There are many ways to determine early pregnancy, but not always a woman has the physical ability to go to the clinic to donate blood for hCG or purchase a special test. In this case, the question arises whether it is possible to find out the truth without test and analysis. Indeed, at one time, women did not have the opportunity to either do tests or donate blood, because such studies did not yet exist. They learned about the "interesting situation" by completely different methods.
When can you find out?
First of all, you need to decide on the timing. Trying to find out about pregnancy too early is unlikely to be successful. You should know that the next day or 2-3 days after conception, no signs of pregnancy can exist in principle, because the embryo at this time is still moving along the fallopian tube, it has to overcome a long way to the uterus, where it can attach and further develop.
Only 3-4 days after ovulation (conception is possible only on this day and within a day after the mature egg leaves the follicle) the embryo is in the uterus. It is a blastocyst, and the number of cells in it increases hourly by cleavage. For another 3-4 days, the blastocyst is in free swimming in the uterine cavity, and only 7-9 days after ovulation can implantation be expected.
During this process, the outer membranes of the ovum adhere to the endometrium, and then, with the help of a special enzyme, they begin to dissolve the endometrial cells, going deeper into the endometrial layer. The process lasts about 35-40 hours, and only after implantation some signs and manifestations are theoretically possible, since before it, the body of a pregnant and non-pregnant woman works exactly the same.
After implantation, the chorionic villi begin to produce the hCG hormone. Chorionic gonadotropin should support the corpus luteum on the ovary, which was formed after ovulation from the membranes of the follicular vesicle. The corpus luteum produces progesterone, which is necessary for the onset and prolongation of pregnancy. If the implantation for some reason does not take place, or conception did not happen, in general, the corpus luteum begins to regress from 7-8 days after ovulation, by the 12th day, in general, ceases to exist, the production of progesterone stops, and menstruation begins.
HCG prevents events from developing according to this scenario. The corpus luteum continues to function, supplying the body with progesterone. The level of human chorionic gonadotropic hormone doubles every 48 hours. And it is on the determination of this hormone in the blood, in the urine of a woman that all the methods of early diagnosis of pregnancy that exist today are based.
Therefore, earlier than 10-12 days after ovulation (or 3-4 days before the expected date of the start of the next menstruation), it is better not to think about self-diagnosis - the results will be either extremely doubtful or frankly false.
Most accurate methods
The most accurate and reliable diagnostic methods have nothing to do with folk methods and signs. This is a blood test for hCG. We remember that the hormone begins to be produced only after the completed implantation, and therefore the earliest period at which a pregnancy can be determined by a blood test is 24-25 days of the cycle (or 3-4 days before the start of the next menstruation). Blood is donated in any clinic on a paid basis (the cost of the analysis is from 300 to 600 rubles), blood is taken from a vein for research, and therefore you need to come to a medical institution on an empty stomach. Results can be both the same day and the next.
Less accurate, but also acceptable for early diagnosis pharmacy tests. Ultra Sensitive Threshold Strips from 10 to 15 units (the threshold for perception of hCG is indicated on the package) may show a second strip even before a delay of 2-3 days. The rest of the tests begin to accurately determine pregnancy from the first day of the delay in menstruation. The most accurate are digital and inkjet tests. If the result is in doubt (the second band is indistinct or the result is negative with obvious signs of pregnancy), you can repeat the test, check its readings in a day or two.
A week after the start of the delay, the woman can go for an ultrasound scan. Until this time, the ovum is difficult to see due to its small size. Two weeks after the start of the delay, you can visit a gynecologist in consultation - signs of pregnancy are already determined during a vaginal gynecological examination.
10 ways to determine pregnancy without a test - pros and cons
If there is no opportunity to do an analysis and buy a test, but you really want to know about the presence or absence of pregnancy, you can use numerous methods and methods. They were also known to our great-grandmothers, because they, in general, did not have any tests or clinics where hCG was determined, and then no one really knew anything about hCG. We have compiled a selection of ways that a woman can use at home on her own. Each of them has its pros and cons, its own reliability. Let's consider them in more detail, after which you can choose the one that seems to you the most convincing.
Basal temperature
Basal is the temperature inside the body. It is she who is considered true. It is determined in parts of the body that are borderline with cavities (in the rectum, in the vagina, in the mouth). For measurement, it is worth using a mercury thermometer, it is better not to change thermometers, use the same one. Measurements are carried out in the morning before getting out of bed in a state of complete rest... If measurements are started in the rectum, subsequent measurements should be taken in the same place, without changing body parts.
The presence of pregnancy may be indicated by a high basal temperature (above 37.0 degrees, but not higher than 38.0). It usually rises after ovulation - this is the body's response to the production of progesterone. In non-pregnant women, 3-4 days before menstruation, the basal temperature begins to decrease (as the functions of the corpus luteum naturally fade away). In pregnant women, the corpus luteum under the influence of hCG continues to actively produce progesterone, and therefore the temperature does not decrease within the specified time frame, BT remains high.
