So, does level of hormone in the urine effect how bright the lines on a pee stick are? If 2 blue lines mean life is gonna suck for the next 18 years, does the second blue line being really faint mean positive or negative?
The hormone tested for, HCG, is produced exclusively by the placenta, so if you are getting a line, you are pretty much pregnant (unless it is a VERY VERY faint line that came up only after like half an hour. That may well be what is called an evaporation line. But if you can see it in normal light, you’re pregnant).
That said, up to 25% of pregnancies miscarry mostly in the first few weeks, and very low HCG levels can indicate a non-viable pregnancy. Generally doctors expect the HCG levels to double every 48 hours–if they do not, there is a strong chance that the embryo is not growing or is not growing properly.
HPT are not really calibrated to detect changes in HCG levels, and there is a lot of variation not only between brands but between varieties of the same brand.
Not me, definitely thank god not me.
People keep asking me strange questions like this. I don’t know why they think I know these things.
Thank you for the answer. She’s getting a blood test and will probably know tomorrow. But, she got me wondering about false positives.
Last month I peed on a stick and saw one dark line and one faint line. Then I splurged and got a digital test. It said yes. I kinda had a little freak out since I was on the pill and not expecting it, but we were planning on having a second kid soon anyway. Then a few days later, my period started. Peed on another stick and nope, kid didn’t stick.
I guess what I’m saying is, give it a bit of time. Just in case.
In the instructions it said that even a faint second line is a positive, but as was said earlier, not all pregnancies last.
I agree, a line is a line, especially if it came up within about 5 - 10 minutes.
I have seen that the lines do become darker (on the same brand of test) as the levels of HGC go up, but there seems to be a limit to how dark they can get.
You should follow the manufactuers instructions that come with the test. If you are reading the test past the time the manufactuer recommends then it is not a valid test.
There is some correlation between the darkness of the lines and the amount of hCG present but it is not something that can be relied on from a qualitative test.
Again read the instructions that come with the test, but generally even a faint line indicates a positive test if you read the test at the correct time.
I don’t know how long after peeing she was reading it. I asked her what the instructions said and she said there weren’t any. I guess it just said pee, wait, 1 or 2 lines.
Agreed with above. Two lines, no matter how faint (excepting the evaporation artifact) equals pregnant.
Pregnancy tests are very accurate. In the rare cases where they are wrong, they are almost always false negative (i.e. you are pregnant, but the test missed it, usually b/c the hormone level was too low). False positives are almost unheard of.
And again, many early pregnancies miscarry, usually before the woman would know she was pregnant.
This falls into IMHO territory, but the last few times I had occasion to use a home pregnancy test, the line was definitely fainter for the first test, and a bit darker on retest a few days later. So I think that at least 14ish years ago, increasing hCG led to more of the chemical reactions that detect same, and a more distinct line. Still, though, any line at all was a positive.
You can not be “a little bit pregnant” - its pretty much a binary condition. Two lines, pregnant - although as was said, many pregnancies don’t last.
The concentration of urine does affect how dark the line shows up, in my (quite recent) experience. However, as said before, any colored line at all is a positive.