Perhaps you’ve heard the term “two week wait.” Who are we kidding, if you’ve ever tried to conceive, you lived (or died) for those two weeks. The phrase is a little misleading however, since it implies that most of us actually wait for two weeks after conception to take a pregnancy test. When I was trying to get pregnant, I joined a forum with some other women on the same ovulation schedule and some of us would start testing daily just seven days after ovulation. For the most part, testing so early and so often was a waste of money since most pregnancy tests can’t even detect hCG levels so low. Once in a while, someone would find out really early. It was assumed that the test was extra sensitive or her hCG levels were extra high, but this is certainly not the norm. Just as women are always looking for ways to find out sooner, be it through testing, intuition or charting symptoms and temperatures, manufacturers of pregnancy tests are also always looking for ways to detect that pesky little hormone sooner.
It looks like one company may have succeeded. It was just announced this morning that First Response has created a test that is more sensitive than any other home pregnancy test on the market. This test will be able to detect hCG up to six days before a woman’s expected period. The test uses something called PAT, or Polymeric Amplification Technology, which increases the overall sensitivity of the test. I guess the First Response people are determined to live up to their name. I’m sure their customers won’t complain. I can just hear all the women who are trying to get pregnant rejoicing over the internet.
(Photo courtesy of Edelman – Healthcare Media Relations)
The sooner you know you are pregnant, the sooner you can get good prenatal care, but I would encourage all women who are trying to get pregnant to really take care of their bodies as though they are pregnant all of the time. It can’t hurt, and it may even increase your chances of getting pregnant. The healthier you are, the healthier your baby will be as well.