the body of the uterus, and this hormone becomes detectable only when the right amount of it is released in the urine or else if the detectable amount of this hormone is not present in the urine then the pregnancy test would come as negative even if you are pregnant, which would be false. Hence, we need to give this hormone at least 2 weeks to build up and become detectable. Also, the time of the day is important to detect HCG hormone in the urine, for example, this hormone is found in the urine more in the morning than any other time during the day.

Other than the pregnancy test, a woman might experience symptoms that are not much unique to a pregnancy and are very atypical, like:

• Missed periods
• Mood changes
• Breast tenderness
• Certain food cravings
• Nausea or vomiting
• Tiredness
• Cramping
• Slight bleeding
• Headache
• Dizziness
• Constipation
• Increased basal body temperature

Related:Signs of Pregnancy Presumptive, Probable, Positive Full Fact Sheet

How does a pregnancy test work?

A pregnancy test kit comprises of a stick that detects whether a woman is pregnant or not. The stick needs to be introduced to a sufficient amount of urine for it to work properly and make sure that you have read the instructions correctly before proceeding. Some ways of doing this include:

• Directly urinating on the stick; you have to hold the stick right in the direction of the urine stream and urinate.

• Dip the stick in urine; you have to collect your urine in a small container and then dip the stick in the container and let it sit for a few seconds.

• Use a dropper; you can also use a dropper to take a little amount of the urine that you need to collect in a container and then drop the urine on to the stick.Once the stick is in contact with the urine, give it some time to come up with your results.

There are different ways a stick might tell you the result. It may

• Show 2 lines for pregnant and 1 line for not being pregnant
• Say the words ‘pregnant’ or ‘ not pregnant’

Urine dip pregnancy test is very feasible, economical and instant in its working, and many women prefer this for the ease of it. Also, it can be done in your own house where things can stay private for women as well.

How accurate is a pregnancy test?

The answer to this question relies on how early you take the pregnancy test. If you are someone who is trying to get pregnant, make sure you have maintained a regular cycle to know exactly how early you should test yourself. If you have had intercourse on the ovulation day, then it is best to wait for a week before the pregnancy test. The accuracy will depend on which day before or after the expected date of periods you are taking this pregnancy test. So if you take a test:

• 6 days before the expected date of the periods, the chances of accuracy is only 23%

• 5 days before the expected date of periods, the chances grow to 34 %

• 4 days before the expected date of periods, the chances increase up to 44%

• 3 days before, it is 67%

• 2 days before, the chances are 82%

• 1 day before periods, the chances are 92%

• On the expected date of periods, the chances increase 95%

And lastly, a day after the expected date of periods the accuracy is 100%.

Reasons For False Positive Pregnancy Test

How early can I take a pregnancy blood test?

Another reliable test to confirm pregnancy is to take a blood test. Your doctor might advise a blood HCG test; the only difference is that the HCG hormone is detected in the blood. Blood HCG test is more sensitive than the urine test and blood HCG becomes detectable earlier than the HCG in a urine test as well, but the wait gets longer in the blood test, unlike the instant urine test.

There are 2 types of blood HCG test:

• Quantitative, which tells the amount of HCG present in your blood, and

• Qualitative which just tells if you are pregnant or not.

In case, a test is negative in the absence of periods, the test must be repeated to eliminate the chances of getting a false negative result.