Stressing alot about line progression after chemical

[Mary182]

Hi everyone!

I am currently 14 dpo and I have been really be struggling with wanting to believe that these pregnancy tests are progressing and I am pregnant. I had two chemical pregnancies and everything just feels too good to be true.
I know my first response is progressing well but why is the easy at home just stuck in the middle. I have seen so many videos of line progression and the lines darken a lot! Is this going to be a pending miscarriage or chemical?
took an lh test too…

thank you

You are pregnant. Put the tests down. Testing obsessively like this won’t change anything. Why on earth are you taking an LH test. I mean this in the kindest possible way - it’s going to be a very long nine months if you keep up this level of anxiety. No one on here can tell you whether you will or won’t miscarry. You could have the strongest lines in the world and still miscarry. Tests are designed to tell you whether or not you are pregnant and you clearly are so put them down and try to enjoy it as much as you can.

Have to agree with @Chick981

I'm so sorry for your previous losses OP. Can totally understand where the anxiety is coming from. But obsessively testing does not change an outcome. Stress isn't doing your body any favours. We know tests aren't designed to show progression. So much can influence the the concentration of urine, how much urine soaks into a test, and what the final line looks like. So its best to not go down the route of serial testing. But if you're going to do it regardless you need to consider..
HCG only doubles every 48 hours so a day between tests will not serve any purpose.
And using different tests is a total headache. You can't compare anything on a range of brands that act differently.

Congratulations on your pregnancy, hoping it all goes smoothly for you.

Sorry for your losses. I've also had two losses so I totally understand your anxiety. But like the others have said, obsessive testing isn't going to change the outcome or prevent a miscarriage if it's going to occur. I've obsessively tested before and all it did was cost a lot of money and cause unnecessary stress. You are definitely pregnant, put the tests down and tell yourself that, as far as you can reasonably be sure, you are pregnant and all is well. Easier said than done, I know. Congratulations and good luck 😊

It is so hard not to get obsessed with anything we think might confirm that everything is progressing well.

A positive is a positive, doesn’t matter how dark the line is. The tests are not designed to be darker if there is more hormone; they’re a yes/no to the hormone being present.

I have four children, including twins, and have had two losses. I have never had anything more than a feint line. I was also still getting feint lines at the point of discovering my second loss (8 weeks).

Unfortunately pregnancy tests just aren’t capable of giving confirmation that everything is progressing smoothly. Only blood hormone tests could indicate that.

Wishing you a smooth and successful pregnancy

OP - those lines look great! I know how tough it can feel after a loss. But strip tests are always slower to darken than other tests.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with PPs. "A line is a line" is really naive, sadly. Although tests are designed to give a yes or no answer, their strength does give an indication of how things are going (while remembering of course that firstly it's a snapshot and even a dye-stealer or 3+ on a CB can't guarantee that things won't go wrong later, and secondly they won't show a MMC that has happened at a point when you have high levels of HCG). So, I guess, whilst strong lines can't be taken as absolute reassurance that you'll get that baby in your arms, lines that don't get noticeably darker in 48 hours, or you're not triggering that 25miu test, or getting the 2-3/3+ on the CB that you expect (from calculating doubling from when you first got a positive on a 10miu or 25miu) etc, possibly do mean that things may have gone pear-shaped. That's not to say that knowing can help prevent anything. It's a horrible, horrible feeling. When I got pregnant this February, for the first week I was getting decent lines. Then I got 2-3 on CB a day later than I calculated I should have done. The lines on the strip tests seemed to get stuck the following week, and I never did get the 3+ (triggered by 2750 miu HCG) before I started bleeding. I should also maybe have been suspicious because LH tests were resolutely negative the entire time (I don't know whether they require a certain miu to confuse the HCG for LH...)

I also had a pregnancy after loss and must have spent hundreds on FRERs, checking the lines every day (often more than once a day).

All it did was make me worry.

Some days the lines were a bit lighter, and I panicked when it took ages to get a "dye stealer".

All was fine with the pregnancy, and I wish I hadn't been so obsessed with testing.

@curliegirlie I’m sorry for your loss but it doesn’t mean that your experience is the same as everyone else’s. Many, many people on these threads have never had a 3+ weeks and still gone on to have healthy children. And even if the worst does happen, spending hours agonising over tests (not to mention money!) won’t stop it from happening.

I agree with this, having also had a chemical.

id say it’s fine to keep testing early on, but only compare tests 2 days apart, and just stick to one time of day. I’ve fallen into the trap of multiple a day and then you can get all muddled looking at progression.

personally, I’d rather have the forewarning that I’m having a chemical but testing in the first couple of weeks, than just think “I’m pregnant” and get the shock of a bleed in a couple of weeks. We’re all different though.

fingers crossed this is a sticky one OP 🤞🏻☺️