To thinbk the technology in findoing out if you're pregnant or not should have moved on by now

[VulvaVoom]

OK, so I'm ttc no 2 and this is driving me nuts.

Every month I analyse all the sporadic 'symptoms' I have, nausea, tiredness, weeing a lot (all the norm for me anyway really) and I think 'Yes, this time its happening' and then it's not.

Also, I feel phantom kicks all the time (and I have been pregnant before, so I know what they're like) and wonder if perhaps I'm one of those women who's 38 weeks and hasn't realized

But still, you have to wait until your period is due. Or worry that your period is actually implantation bleeding, to the point that you wipe and then compare it with Google images of implantation bleeding.

Or worry that I'm one of those women who has periods all the way through - see above.

You can always take one of those tests that are said to work days early but then whatever the result you doubt it!

Surely by now, the year when Michael J Fox went 'Back to the Future', we should have this nailed?

Sorry for typos in title

Until they develop a hand help personal scanner and give us instructions on how to use it, you'll have to make do with HCG pregnancy tests. They are incredibly accurate and sensitive.

It sounds like your obsessed with getting pregnant and putting every teeny symptom down to pregnancy. Keep trying but calm down. It will happen when it happens.

Just be glad you aren't your parents/grandparents. Back in the day you had to wait until you were well overdue your period then go to the doc and pee in a cup there. They then sent it to a lab for testing. Most people didn't find out until a good 2-4 weeks AFTER they missed a period. These days you can test at home up to 4 days BEFORE you miss one.

It is frustrating but stressing really doesn't help. I've had stress delay my period by up to 2 weeks in the past. If this happens all it does is create a cycle of more stress and worry as period is late but tests are negative and add a good few days onto next months ttc cycle.

Calm down, it will be fine. Honestly.

Try and relax about conceiving and just enjoy it! It sounds like you're putting yourself under a lot of pressure.

Time for some I think

Re: early pregnancy testing, false positives are very very very rare.

At least pregnancy tests don't involve frogs any more. As they did in my granny's day (when most people didn't bother to test).

Hope it happens op.

WTAF with frogs?

Not only do we have excellent home tests, we also have ovulation predictor sticks to drive ourselves crazier- technology has moved in a lot.

Actually I recall reading in Julie Andrews' autobiography that in the 60s a pregnancy test at the doctor's involved a live mouse! Can anyone tell me what that was all about?!

The thing with testing really early is the high chance of miscarriage. I'd rather a late period than an early miscarriage iyswim. I've had several failed pregnancies and two successful ones and those early days / weeks are so hard. It would be great to have a test that tells you positive and viable but that's impossible.

Hope you get a positive soon, symptom spotting sucks.

Frogs and mice? Can someone enlighten me please?

Hope you get a bfp soon op.

Mice!!!!

What do you mean? That we should find out earlier than we currently can? If so I have to disagree. I think we find out too early as it is. With tests now as sensitive as they are, more and more women are becoming aware of early miscarriages/chemical pregnancies which brings a lot of unnecessary upset IMO. years ago they would have just thought it was a late period.

Most tests claim to be accurate on your expected period date if not a few days before. Your period is due around two weeks after ovulation and implantation can take upto two weeks. So we are already able to find out at the very earliest opportunity.

The problem with pregnancy tests is many people don't seem to understand how to use them properly. So many people read the results hours after taking the test and thinking they are accurate. Or taking the test only a few days after sex but thinking it will be accurate because their period is due that day.
With proper understanding of ovulation and conception a standard urine test is a perfectly good way to determine wether you're pregnant or not and I don't think it needs improving.

I can understand your frustration though. It's so disheartening to have all these signs and symptoms and be so sure you're pregnant only to be let down by your period arriving. Which is why i think you should ignore those symptoms, try to forget about implantation bleeding (which is quite uncommon from what I understand) and only really consider pregnancy as a possibility if you miss a period. Easier said than done I know...

Anyway i wish you luck with TTC and hope it happens for you soon.

Frogs and rabbits. You had to wait until you were well over due your period, provide a pee sample which was sent to a lab and either a frog or female rabbit would be injected with your pee. 5- 10 days later the animal was killed and dissected and if it had grown tumours you were pregnant. Occasionally the frogs or toads exoded!

I have always said it would be nice if we just had a little indicator that changed colour when preg, like a little light or something.

Tbh I have always known early due to symptoms. I go off tea, and start feeling nauseous very quickly. Currently 19wks with baby six and was on holiday when I recognised the sings, got a bfp before my period was due. But as others have said that has its down side as I have had a few early miscarriages. I find the first twelve weeks awful. Feel like shit, knackered and sick and I am always terrified that I will go for the 12 wk scan and there will be nothing there.

Actually I think a little gage like a fuel gage that fills up as you progress throughout the pregnancy would be good... Clearly human evolution is not going to give me my wish.

Certain animal's ovaries react to pregnancy hormones. Sadly, the rabbits after whom the test was originally named had to be cut open for the test (and they generally weren't sewn back up, to put it gently).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_test

There's a fantastic episode of MAS*H in which Houlihan thinks she might be pregnant and the only rabbit around is Radar's pet rabbit. He doesn't understand why they can't just remove its ovaries and sew it back up so one of the docs has to do very delicate gynaecological surgery on a rabbit.

Exploding frogs

They have moved on! Along with the rabbit test that others have mentioned an early at home pregnancy test was more akin to a chemistry set than a pee stick.

I know it's frustrating but you are using the same technology doctors do.

Thanks all and for the cake. Exploding rabbits? Crikey, I take it all back

This article was IFLS recently:

www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/bizarre-outlandish-history-pregnancy-tests0

Frogs hind legs used to be injected with urine if the unrinator was pregnant the frog would expel eggs

Oh and for what it's worth it was not that long ago you used to have to piss in a cup take a test tube with a ball of some sort of chemical in it drop 5 drops of pee in it dissolve it (with or without heat I can't quite remember) then wait 20 minutes and squint whilst trying to see a powder circle at the bottom of the tube!

Frogs and mice? Can someone enlighten me please?

Apparently injecting the urine from a woman in the early months of pregnancy into an immature female mouse results in the mouse's ovaries enlarging and developing. The test had an error rate of less than 2%. The same results were achieved using rabbits.

The frog test used the African clawed frog. I can't find anything that suggests they grew tumours or expoloded as Junosmum states. The information I've found says that you inject urine into the hind leg then see if the frog ovulates. Apparently this was more reliable than the mouse test and had the advantage that you could reuse the frog, whereas the mouse test involves killing and dissecting the unfortunate animal.

You learn something every day.

Yes, a slang team for finding out someone was pregnant was "the rabbit died". A bit silly really, seeing as the rabbit died either way!