You can find out about conception by changes in the woman’s condition. To dispel all doubts, you should consult a doctor, take hormone tests or conduct a special test. But what if it is not possible to complete all these actions? A woman can verify that she is pregnant at home. How? Let's look at it below.
From the moment of conception, hormonal changes begin in the body of the expectant mother, which manifests itself in specific symptoms. Unusual changes in the body's functioning may signal pregnancy. These include:
- a nagging pain in the lower abdomen,
- nausea and vomiting,
- swelling breasts,
- increased urge to go to the toilet,
- increased fatigue,
- delay of the menstrual cycle,
- mood swings.
Home methods will help you make sure that you are pregnant:
Using a pregnancy test
Pharmacy chains sell a wide variety of tests for home use with diagnostic accuracy of up to 98%. You can use this method from the 2nd day of your missed period. The strip test, which is a paper strip impregnated with a special substance, has become the most affordable and popular. To carry out diagnostics, just collect your morning urine, dip the end of the strip into it and wait a few seconds until you get the result. 1 stripe appearing on the test indicates the absence of pregnancy, and 2 stripes indicate the opposite.
What is the need for ultrasound
Typically, this test is prescribed by a gynecologist starting from the 5th week of pregnancy, when it can already be determined by other signs. But there are other ways that, with the help of modern computer research, can determine the condition of the uterus and the presence of an embryo in it. In the early stages, especially before the delay, an ultrasound is not prescribed, since you won’t see anything anyway.
And the need for ultrasound examination is not always relevant. The doctor prescribes such a procedure if, according to other signs, pregnancy has occurred. And under no circumstances should you use ultrasound to accurately know your condition in the early stages.
How to determine pregnancy before a delay without a test
Iodine
The method of determining pregnancy using iodine is quite popular. To perform this test, a woman will need a small glass container, iodine and a pipette. In this method, iodine is an oxidizing agent that must be mixed with urine.
To carry out the diagnosis correctly, it is necessary to collect urine in a prepared glass container and dip a napkin in it. The soaked paper is laid out on a flat surface, and the iodine solution is drawn into a pipette. Next, drop from a pipette onto paper. If the iodine remains the same color or has acquired a bright blue tint, this means that there is no pregnancy. If the iodine spots have acquired an intense lilac or purple color, then conception has taken place.
Mercury thermometer
You can check for pregnancy by measuring your basal (anal) temperature with a mercury thermometer.
Important! The reliability of the result depends on the correctness of the procedure, because a number of factors can influence the indicators.
You will need to measure your temperature every morning at the same time; the difference in measurements can be a maximum of 30 minutes. The woman should be in a horizontal position and hold the thermometer for 5-7 minutes. After each measurement, the temperature should be recorded in the graph. This chart will make it easy to determine the onset of pregnancy. In the first days of the cycle, the temperature is normally 36.7-36.8 degrees, and by the time of ovulation on days 11-12 it increases by 1, 1.5 degrees. By the time menstruation occurs, the indicators drop to the original level. A sign indicating pregnancy is the temperature during this period at 37-37.2 degrees.
Soda
One simple home method that has received scientific support is baking soda. This test is quite simple; you just need to collect a portion of urine and pour 1 tsp into it. soda Hissing in the container means the absence of conception, and in the case of precipitation, pregnancy has taken place. This reaction is explained simply - in the normal state, the girl’s urine is an acidic medium and when mixed with soda, a neutralization process occurs, clearly manifested by hissing and bubbles. The expectant mother's urine becomes alkaline and when interacting with soda, a sediment appears.
Using iodine to confirm conception
It is not necessary to purchase a commercial test to confirm pregnancy; another effective home remedy is recommended.
The use of iodine has been practiced for many years, the results almost 100% confirm the indications of medical tests.
To determine pregnancy, iodine and freshly collected urine are needed. Rinse the container first, sterilize it, and dry it.
The testing recipe is simple:
- Fill the container with urine (about 200 ml of liquid will be needed).
- Drop 1 ml of iodine onto the surface with a pipette (syringe).
- The pharmaceutical drug remains a drop on the surface of the urine - there is a high probability of conception.
- The iodine began to settle and spread across the surface like a dark spot - conception is excluded.
