Question about pregnancy test - what is neg/pos?

[Eulalia]

I got some free test kits from the doctor last week but they weren't in any packaging. I am going to test tomorrow morning and I've forgotten what he said except that one stripe meant one thing and 2 stripes meant the other. (Duh feel very silly). They are the usual stick things with some writing with 'hGC' on it if that makes any sense to anyone.

Thanks.

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HcG stands for Human Chorion Gonadotropin. It is a hormone that is produced in the early stages of pregnancy and rises with time. The sticks have an antibody to the hcg in the stripes. If there is Hcg present in your wee it will bind to the antibody and a colour change will happen. One of the stipes is a control (to show that the stick is 'working' ). The other is the one that shows if you are pg or not. If only one stipe turns colour you are not pg, if two turn colour you are pg. If neither turn colour the test wasn't working.

HTH and hope you get the result you want.

Now I feel really daft. Didn't think of the letters standing for the hormone. I do actually have 2 children already but have never used a home pregnancy kit. Anyway thanks for the advice and will try tomorrow and let you know.

The test didn't work - I think I may have put it in the wrong way round. There is a top part with arrows pointing up to a bar across and I thought these arrows should be pointing downwards. However on looking at it the longer part with the letters on the covering should surely go into the urine. The doctor didn't really explain it very well.

How long should the stick stay in the urine for? I just wetted it.

Anyway its been 3 weeks since I came off the pill and no period - think I'll send off a sample to the lab this week if the other test doesn't work.

You need to collect your urine in a dish and then dip the stick upto that bar with the arrows on for aboout 10-15 seconds. You are only dipping in about 1cm of the stick in. There is normally a little pic of a hand at the onther end! Once you have done that, you wait three minutes for the result!

with normal home tests, you either put it directly into the stream for 5 seconds i think or if its collected in a sample pot, then 20 seconds

I always found it easier to pee in a plastic cup and hold the test stick in it. Much less messy!

Seems to have worked. One definite pink bar. Negative. I've also used the sample thing he gave me and will send that off just in case. Will try again in 10 days time. Thanks again for your help.