A question 9 out of 10 women have when taking a pregnancy test: did my test come back positive? Whether it’s a pharmacy pregnancy test or a blood test, when the result is something different from what we’re used to and expecting—negative—it leaves us confused, both in our head and in what we see. Let’s start by talking about the most common tests: the ones from the pharmacy. They’re practical and very simple to take; you can buy them at any pharmacy or even online, at prices that fit any budget, and you can use them privately at home. No wonder pharmacy tests have gained so many fans all over the world.
To take the test, it’s simple: just have a container to collect the urine, and dip the stick or cassette in it for about 1 minute. After 5 minutes you can read the result, but even before that, when the dye is rising, you might see the positive line starting to form. I admit that this is the most emotional moment in a TTC woman’s life, and I used to dream about seeing that line appear… When it finally happened, I couldn’t believe it! That’s why I know many women also feel unsure about interpreting the result alone, just by looking at the test strip.
The line isn’t always that strong; it all depends on how much HCG is in your urine, and that’s when faint lines can appear and cause doubts. Sometimes, you get a very faint line, so light that it seems like an illusion—it doesn’t show up immediately; you have to wait for the dye to fully rise.
The test lines tend to get darker as the days go by, so it’s advised to take another test using the first urine of the day. If even a faint line shows up, it’s positive! A negative result is considered only when there’s a single line, the control line. If only the test line appears, the result is invalid. If no line at all appears, it’s also invalid. Here’s an image that clearly shows the possible lines and results on a pharmacy test:
Click to enlarge the image.Blood Test Results
Some labs love to confuse their clients; the results and references can be very strange. For example, a result of 1754 mUI or mIU (it means the same thing) is considered positive according to the reference of above 25 mUI.
However, this result might seem unclear or negative. Why? Because sometimes they forget to put the decimal point or comma after the number 1. The point shows the units—it’s a math thing! You know about decimal places, right? They make a difference in determining the result, so it’s important to check for the point or comma.
Whenever you see a result like 1.690 or 5.750 or simply a high number before the decimal like 754.00, that means it is positive. For the result to be considered negative, the value has to have 0 before the decimal or comma, for example: 0.2 or even a low value after the comma, like 2.64.
Other labs use the reference terms reactive and non-reactive. If it’s reactive, the result is positive. If it’s positive> positive, and if negative, it means the same thing. Now, qualitative labs may also show results above 25mUI using only signs like < or > where < is less than 25 and > is more than 25, that is, positive.
Still in doubt? Leave your comment here! You’ll definitely get some help in figuring out your result, whether it’s a beta HCG or pharmacy test.
See also: How to Interpret Pregnancy Test and Beta HCG ResultsPhoto: Lori Greig, Submitted by Readers
