Pregnancy testing

 If you are trying to conceive ( TTC ), and if you are using fertility awareness methods ( FAM )  ,you might have a rough estimation of your day of ovulation , so that you might be able to calculate your days past ovulation ( dpo ).

Women who are trying to concieve ( ttc ) will be having a very nervous two week wait ( TWW ) after the estimated day of ovulation hoping that they will miss the next period or AF ( Aunt flo ).

The standard procedure is usually to wait 15 days past ovulation ( dpo ) with missed periods before testing for pregnancy. But impatient women will usually start testing from ( 7 or 8 dpo) seven or eight days past ovulation using home pregnancy tests ( HPT ). The home pregnancy tests usually test the women's urine for presence of ( HCG ) human chorionic  gonadotropin  hormone produced by the placenta during implantation..

But the home pregnancy tests vary among themselves on their sensitivity ( usually 15 mlU / ml  to 25 mlU /ml ). HCG levels usually will double every two to three days in early pregnancy.

It is better to urinate a little bit first before taking the urine sample for testing from around the middle portion of the urine stream. That means it is better not to use the first part of the urine stream for testing. Some of the home pregnancy tests will involve holding a test stick in the urine stream, while some other HPT 's might involve collecting urine in a collection cup and dipping a strip in the container. Some companies do not recommend using the first morning urine ( FMU ) for testing HPT ( home pregnancy tests ) and OPK ( ovulation prediction ) .

The tests will usually have a control line and presence of another line (sometimes faint) will be the indication of pregnancy. The confirmation of pregnancy is usually called big fat positive ( BFP ) . The doctors might further confirm the pregnancy using  urine pregnancy test ( UPT ) or blood tests or ultrasound / sonogram ( sonogram refers to the picture you get from the ultrasound test  )test and / or a physical pelvic exam .

The ultrasound test can also be used to estimate the age of  the foetus  / fetus and to check the number of fetuses .

The doctor will usually ask for your date of  LMP  ( last menstrual period ) in order to estimate the date of delivery ( EDD ) usually by adding 280 days to the date of the first day of the last menstrual period ( LMP ). The usual gestation period is taken as 40 weeks from the first day of LMP.


Premature deliveries are those that occur before 36 weeks of gestation.



disclaimer:
There is no guarantee about the data/information on this site. You use the data/information at your own risk. You use the advertisements displayed on this page at your own risk.We are not responsible for the content of external internet sites. Some of the links may not work