Pregnancy Test Question

[towerclimberswife]

Hey All,

I'm a bit obsessive, so I'll just start with that. I got my BFP on Friday afternoon after about a 3hr hold. Dipped a Wondfo and saw a shadow of a line, so I grabbed a FRER and got a good line right at three minutes. This morning I dipped another FRER to help keep my PgAL brain quiet and the line is super light. This was with FMU after at least a 5 hr hold. I got up at 2am and used the bathroom, then tested the urine I had at 7am. Is this something that is concerning? I feel like I understand "a line is a line." But...

Any insight would be appreciated!

Thanks ladies!

[Unknown]

It's hard not to obsess. The first couple of days my lines/shadows didn't seem to be getting darker so I freaked, but then today it was much darker. I think really early on its hard because the HCG is still pretty low in your system. I'd say step away for two days then test again. FX for you!

[towerclimberswife]

Apr 12, 2015 6:35:56 GMT -5 Unknown said:

It's hard not to obsess. The first couple of days my lines/shadows didn't seem to be getting darker so I freaked, but then today it was much darker. I think really early on its hard because the HCG is still pretty low in your system. I'd say step away for two days then test again. FX for you!

Thanks! I need to take to heart what you are saying. I am the type of person that needs to verbalize what is going on for me, so just typing the original post helped make me feel better. I'm headed on vacation this afternoon, so that will be a good distraction for me. I won't test again until I get home so that will give lots of good time for things to increase, and even so - A LINE IS A LINE. I don't need to freak out over this.

Honestly, this is the first moment that my PgAL brain has kicked in, so I'm just trying to figure out how to manage that. Thanks again!

[cnf2013]

I tested for a few days with evening and FMU and got much darker lines in the afternoon. I actually got my first squinter Friday night, tried to confirm Saturday morning with FMU and I swear it was negative and I freaked out all day before getting a FRER and getting a solid positive that evening. I wouldn't put much stock in it. Different tests even of the same brand may be more or less sensitive.

Also, after a few days, I would suggest you stop testing. Everything I've read said as you progress in your pregnancy test can actually become more unreliable since they aren't designed for tracking pregnancy progress beyond an initial BFP.

I would call your OB office and ask for betas. That should put your mind at ease more than an squinting at lines.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you.

[towerclimberswife]

Apr 12, 2015 6:48:59 GMT -5 cnf2013 said:

I tested for a few days with evening and FMU and got much darker lines in the afternoon. I actually got my first squinter Friday night, tried to confirm Saturday morning with FMU and I swear it was negative and I freaked out all day before getting a FRER and getting a solid positive that evening. I wouldn't put much stock in it. Different tests even of the same brand may be more or less sensitive.

Also, after a few days, I would suggest you stop testing. Everything I've read said as you progress in your pregnancy test can actually become more unreliable since they aren't designed for tracking pregnancy progress beyond an initial BFP.

I would call your OB office and ask for betas. That should put your mind at ease more than an squinting at lines.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Thanks for the advice. Your experience is interesting. I have never gotten a + with FMU as my initial indication of pregnancy, so there may be something to the afternoon urine theory.

The only reason I want to continue testing is because I'm headed on vacation today and won't be back until next weekend, so even if I wanted to go in for betas, I can't get in until after April 20th. Boo. I'll see what they say when I call on Monday to let them know. I'm also hoping they will let me come in a little early so that I don't have to wait until 10 weeks to get a U/S to confirm. I'm thinking maybe 7ish weeks would be awesome!!

[cnf2013]

Apr 12, 2015 6:58:23 GMT -5 towerclimberswife said:

Apr 12, 2015 6:48:59 GMT -5 cnf2013 said:

I tested for a few days with evening and FMU and got much darker lines in the afternoon. I actually got my first squinter Friday night, tried to confirm Saturday morning with FMU and I swear it was negative and I freaked out all day before getting a FRER and getting a solid positive that evening. I wouldn't put much stock in it. Different tests even of the same brand may be more or less sensitive.

Also, after a few days, I would suggest you stop testing. Everything I've read said as you progress in your pregnancy test can actually become more unreliable since they aren't designed for tracking pregnancy progress beyond an initial BFP.

I would call your OB office and ask for betas. That should put your mind at ease more than an squinting at lines.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Thanks for the advice. Your experience is interesting. I have never gotten a + with FMU as my initial indication of pregnancy, so there may be something to the afternoon urine theory.

The only reason I want to continue testing is because I'm headed on vacation today and won't be back until next weekend, so even if I wanted to go in for betas, I can't get in until after April 20th. Boo. I'll see what they say when I call on Monday to let them know. I'm also hoping they will let me come in a little early so that I don't have to wait until 10 weeks to get a U/S to confirm. I'm thinking maybe 7ish weeks would be awesome!!

Ah, that makes sense about your vacation. Maybe only test once a day in the evenings then if you get better lines that way. No reason to stress yourself out if you don't get good test results with FMU. Maybe bring a couple of digitals too and see if it bumps you from 1-2 weeks to the 3-4 weeks suggestion after at the end of the your vacation (although again, I wouldn't get too wrapped up in those results either since digi's aren't as sensitive)

Have fun on vacation!

[towerclimberswife]

Apr 12, 2015 6:57:43 GMT -5 mistabinx said:

I did the same thing and freaked myself out for no good reason.
Hpts do not indicate how pregnant you are, just that you are pregnant. Even in the same box, the tests can have variations in how much dye they have or were made in different batches, it's just not reliable for how a pregnancy is progressing. It's hard to stop but for your sanity, stop! Betas would be much more informative for you.
Everytime I'm tempted to take another hpt I just tell myself "Hpts don't keep me pregnant"

This is good and so true. Thanks!

[Unknown]

Have fun!

[mrssqueegy]

I would agree with stepping away from the pregnancy tests. I should probably take my own advice as well. PGAL brain is brutal.

Have a fun vacation!

[anonymouseliza]

It is hard. So hard. I actually cried deleting tests from my Amazon cart, and DH had to physically hold my hand near the pregnancy test section of Target yesterday.

But here is the thing: pregnancy tests are qualitative, not quantitative. They can only tell you yes or no.

Anecdotally, they get darker with more hcg. But you need several days of building it up for a really substantive difference. And even then, the concentration in your urine, the amount of dye on the test, the size of the test strip, the speed with which the dye moves across the test, the amount of liquid soaked up by the test ... ALL of that affects the lightness and darkness of the line. Most of that is outside your control. Tests are made to a standard range, they aren't identical. So in the same box, one test will pick up 40 ml/iu hcg and another will pick up 20 ml/iu. Even though you dip for exactly five seconds, the wick on this test will draw up 1.5 x a such urine in the same time as that test. That can change the visible outcome.

So while it would be reassuring to see lines getting darker, there is no guarantee that it proves anything. So, deep breaths! Enjoy your vacation! Remind yourself of the pgal mantras. It sucks to be pregnant after a loss. It is so hard to shut it off. But whether you worry or no (and I am a worry wort), what is going to happen has already been set in motion. Deep breaths.

[13liza]

I'm not really having any symptoms so caved and took another test yesterday, but it really didn't help my anxiety that much. I say just enjoy your vacation!

[BeachBum678]

Trust me, I know the feeling. You feel like, well, maybe I can keep the worst from happening if I just worry about it hard enough. Life doesn't work like that and you'll only end up making yourself crazy. Like others have said, it's still very early, and there may be differences in the tests. Have an awesome vacation and remember, today you are pregnant!