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Monday, October 29, 2012

What You Might Not Know about Pregnancy Tests

This is a very important post (obviously), but first... Congratulations to Meredith from The White Pages.  You are the winner of the custom birth announcement artwork from Boy Oh Boy Boutique!  Please email me (e@emyselfandi.com) to claim your prize!  *Side Note: She has a cute post up today about dog-hair... Story of my life.


And now...


1. The Dollar Store (or any variety of that) is a great place to buy tests.  Yes, they are accurate. How accurate? I can't say for sure.  BUT, if you are like me and need to take fifteen tests to believe anything, this is definitely the more economical way to go.  If you take six and still need confirmation, then invest in a high dollar drug store test.

2. Pregnancy tests are "high theft items." Why is this important? Because it means they aren't stocked on the shelves like other items; instead, you usually have to specifically ask for them at the pharmacy or front register.  (Is there no privacy in the world?!?) I just learned this recently when I went to several stores to buy tests (for a friend - no, seriously) and the shelves were all empty where they should have been.  By the third store, I was frustrated and thought that either there was some sort of major 'baby boom' going on in the world or someone was playing a mean trick on me.  I sucked it up and asked one of the clerks who taught me this valuable fact.

3. They inspire awkward, personal comments/questions. I've bought quite a few pregnancy tests in my life (mostly because I'm crazy rather than out of actual need), and so far I have yet to encounter a pharmacist or sales clerk who is able to resist the temptation to comment.  "Oh... How exciting, good luck!" "Were you trying?" "What are you hoping for?" All these seem innocent enough until the actual moment when you think you might be pregnant at which point you want everyone to leave.you.alone so you can sneak out of there as soon as possible and get to the nearest bathroom.  Consider yourself warned - the drugstore staff will NEVER be more helpful or informative than when you buying pregnancy tests. :)

4. They are best taken in the morning.  Ironically, I actually learned this from the pharmacist when I was first pregnant with Sam.  It has something to do with pee-concentration or whatever. I, of course, promptly ignored the advice and the result was a false-negative at 7PM on Tuesday night and a positive-positive on Saturday morning.  I've heard that if you are pregnant enough it will work anytime; but, who has that kind of patience? My advice is to buy two tests - take one as soon as the urge hits you (to keep yourself from going crazy before morning) and another in the morning (to validate the response you receive at night).  Problem solved. :)

5. A faint line IS a positive line. Google this, or just read my story.  It's true that any kind of positive is positive; but, you can have a false negative.  Sam is living proof. :)  *On that note. this is also why I actually prefer the cheapy "double line" tests over the more expensive digital kinds.  The line tests will show a very faint line if you are very newly pregnant when I digital test might not pick up quite enough to trigger the "Pregnant" reading.

6. Lines last forever, but batteries die. If you take a digital test, be warned that in about 24 - 48 hours they will "die" and you will no longer have proof of your pregnancy in stick form.  (This is especially important if you are trying to use your stick for a cute announcement or something.) The line tests, on the other hand, last forever; so, you can forever memorialize the moment you "first found out" AND use them for fun April Fool's pranks in the future. ;)

7. They make great gifts. Seriously, if you have a friend who is OPENLY (don't just assume) trying to get pregnant; pregnancy tests are a great gift.  It is much less awkward to handle #2 & #3 if you don't actually think you are pregnant.  I recommend four or five to help with #4, #5, & #6.  FYI.  I also think this could make a fun gift for Bachelorette parties if you want to be the Debbie Downer. :)

Ok, I think that's enough pregnancy test information for one day. Hope you learned something! Haha!

*No, I'm not pregnant or trying.  I'm also not a pregnancy-test or medical expert. I just have a lot of (currently) useless information. Promise.  You can, however, read about my personal pregnancy test experience here - many of the above lessons were learned "the hard way." :)

Hope you are staying safe in the winds of Sandy!

Until tomorrow,

9 comments:

  1. I bought like, 50 tests from amazon.com (I think the brand is wondfo) and those were the most sensitive tests in my experience. I had a handful of dollar store tests and some more expensive ones and the wondfo tests showed positives 2 days before the other tests. I was shocked considering they were like 20 cents each.

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  2. Also, little known fact. Once they expire- they can show false positives. I learned THAT one the hard way. Thankfully at a time when I did NOT want to be pregnant so when the blood work came back negative, I was extremely happy. Extremely.

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  3. You are so right about clerks just HAVING to comment on your purchase! Omg. We've been trying for quite awhile now & I don't want to be talking to a clerk about it! So far if the man is the cashier, he won't comment. But if it's a woman - she will! Ugh! One said, "OHHHH! So exciting!!!! I love when ppl buy these!" and then, "Well, GOOD LUCK!" (Same girl.) OMG. It's like - what if i didn't want to be pregnant?! I do, of course, but it's just...awkward.

    Our place has the pg tests on the shelves but they're locked in a plastic box. The cashier unlocks it when you buy it. I asked my husband why they do that & he said, "are you kidding? They can go in the bathroom, take the test & throw it away, all w/o paying for it! I'm sure a lot of ppl try to steal those things!" LOL

    Thanks for the info!

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  4. Aww I love this post :-) We are going to try for a baby in a year or 2 and so this is going to be saved into my "future baby" doc, no seriously.

    I'd never have bought cheap pregnancy tests before,but I suppose they are just as accurate really. Cheap stuff does get a bad rep.

    Please come check out my blog. I'm hoping to make 2013 more frugal as I am a spendaholic, so I'm currently trying to research and share as many little tips as I can.

    Frugalita xx

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  5. My second baby was the faintest line on the dollar store pregnancy test. It was so faint, but it was there.

    windowsbymelissa.blogspot.com

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  6. seeing a positive pregnancy test posted by your name on my blog feed stopped.my.heart.
    don't do that to me on a Monday!!

    oh did you know that pharmacy pregnancy tests like First Response are more accurate than the pee tests doctors use? (well in Canada anyway). My home pregnancy test showed the faintest line with Gabe so I rushed to the walk-in clinic for confirmation and according to the Doc, "I wasn't" - WHAT?!!!!!! I wanted to punch her. She ended up sending me for a blood test and what do you know... I WAS pregnant!! Lesson: walk-in clinics are low budget.

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  7. A great place to buy cheap pregnancy and ovulation tests is http://www.early-pregnancy-tests.com You can get the strips where you can pee in a cup and dip the strip (I'm not a fan since I am terrible at peeing in a cup and the thought of having my pee on my bathroom counter grosses me out) or you can get the more traditional pee on a stick. The pee on a stick kind are more expensive but still way cheaper than you can get at the store. I was a loyal customer in the 9 months that we were trying and was so excited to see a very faint line when we finally got a positive test. They have free shipping on orders over a certain amount and its very modest packaging so the mailman doesn't know that you are trying to get pregnant. E, I still laugh at your post about going to the store late at night to get the fancy pregnancy test and setting off the alarm. Hilarious.

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  8. So THAT'S why you can't find them on the shelves in the dollar store! Thanks for sharing!

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  9. or you could just go through the self checkout line at wal-mart like i do!!

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