All Methods to Determine Pregnancy

The first day of delay, the second, the third...You start to worry, maybe it’s pregnancy? There are a number of signs that can confirm your suspicions, along with the absence of menstruation, such as morning sickness, swelling of the mammary glands and excessive drowsiness. There is also an increase in irritability; previously familiar things may begin to piss you off. Your appetite may also increase and so-called taste perversions will appear, that is, you will suddenly want to eat pickled cucumbers with jam. At the same time, drooling is also flowing, night trips to the toilet have become more frequent, and even during the day long walks can become problematic due to the frequent urge to urinate.

However, all these are indirect signs, and they may not exist, and sometimes, on the contrary, indirect signs are obvious, but there is no pregnancy. There are more reliable ways to determine pregnancy, of course, in the early stages, and they do not give 100% results.

1. Pharmacy tests. If menstruation is delayed by 1-2 days or more, you can use a test for early diagnosis of pregnancy (most tests on the market today determine the presence of pregnancy on the first day of the delay). It is easy to use and quite reliable. The accuracy of the answer will be higher if the research is carried out 2-3 times. Despite the external differences between the tests, their action is based on a reaction to a specific hormone (human chorionic gonadotropin - hCG), which begins to be produced in a woman’s body during pregnancy, and its breakdown products. The hormone and its breakdown products are excreted in the urine. The chemical reagent with which the dough plate is impregnated interacts with them. For research, it is better to take a morning sample of urine.

2.Measurement of basal temperature. If menstruation does not occur on the expected day, then starting the next morning you can measure your basal temperature. An ordinary medical thermometer is inserted into the rectum to a depth of 2 cm for 5-7 minutes immediately after waking up, and you cannot get out of bed. If the temperature consistently exceeds 37*C, then this indicates a possible pregnancy. However, lower rates also occur, especially when there is a threat of spontaneous abortion.

3. More complex and at the same time more reliable methods for determining pregnancy are based on measuring the level of hormones in a woman’s body in a laboratory way. You take a test: blood from a vein, and after a while you get the result. In this case, the level of another, more specific hormone is usually determined - trophoblastic beta globulin, which provides more reliable information, and primarily about the expected duration of a possible pregnancy. The laboratory method is much more reliable, although it takes more time. In this way, you can determine pregnancy, even before a missed period, 10 days after conception!

4. Ultrasound examination. This is one of the most accurate methods for determining pregnancy, but it is advisable to carry it out only 3 weeks after conception. Depending on the research technique, it can be transabdominal (i.e., through the anterior abdominal wall) or transvaginal (when the sensor is inserted into the vagina). Transvaginal ultrasound is more reliable. In addition to determining pregnancy, ultrasound is also good because it helps make sure that an ectopic pregnancy has not occurred. However, there is an opinion that ultrasound in the early stages, up to 9 weeks, can provoke termination of pregnancy, so you should not abuse it.

So, all the tests gave positive results? We can only congratulate you! Pregnancy is a rare phenomenon, judge for yourself; in healthy women, out of 12 monthly cycles, ovulation occurs only in 10, and this is not a guarantee of pregnancy. So you can consider yourself lucky, now go to the doctor. The doctor will confirm the pregnancy, conduct tests for infections if you did not do them in preparation for conception, and in which case he will prescribe a course of treatment. In addition, he will always be able to advise you