What are the Common Symptoms of Pregnancy?
Before taking the test, it would be helpful to know the common pregnancy symptoms that women experience in the first trimester. Note that some women will experience many or all of these and some will experience none at all. Missing a period is a symptom that every woman will have when she is pregnant. Here are some other pregnancy symptoms according to the Mayo Clinic:
- Nausea with or without vomiting
- Moodiness
- Fatigue
- Tender, swollen breasts
- Increased urination
- Flatulence
If you are experiencing these symptoms and have missed your period, it would be wise to take a medical-grade mommed pregnancy test.
How Do Ovulation Tests Work? What Is The Basic Science Behind Them?
The logic of ovulation tests is based on hormonal shifts across natural menstrual cycles more specifically, they are based on the luteinizing hormone (LH) peaks that occur before ovulation.
Here’s what happens in your body during ovulation.
The Procedure
At the beginning of your period, your body has low levels of important reproductive hormones such as LH, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and estradiol (E2). Within two weeks of the onset of menstruation, the dominant follicle develops. It contains an egg that will eventually be released and the follicle produces more and more E2 as it develops. About 24-48 hours before the egg is released, there are big surges of LH and FSH that trigger the follicle to release the egg
LH surges are necessary for ovulation. If there is an LH surge, there is a very high probability that ovulation will occur. If sperm appear in the fallopian tubes after the egg is released, conception is possible.
What we have described is a pattern of hormonal changes throughout the cycle that you would see in any reproductive endocrinology textbook or school curriculum. It is true that for most people with ovaries this is a general pattern that is followed for most cycles. However, it is possible that this pattern will look different for different people and that this pattern will look different in different cycles for the same person. As we mentioned above, the average threshold mommed ovulation test doesn’t work for about 1 in 10 of us who don’t grow to the level usually detected by binary positive/negative tests.