Pros: the method is quite simple, obvious and supported by scientific data, does not require financial and time consuming.
Cons: in order to correctly understand the results of thermometry, it is necessary to measure BT not only before the delay, but also throughout the entire cycle, starting from the first day of menstruation, and better - during the last three cycles. By a single measurement, shortly before menstruation, it is rather difficult to say something about the presence or absence of pregnancy.
Reliability: among the "home" methods, this is the most reliable. But the overall accuracy is not as high as those planning to have a baby would like. The basal temperature may rise not only due to the "pregnant" hormonal background, but also due to lack of sleep, fatigue, stress, sexual intercourse the night before, alcohol intake, due to errors in measurement, as well as due to hormonal disruption and inflammatory diseases of not only reproductive organs, but also any other organ.
Even with a sore tooth or a runny nose, the basal temperature may be too high.
Allocations
The method for assessing vaginal discharge is to understand the physiological and biochemical processes that occur during pregnancy. Since progesterone does not decrease shortly before the onset of the delay, the secretions under the influence of the hormone remain as they usually are in the second phase of the cycle - scanty, light. If there is no pregnancy, 2-3 days before menstruation, the amount of discharge increases markedly (estrogen level rises).
On the day of implantation, about 30% of women have a slight spotting pink or brownish discharge, which is called implantation bleeding. Since implantation is associated with trauma to endometrial cells, a small release of blood during this period is quite justified. Allocations are few. They last no more than a day.
Pros: the method is related to science, supported by medical facts, does not require any costs, including time.
Minuses: not all women are well aware of their particular body and can determine a slight increase or decrease in vaginal discharge.
Reliability: the method is not considered a method of determining pregnancy, since the discharge does not directly indicate it. The amount of secretion from the genital tract can be increased or decreased, not only due to hormonal levels. Sexual contacts, douching, inflammatory and infectious diseases of the genitourinary system can affect.
Symptoms and early signs
Before implantation, there can be no symptoms that may somehow indirectly be related to pregnancy. In the first week after ovulation and conception, the hormonal background in pregnant and non-pregnant women is exactly the same, and therefore there are no specific changes in the body. After implantation, when progesterone does not decrease in pregnant women, it is theoretically possible that signs appear that are closely related to the action of this hormone.
Appetite may change, and it usually rises. There may be some distortion of odors and taste. Some note that sleep becomes more restless, sensitive, intermittent, and in the daytime you want to sleep.
Progesterone lowers female immunity. This is necessary so that the immune cells do not make a mistake with the identification of the embryo and do not destroy it as a foreign object. Therefore, the temperature may rise to 37.0 degrees and a little higher in the evening, the next morning there is usually no trace of the temperature. Due to the looseness of the mucous membranes (also the action of progesterone) possibly a feeling of nasal congestion. Urination may become more frequent. Due to the increased blood supply to the pelvic organs, a feeling of "fullness" appears in the abdomen. Some note the early signs of toxicosis - morning sickness... Many headache.
Pros: symptoms can be so striking that a woman can easily guess her “interesting position”. Some even before the delay of menstruation feel exactly and without a test - pregnancy has come.
Minuses: women planning pregnancy often "invent" symptoms for themselves. This is one of the tricks our brains are capable of. Somewhere stabbed or pulled, and we, expecting pregnancy, focus on the symptom. The brain, in response to the concentration of the focus of attention, intensifies sensations, making them sometimes completely implausible. Hence, numerous situations are born that women describe on the forums that all the signs were: they felt sick, and my chest hurt, and I wanted to sleep, but there was no pregnancy.
Reliability: none of the listed signs refers to either objective and reliable, or even probable signs of pregnancy. A feeling of fullness in the abdomen can be due to improper nutrition due to gas formation, frequent urination can be associated with cystitis, and the attacked zhor is generally characteristic of stress.
Waiting for signs of pregnancy is already a severe stress for the female body. The reliability of the symptomatic method, therefore, can be assessed on a flimsy "C" with a large minus.
Iodine
The popular antiseptic for detecting pregnancy is used in two ways. It is recommended to drop a little iodine into a bowl with collected morning urine. It is believed that an antiseptic that remains on the surface of the liquid during the first seconds of observation indicates pregnancy. If iodine dissolves quickly, almost instantly, this indicates the absence of pregnancy.
The second method involves using paper with iodine. A strip of clean white paper must be dipped into the collected urine, then removed and iodine dripped onto it. It is believed that the purple color of the strip indicates pregnancy, and the blue indicates its absence.
Pros: the method is accessible to everyone, uncomplicated, does not require costs, everything is easy for him to do with his own hands.
