Are you Pregnant? Did you miss your period? Are you nauseated or fatigued? What about your breasts, are they extra tender or sore? Well if you really couldn’t tell then maybe it’s the time to consider buying a home pregnancy test.

No matter which brand you buy, the tests can shake your nerves up like a leaf. Well to settle your soul a little bit it’s good to find out a little something about those little devices, what can affect the results, and when you should visit the doctor.

How do the Tests Detect Pregnancy?

Your body will begin to produce human chorionic gonadotropin (HGC) when the fertilized egg attaches to your walls of your uterus. The tests, which are available anywhere and at most times over-the-counter, are able to detect this particular hormone in urinary tests. In the doctor’s office you can have your blood tested to do more advanced work on detecting HGC.

What are the Different Types of Pregnancy Tests?

There are also several types of pregnancy tests but all work in a likely fashion and all of course end up telling you whether you’re pregnant or not. Usually, you will have to place the end of a dipstick in urine or immerse the whole thing in a container of adequate urine sample for around 10 seconds. After a minute or two, you will see a minus or plus sign, color change or the word “pregnant” or “not pregnant” on a window on the dipstick, or a line. That’s state of the art technology right there!

For some tests though, you will have to mix a relatively adequate (usually just small) amount of urine with a special liquid or powder test. The test indicates positive pregnancy when the color of the urine changes.

Reading instructions on the packaging or in manuals will be a great help, as misguided actions more often than not tip the results to the other side of the spectrum. The contact information on the packaging was put there so you can give them a call in case you were confused as to what to do.