Is this ever going to get darker!!!???

[rix3]

I got a positive on Friday which is the bottom test and the top 2 tests are from today. The clear blue is an early response one it's not picking up as pregnant on the weeks one. My period was due yesterday but I thought the lines would be darker by now or atleast getting darker. I feel like today's actually looks lighter. Has anyone had this and everything has been fine??? Tia x

Is it first morning urine OP?

forgive me but I didn’t even know that this was an actual thing.
These tests surely are not that sensitive and tell you simply that they detect pregnancy hormones, that’s it. Not how much.

Please can you explain what information you gain from a darker or lighter line?
(I genuinely did not know that you needed to retest several times especially after a digital test that says “pregnant”)

@ColinRobinsonsfamiliar first response tests that op is using are very sensitive, they detect pregnancy hormone HCG at a starting value of 6, so very low. Most detect from 10-25miu and above. In a viable pregnancy HCG should double every 48 hrs, so you should see an increase in line strength if using tests of the same sensitivity. The FRER tests she has used 72 hrs apart are not showing much of an increase.

@rix3 you'll be well aware OP that in a viable pregnancy HCG should double every 48 hours. That would mean if the first test is faint, one today should be much stronger. Now, sometimes people do have slow rising HCG and all is well, but often unfortunately it's a predictor for v early miscarriage/a chemical pregnancy. I would wait another 2 days and test again. I know the wait is awful.

@ColinRobinsonsfamiliar I always find it bewildering too. My DDs are in their 20/30's and back in the day you peed on a stick, saw you were pregnant then just got on with being pregnant. Obviously it sometimes didn't work out for some women but I don't think they continually tested. Maybe it is the availability of cheap tests? Can someone enlighten us on this trend for continual testing?

I just worry that it impacts negatively on mh around the worrying time of being pregnant needlessly.

With multiple miscarriages I had very strong symptoms of pregnancy until the day I began to loose my pregnancies so hormone levels were probably strong, repeated testing would have given me absolutely zero useful information. But would have given me false information.

There is nothing set in stone with any of it and I actually think that regardless of the colour of the lines, it doesn’t change anything that you can actually do.

A miscarriage cannot be saved, there is no intervention to prevent it once it’s on the cards.
But I agree that the tests are very cheap so easy to keep doing. I just question for what reason would you keep testing.

Buzz off Colin and Apollo with your ‘bafflement’ there are plenty of threads you can read about this without crashing OP’s.

Just to add, I actually tested positive for up to nearly 3 weeks AFTER my miscarriages were completed and bleeding had stopped! So they pick up hormones and that’s it.
I didn’t bother testing after the first.

😊 sorry, I’ve overtaken this.
OP congratulations and all the best with your news, lovely & exciting times ahead.

step away from the tests and enjoy this amazing time xx

Mine was like this and it was a chemical with one. But the other child it just never did get any darker even at 20 weeks. It's just a waiting game x

@ApolloandDaphne tests have got a lot more sensitive and people who are trying to conceive can also track their cycle far more accurately. Together this allows them to test at points where 30 year old pregnancy tests would not have detected anything. As at home testing has become much more sensitive and reliable, GPs a midwives on the NHS now offer very little care in first trimester. This is because 1) they don't need to confirm pregnancy and 2) earlier testing methods have shown 1 in 3 to 1 in 4 pregnancies won't continue past trimester 1, with no intervention indicated unless multiple miscarriages, eg NHS can't do anything in T1 anyway. So now you confirm pregnancy alone, no medical person checks, and youdon't even hear about folic acid, no alcohol etc or talk to a midwife until about 11 weeks. Also, scan technology has come on massively and is now available privately for reasonable costs.

All of this promotes action during the anxiety of trimester 1 - it feels like a total unknown black box (what is happening inside there?!) and without support. Many people don't tell loved ones until 12 weeks, so often they and their partners are on their own with this, not knowing how anything is going or what stage everything is at. One way people deal with uncertainty and try to pull back some control is repeat testing (hopefully gives reassurance that HCG is rising), another way is private scanning (hopefully gives reassurance that a fetus is growing).

And then amplify that anxiety and need for information/control by a million if people have had experiences of miscarriage, missed miscarriage or pregnancy loss.

iwillbewaxing beautifully put, far less clumsy than my musings. Thank you for explaining it so kindly. X

Thank you for all the replies. I had had a late loss in the past and understandably my anxiety is through the roof as I don't want to feel heart ache like that ever again! I have lots of positive symptoms such as sore boobs, fatigue, insomnia, increased cervical mucus and light cramping and backache. I'm extra anxious because I'm on holiday at the moment (found out the day before travelling). I think I'll step away from the tests for a few days and ignore how light or dark the lines are and see how it goes and fingers crossed it will all be ok.
I've also read online that sometimes frer don't actually get darker for some people but other brands do so maybe I'm just relying too much on them there has been progression because I have tests that barely show a line on a picture and are real squinters so that's hopeful atleast!!

I do generally agree @ColinRobinsonsfamiliar that increasing HCG can be a false hope (I have had an end of t1 loss and like you HCG was super strong and stayed that way for ages afterwards) and that lots of testing and lots of scans can maintain anxiety but I am also aware that for some it's much needed reassurance and insight.

@rix3 I'm so sorry for your previous experience and repeat testing makes total sense in that context! I think stepping away a few days is a great plan and hope this does work out for you x

It was a genuine question and someone has take the time to answer it for me. I've wondered about this for a while and now I get it.

@IWillBeWaxingAnOwl great answer! Repeat testing and in particular, CB weeks indicator was the only reason I knew I was having a miscarriage as the GP didn't give a S*. I didn't bleed until I was 3 weeks late, whereas CB predicted the miscarriage at 5 weeks, which was confirmed by a scan a week later. Just made it easier for me to deal with the outcome rather than building up anxiety until I bled or I would have been seen by the NHS at possibly 12 weeks.

All the best @rix3 hope those lines will get darker with time X