Minuses: there is no scientific justification, it is difficult, in general, to imagine what those who were the first to suggest to check the reaction of iodine and urea and salts in urine were based.
Reliability: halogen, which is iodine, easily enters into the so-called "color reactions", on which numerous amusing experiments in entertaining chemistry for children are based. Iodine interacts with salts, polysaccharides, urea, and almost all components of urine. The color will depend on which active substances there are more. Regarding the dissolution of iodine in urine, it all depends on the density and concentration of urine.
The denser it is, the longer the substance can survive on the surface. Iodine does not react to the hCG hormone, which is the only marker of possible pregnancy in urine. The credibility is almost zero.
But according to the theory of probability, we can safely say that the probability of getting an exact answer is 50% (either there is a pregnancy or not). But such a possibility appears even without experiments in entertaining chemistry.
Soda
For such an examination at home, traditional medicine recommends collecting urine and pouring about a teaspoon of baking soda into it. It is believed that a reaction with bubbling and hissing indicates the absence of pregnancy, if this does not happen, and the soda simply settles to the bottom, pregnancy is possible.
Pros: as in the previous case, the method does not require costs (soda is in every home).
Minuses: soda may still not be at home, and you will have to go to the store for it (isn't it easier to go to the pharmacy for a test?).
Confidence: almost nil, as with iodine. Soda can sizzle in an acidic environment, and therefore such a reaction speaks of an acidic urine environment. If the acidity is low, then the reaction with soda does not occur. The acidity of urine is an indicator of kidney function, nutritional characteristics, but in no way a sign of pregnancy. Therefore, it is also impossible to reliably find out in this way whether conception took place or not.
Boiling urine
As part of this method, it is proposed to collect urine in a transparent, but fire-resistant container. Because you have to put it on fire. You need to boil urine without a lid. As soon as the urine boils, you need to remove it from the stove and put it to cool. If a sediment precipitates in boiled urine, they speak of pregnancy. If there is no sediment, then there is no pregnancy.
Pros: in general, it does not require costs - neither iodine nor soda, if they are not at home, you do not need to buy.
Minuses: need transparent heat-resistant dishes. This may not be in the house. Everyone who has ever entered the apartment of people who are fond of urinotherapy and boiling urine knows what smell is accompanied by the process of heating this liquid. Therefore, not everyone will consider it permissible to carry out such "experiments" at home.
Reliability: even lower than that of the iodine and soda methods. Sediment in urine is a suspension with salt. You can not heat anything, but just leave the urine to stand, and after a few hours a sediment will also appear in it. This is a natural process.There is no scientific substantiation and reasonable explanation for this method of determining pregnancy in nature.
Position of the cervix
This method is based on a change in the consistency and position of the cervix after pregnancy. Progesterone softens the isthmus, due to this, the neck becomes more mobile and soft.
The examination is carried out with two fingers of a clean hand while sitting on the toilet or lying on your back with knees bent at the legs.
Pros: the method really works - this is how gynecologists determine the first signs of pregnancy.
Minuses: signs of cervical changes usually appear no earlier than a couple of weeks after the onset of the delay. Therefore, at very early stages, there is no sense in palpation. The method requires some skill and training (women who are familiar with the symptothermal method of recognizing fertility usually know how to determine the position of the cervix with their own hands, for the rest it is not so easy). Inept actions, manicure can damage the cervix.
The reliability of the trait is high after a couple of weeks of delay.
Wine
Mix the morning urine portion with white wine in a 1: 1 ratio. If the resulting liquid becomes cloudy, there is no pregnancy; if it remains transparent, the woman is pregnant.
Pros: are found with difficulty.
Minuses: you have to go for white wine or waste your home bar supplies. Wine after testing is no longer subject to use for its intended purpose.
Confidence: zero or even negative. The acidic environment of wine can only react with urine salts, but both pregnant women and non-pregnant women have salts.
Pulsating abdomen
Traditional medicine experts suggest feeling the lower abdomen and try to detect pulsation. If possible, then there is a pregnancy.
Pros and cons: very educational activity. At the same time, you can remember what was taught in the lessons of human anatomy at school. Reliability: almost nonexistent.
If you manage to find something, then these are large blood vessels of the abdominal cavity, and they pulsate in everyone during life. If you can't find them, don't worry - not even all novice doctors can do it the first time.
Other folk remedies
The advice to water the ficus with urine and see if it blooms, as well as the dissolution of salt with potassium permanganate in urine, should be treated with a touch of irony. These are ways reminiscent of fortune telling yes - no. This also includes the planting of bulbs after ovulation - it will rise, which means there is a pregnancy.
It is impossible to determine pregnancy in such ways, and even more so, ectopic, multiple or frozen pregnancy. Take your time to draw conclusions.
For information on how to do a pregnancy test at home, see the next video.
