This week you might be starting to feel the pregnancy vertigo. You know something isn’t quite “normal”, you might feel like you are coming down with the flu. If you go and spend the cash on one of those super fancy early detection pregnancy pee sticks, you might show up positive, but even if you don’t it doesn’t mean that you aren’t pregnant. Most of the over the counter pee sticks are testing for hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) which is a hormone that increases in production when you are pregnant. A pregnancy test has a set level of detection, so if your normal level is lower than average of hCG (which is not bad at all, just different) even an increase in production might not show up in your urine with regard to the set range of the test. Believe it or not, there are a number of woman that would still not show up as pregnant on an over the counter test, in their 36^th week of pregnancy. While conversely, if you are nursing or have only not been nursing for three months or less, you may show up positive for pregnancy, when in fact you are not. Again, you will need a blood test preformed by your OB/GYN to definatively determine pregnancy. As I stated last week, please read the directions to the fullest extent.

Biologically, at this point the sperm and egg are completely joined to create the zygote, and are now looking for a good spot in your uterus to set up the baby making shop. It is quite possible that, unless you are actively trying to conceive, or at least not actively trying to prevent pregnancy, that you haven’t the slightest notion that you might be in the extremely early stages of pregnancy. It is more common that you have not had a single symptom of pregnancy – nausea, vomiting, fatigue, increased/decreased appetite, swollen/sensetive breasts or sore muscle/general aches. Even if you have tested positive, it is still not time to tell the general populace – as the reality is that there are still lots of things that need to happen (like implantation – and healthy implantation, not ectopic) before you have a viable pregnancy. This is not to diminish the truly incredible and exciting time, just to forewarn on the perils of premature announcement.

Word of the Week:

 Implantation –noun Embryology . the attachment of the early embryo to the lining of the uterus. (www.dictionary.com)

Buying Guide

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