If you’re reading this post, you are probably either trying to conceive or suspecting you might be pregnant. The title of this post probably sparks within you some hope of relief while also causing you to question whether it is truly possible to take a pregnancy test without stressing out.
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You are probably trying to find some sanity amidst the chaotic tennis match going on in your mind:
I think I’m pregnant!
I’m probably not pregnant.
I think I really am pregnant!
I doubt I’m actually pregnant.
Try to relax and breathe, Mama. I don’t have a magical pill to make this process stress-free, but I do have some advice that will make it easier on you.
Read this post fund out how to prepare for pregnancy.
Let’s talk about some of the realities we women go through during the time surrounding taking a pregnancy test.
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The Stressful Build-Up to Taking a Pregnancy Test
You’ve tossed and turned all night, unable to quiet the question being shouted in your thoughts over and over: Am I pregnant?!
You’ve spent the last hour of half-sleep keeping your legs tightly crossed, determined to hold your pee at any cost to your bladder in order to get the best pregnancy test result.
It is becoming more and more difficult not to assume you are carrying precious cargo. You’ve tried to subdue your anxious wonderings, but your body is determined to keep you focused on the subject with a plethora of pregnancy symptoms.
You’ve worked yourself into a nervous excitement that rivals a caffeinated chipmunk. Your hope is beginning to feel like an over-inflated, cheap balloon that could easily pop, blowing a hormonal tornado spinning through your house.
And the tool that has the power to pop that balloon is the same one that can send it flying high into the sky with your soaring heart: A pregnancy test.
In all honesty though, it’s more like five or six pregnancy tests sometimes, isn’t it? (By the way, if you are a pregnancy-test-oholic like me, don’t waste your money on the store-bought tests – these ones on Amazon are much cheaper!).
Regardless of how many pregnancy tests you use, the results will often leave you just as uncertain as you were before. After reading the results, there are frequently even more emotions and confusing thoughts for a woman high on expectation and low on patience (Exhibit A right here behind the screen).
How to Take a Pregnancy Test
Okay, anxious Mama, let’s just be blunt for a minute here. Taking a pregnancy test is really not difficult to figure out. They all come with pretty simple instructions if you take the time to read them.
Most likely, it is quite difficult to “mess up” taking a pregnancy test. Where you are making the mistake is before you even open the box.
Most pregnancy tests only claim to be effective after a missed period or, at most, a couple of days before your period is supposed to start. There are some brands out there that claim to potentially give you an accurate result as early as five days before your period is due.
And yes, we all have that friend or read about some woman who got a positive when she was three weeks pregnant (one week after conception). But that is not the norm and you can’t expect to have an accurate test result that early.
By choosing to take a pregnancy test before it can reliably even tell you whether you’re pregnant or not, you are setting yourself up for almost certain disappointment.
But after you get over the initial disappointment, you’ll suddenly realize it was indeed too early to take a pregnancy test, and you will begin the entire questioning cycle over again. This will likely lead you to take another test the next day … And the next day, and the next day.
Is this scenario sounding familiar to you, Mama? It sure is familiar to me! Pregnancy tests and I have an obsessive love-hate relationship that goes way back.
Just trust that everything will be so much easier to deal with if you simply wait until you miss your period. Yes, there will still be emotion involved, but you won’t have the crazy ups and downs that are inherent with repeated pregnancy tests taken too early.
Wondering why you’re having PMS without a period while breastfeeding? Read this post for more info.
Pregnancy Tests Left Too Long
Anyone who is experienced at taking pregnancy tests has probably dealt with the havoc-wreaking “late” positive result at some point.
You know, when the test is negative after five minutes but positive when you dig through snotty tissues and wads of hair from the shower to retrieve it from the garbage can a couple hours later.
I have dealt with this self-inflicted agony several times, and I have finally figured out how to tell the difference between a true positive and an evaporation line that appears to be a positive after the test dries (long after the instruction-recommended timeframe for viewing the test).
I’m not sure why it took so long for me to get it through my own head, because it’s really very simple. If the positive line shows up during the recommended timeframe (usually 3-5 minutes), it IS a positive, no matter how light it is.
However, anything that shows up as a positive after that time (especially if it’s been hours!) is nothing more than an evaporation line.
You can find more information on how to tell the difference between faint positives and evaporation lines in this post on WeHaveKids.com.
Evaporation lines are evil little minions that delight in exploiting women’s emotions.
I can’t help but wonder if the manufacturers intentionally designed pregnancy tests to sometimes leave a line in order to plant a seed of doubt in our minds, knowing how addicted women are to taking pregnancy tests until we get a line that is pinker than Pepto Bismol.
Perhaps not. But the fact remains that we fall for the lying little evaporation line just about every time.
If you are currently mentally sorting through the possibilities with waded up tissues and wet hair clinging to the rectangular emotional trigger in your hand, let me attempt to convince you to put it back in the trash where it belongs.
My Experience with Pregnancy Tests
Waiting to Test at the Right Time
I have taken oh so many pregnancy tests since my husband and I first began trying to conceive three years ago. With my first pregnancy, I diligently waited until the day my period was due before taking a pregnancy test.
I got a very clear positive and I had very little stress leading up to that positive result. It was one of the most joyful days of my life.
Sadly, I lost that baby a few weeks later (read my miscarriage story here). Ever since then, something has changed. I have a lot more emotional turmoil surrounding taking pregnancy tests and I almost never take pregnancy tests the healthy way anymore.
But there was one other time I diligently waited to take a pregnancy test. It came up negative and I was devastated, still reeling from my miscarriage.
To learn more about what it’s like trying to conceive after miscarriage, read this post.
Despite the negative result shattering my hope in that moment, at least I knew. There were no ups and downs. I took the test at the right time, so I knew the negative was legitimate.
I was crushed, but at least I didn’t have to deal with the uncertainty and resurgence of expectation that comes with testing too early.
Avoiding the Evaporation Frustration
I have also taken many pregnancy tests that appeared to have delayed positive results. I will just tell you now, there is no such thing as a delayed positive result.
Every time I have come back to a pregnancy test hours later to see two lines, I have not been pregnant. I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Mama.
On a brighter note, when I conceived my daughter, the extremely light positive result I got at roughly 3 1/2 weeks showed up in a minute and a half. It was barely visible. But it definitely showed up within the three minute time allotted by the instructions on the box.
Mind you, this extremely light positive came after a couple of negatives I took way too early. I finally officially confirmed I was pregnant with a definitely visible positive shortly before or right when my period was due (read the birth story that resulted from this positive pregnancy test here).
The point I hope you are realizing by now is that it’s about how late the positive is, not how light it is, that makes it false.
Why We Need Pregnancy Test Rehab
The thing to remember about how to take a pregnancy test without stress is timing. Don’t take a test too early and don’t look at a test too late. If you follow these rules, you will save yourself a few loops on the Trying to Conceive Rollercoaster.
I have to admit, I’m lousy at following these rules for how to take a pregnancy test without stress.
Ever since I experienced the bitter disappointment of losing my first pregnancy and the additional heartbreak of failed attempts to conceive after that, I have been hungry for control.
My addiction to needing to know my pregnancy status is not unique. I know without a doubt that it is a common struggle for many women.
But it only damages us to abuse our ability to discover pregnancy much sooner than our ancestor mamas. Even though I keep falling for the lie that I’ll feel better if I just take a pregnancy test, I always end up so much more hurt than if I had just waited to test and refused to pull the used tests out of the trash.
We need rehab for our pregnancy test addiction. The rehab is called patience. I, for one, have committed to waiting it out next time. What about you, Mama?
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