Most importantly for the sake of a pregnancy test is the secretion of human chorionic gonadotropin or hCG. In order to prevent the disruption of the corpus luteum, a developing embryo begins secreting hCG soon after conception. Three weeks after the last menstrual period, there is usually 5 to 50 million international units per milliliter in the bloodstream, and throughout the pregnancy that number increases to as much as between 117,000 to 288,000 million international units per milliliter. Since hCG is a great detector of where an embryo is in its development, it is the primary hormone used to detect pregnancy.
Blood Test or Urine Test
Both blood and urine tests check for the presence of hCG in the body. While a urine test will take around 10 days after fertilization to begin being effective, a blood test can begin to detect pregnancy as early as seven days after conception. That being said, seven days is only an estimate of when the placenta will begin secreting the hCG hormone. For that reason, it is suggested to wait around two full weeks before taking the blood test.
There are two different types of blood pregnancy tests: the quantitative method can accurately measure the exact amount of hCG hormone present in the blood, and the qualitative method which will give a yes or no answer to whether or not a woman is pregnant. If the blood test is done too early, if the woman takes diuretic water pills or if there is an ectopic pregnancy, the blood test may not be able to tell that the woman is pregnant.
Symptoms of Pregnancy
There are many symptoms of pregnancy that should give you a pretty good idea that you might need a pregnancy test. Since some of these symptoms may be associated with some other cause, do not assume that finding these symptoms in yourself will lead to pregnancy. You should still see your doctor if you notice these symptoms occurring for no particular reason.
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