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Do not rely on the results of one procedure - carry out manipulations using sodium bicarbonate and iodine alternately for several days in a row.
If the performance of home remedies remains constant, you can trust them 100%.
Ring over belly
One of the strangest diagnostic methods is the method with a ring over the stomach. It has no scientific basis or explanation, and it is not even known when and how this method appeared. To implement it, you will need the girl's wedding ring and hair torn out of her head. The ring is tied to the hair and suspended above the stomach on the outstretched left hand. The movement of the ring should mean that the pregnancy has taken place.
Attention! For a more accurate diagnosis, it is recommended to use other methods from this article or contact a specialist, because this one has not been confirmed in any way in terms of the accuracy of its data.
Potassium permangantsovka
Another fairly simple and inexpensive component for determining pregnancy is potassium permanganate. To carry out the test, you will need warm water, potassium permanganate powder and morning urine. After mixing potassium permanganate with water to the consistency of a light pink solution, you will need to pour a small amount of urine into the solution. The resulting light solution, or a solution with a yellowish tint, indicates the absence of pregnancy. If the original light pink color is retained with white flakes appearing, there is a high probability of conception occurring.
Medical diagnostic methods and timing
There are several ways to medically diagnose early pregnancy. Each of them has its own optimal timing.
Gynecological examination
Don't rush to see a doctor. A vaginal gynecological examination is a very informative method, but only after the physiological changes associated with pregnancy begin. Therefore, neither before the delay nor immediately after it, no professional, expert, doctor of the highest category will be able to say based on the results of the examination whether pregnancy has occurred or not.
The optimal time frame for a doctor to do this is 2-3 weeks after the start of the delay. By this time, the so-called obstetric signs appear: the labia look enlarged, they are more supplied with blood, so they are slightly blue. Speculum examination shows an edematous cervix. A two-manual examination makes it possible to determine the Rusin sign already two weeks after the start of the delay - the cervix becomes more mobile (softening of muscle tissue is caused by progesterone).
Around the same time, the obstetric sign of Piskacek is determined - the uterus becomes asymmetrical. The corner in which the embryo is fixed protrudes somewhat. The size of the uterus is already increased 3 weeks after the start of the delay, and this is also a reason to claim that the woman is pregnant.
By ultrasound
Ultrasound examination is an accurate way to diagnose the onset. But even here, the capabilities of medical workers are limited to certain periods. Before the delay, the size of the fertilized egg is microscopic, less than a millimeter, and therefore even after implantation an ultrasound will not show anything.
The only thing that might suggest a possible “interesting situation” is the thickness of the endometrium of the uterus and the presence of an active corpus luteum 1-2 days before the date of expected menstruation. Of course, these signs cannot be considered signs of pregnancy, but they may indirectly indicate it.
Already a week after the start of the delay, you can safely go for an ultrasound. At 5 obstetric weeks (this is about 1 week from the start of the delay), you can already examine the fetal egg, measure its diameter, and after another week you can hear the fetal heartbeat, because the heart is one of the first to form.
Conclusion: before the delay, ultrasound is not informative. The earliest time you can visit the ultrasound diagnostic room is a week after the start of the delay.
According to blood test
This is truly the most accurate way to find out about pregnancy in the early stages, often before your period is missed. Pregnancy cannot be established using a general blood test, and therefore you will need to take a special test - an hCG test. A sample for research is taken from a vein on an empty stomach in the morning. This analysis can be done in any clinic or clinic.
The method is based on the laboratory isolation of human chorionic gonadotropin particles in a woman’s blood. We remember that the concentration of the hormone increases gradually immediately after implantation. The level considered normal for non-pregnant women and men is 0-5 mU/ml. Thus, the concentration of hCG in the blood will exceed these values 3-4 days after implantation. This means that you can take a blood test on days 23-24 of the menstrual cycle (minimum) or 10 days after ovulation (as you prefer).
The accuracy of the result is 99.9%. But there is also a drawback - if ovulation was late or implantation took place later than the average period described above, the analysis before the delay may be negative (the required concentration of the hormone has not yet risen in the blood). In this case, you should wait for a delay or contact the clinic again in a couple of days. When pregnancy occurs, the hormone level should increase, as laboratory diagnostics will show.
