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Pregnancy

Bloody Hell. Pregnant 8 weeks after giving birth? or Leftover hormones?

34 replies

CarlyCee · 20/02/2014 14:21

I know we should have followed advice but...have had unprotected sex twice since my daughter was born, first time was 2 1/2 weeks ago (second couldn't have resulted in pregnancy just yet). I had two faint but unmistakably positive tests in the evening last night, on two different brands. I took one on Saturday which was negative. Even despite this negative one, could this be left over hormones from previous pregnancy? or is it more likely to be an early but new pregnancy? The information is very mixed when I google - some say 2-3 weeks. others say 2 months for test to remain positive after birth. Aside from the bollocking I'm probably going to get from my doctor, its not a bad thing if I am pregnant again - I'm married and we wanted another child quite close to my daughter in age. Just not yet would have been ideal!

What do you think? pregnant or leftover hormone turning HPT positive after 8 weeks and a negative test?...

...I'm pregnant aren't I? :)

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WeGotAnnie · 20/02/2014 14:23

If you had unprotected sex and have a positve test...youre pregnant.

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rubyslippers · 20/02/2014 14:23

Pregnant

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Lagoonablue · 20/02/2014 14:23

Oh my. Stunned you were interested in sex so quickly btw!

No idea if you are pg but congrats if you are.

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HandragsNGladbags · 20/02/2014 14:24

I'd say pregnant Grin

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Weegiemum · 20/02/2014 14:25

Pregnant. Preg tests don't show you pg right through the pregnancy, even, so unlikely to be leftover hormones.

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HauntedNoddyCar · 20/02/2014 14:25

I thought the left over hormone thing was more for miscarriages as the hormone for pg tests declines once the placenta takes over.

I say pg and congratulations!

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Hawkmoth · 20/02/2014 14:26

Respect.

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JoinYourPlayfellows · 20/02/2014 14:26

leftover hormone turning HPT positive

The last time you would have turned a HPT positive was about 36 weeks ago.

You're pregnant.

Congratulations :)

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FreeLikeABird · 20/02/2014 14:28

Pregnant, congrats Grin

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fluffygal · 20/02/2014 14:30

Yep pregnant. Women are very fertile just after giving birth. As the mother to a DS and DD with an 11 month age gap, all I can say is- good luck!

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siblingrevelry · 20/02/2014 14:32

Congratulations on your first baby, and potentially your second! It's awesome.

If you are pg, get yourself down to Next & buy two 'born in 2014' babygro's (in appropriate sizes) for the end of the year. What a fab Xmas card photo that would make!

Good luck, hope you get the outcome you wish for x

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CarlyCee · 20/02/2014 14:32

thank you all! I appreciate the replies and confirming what I strongly suspected myself. DH and I have been slightly hysterical about this but we'll be fine, he's actually annoyingly delighted. Time to tell DD she's going to be a big sister, at about 10 months old...

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TheDetective · 20/02/2014 14:32

Not always - I got a positive test at 5 weeks post partum. I was hysterical. Anyway, it WAS left over hormones. A week later, no positive test (no bleeding either - didn't get my period for another few weeks after that).

But in this case, it sounds likely to be a BFP, given you had a negative a few days ago.

Congratulations :) You're crazy!

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CrispyFB · 20/02/2014 14:44

bHCG declines after 10 weeks or so but it most definitely IS present during pregnancy in high numbers throughout! Much higher than the first few weeks. I have no idea where people have this wrong information from.. it is simply NOT true that pregnancy tests no longer show a positive after a certain point in pregnancy!

americanpregnancy.org/duringpregnancy/hcglevels.html

I still turned a pregnancy test positive a week or so after delivery (was curious!) with DC1.

Anyway, yes, in some cases several weeks out you can still turn a test positive when you're not pregnant. There's a lower number to fall from than a late first trimester miscarriage, but bHCG decays at the same rate whether it was a term delivery or a first trimester miscarriage. That doesn't change. In fact if you have retained products it will go down a lot slower.

However the fact that you're so far out and it was negative and is now faint means you probably are pregnant. Obviously there are variables like time of day, concentration of urine, possibility of retained placenta etc but on balance you probably are..

You should see your GP and get sequential betas to be certain though!

Good luck!!

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Trooperslane · 20/02/2014 14:54

Ummmm. .

I've been thinking about this too - no period yet mix feeding.

Congrats OP Grin

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NoIamAngelaHernandez · 20/02/2014 14:56

You're not using the same pee pot as when you were pg with DD are you?

We had a false positive that way when our DTs were 12 weeks old!

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CarlyCee · 20/02/2014 17:05

Definitely not same pee pot! Used a Superdrug (which I always found to be very good) and a Tesco test, both faint positives last night and this morning. Forgot to mention to - I haven't had a period since I gave birth. I know its quite possible for it to take this long, and I'm not bf'ing but that was why I took a test on Saturday, curiosity really. I took one again yesterday as still no period and felt quite dizzy and didn't fancy my usually beloved coffee.

Went to docs just before too and he didn't really even entertain the idea it wasn't a new pregnancy, congratulated me and now I'm seeing midwife on March 5th. Bloody hell eh?

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NoIamAngelaHernandez · 20/02/2014 17:08

Crispy, it is true that very sensitive tests get lighter lines the further on in pregnancy you go - with DTs the tests were very pale by 12 weeks as there was so much HCG, but got much darker again when the urine was diluted.

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imip · 20/02/2014 17:16

I returned a positive test 9 weeks after giving birth. I was indeed pregnant. It was very very faint, but it was the day my period was due.

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CrispyFB · 20/02/2014 17:28

Yep, there's a thing called the "hook" effect where if the test strip is too saturated by hormone (depending on the test it can start as early as 6 weeks, especially First Response) then the test line actually gets lighter. Diluting it and testing with another test will make it darker!

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ladythatlunches · 20/02/2014 18:59

Yup that was me my dd was 8 weeks when i had a positive, but because i hadnt had a period i had a early scan. It was twins.:)

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3rdtymmummy2b · 20/02/2014 19:06

I am currently 15 weeks pg with a 20 week old son.............huge surprise but happy about it now, Smile

So in my experience i would say yes you are pregnant

good luck & congrats x

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LST · 20/02/2014 21:10

Wow op Grin

Congratulations Thanks

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Theresomethingaboutdairy · 20/02/2014 21:19

I would say you are pregnant. Same thing happened to me dd was 10 1/2 months when ds was born. Good luck! Smile

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glorious · 20/02/2014 21:25

Congratulations and good luck! Thanks

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