How Long After Sex Can You Take A Pregnancy Test?

Have you recently been feeling tired all day? Do you think it’s because you are pregnant? Thinking how long after sex can you take a test? Gone are the days when you needed to wait for days and days for a missed period to find out whether you are pregnant or not. There was a time when women don’t even think about taking the pregnancy test unless they had missed at least one period. However, thanks to the advent of technology, taking a pregnancy test at home when you miss your period has become convenient and affordable.

When you are desperately trying to get pregnant, you are always in a rush to take the test as soon as possible. However, you can only conceive after ovulation, therefore, it is important to know how soon you can use the home pregnancy test after conception, rather than thinking how long after sex can you take a test.

How Soon Can I Take A Pregnancy Test Before My Period?

how-soon-after-conceiving-can-i-take-a-pregnancy-test

One of the most common questions women generally have is, “How soon can I take a pregnancy test before my period?” Well, you must have seen various advertisements where they say that you can get accurate results at 4 or 5 days before your menstrual cycle. However, this does not always stand true.

The home pregnancy test looks for the presence of HCG or Human Chorionic Gonadotropin which is produced as the placenta forms and grows. This is a process which takes place after the fertilized egg has implanted.

Therefore, to make sure you are getting correct test results; doctors don’t advise taking the test until at least one day after the start date of your regular periods. However, to get optimal results, you must wait for at least 10 to 12 days after your period due date. Moreover, a test taken after seven days will also give an accurate result.

If at first, you get a negative result or faintly positive results, you can choose to wait a few more days before you retake the test. Home pregnancy tests are often sensitive to the amount of HCG and thus it may become difficult to determine whether you are pregnant or not.

Unprotected Sex and Pregnancy

If you have an irregular period or you don’t remember the date of your last period or if it is not possible to determine the date when you ovulated, you can choose to take the urine pregnancy test after 14 days of unprotected sex. However, if you want to get 99% accurate results, it is advisable to take the test 21 days after unprotected intercourse.

For those who want to get their hands on the result earlier than 14 days, they can choose to visit a gynecologist for a blood pregnancy test. This test offers accurate result within 3 to 4 days after implantation or approximately 6 to 8 days after ovulation or fertilization.

What Is The Accuracy Of Urine Pregnancy Test?

how-soon-would-a-pregnancy-test-be-accurate

Thinking what is the urine pregnancy test accuracy? Well, the home pregnancy tests are about 95% to 99% accurate. Using drugs, taking antibiotics, having sex or taking fertility enhancers right before taking the home pregnancy test should not affect the test results.

However, drugs which contain Pregnyl, Pergonal, Profasi, Humegon or HCG can lead to false results. On the other hand, urinary tract infections, yeast infection or water-vaginal washes do not prevent pregnancy nor does it have an adverse effect on the test results.

How Early Can Pregnancy Symptoms Start?

Now that you know, “how long after sex can you take a test?” The next question which arises is how early can pregnancy symptoms start? The early pregnancy symptoms are different for everybody and the onset of the symptoms also vary.

  • 50% of women experience the early symptoms of pregnancy after they are 5 weeks pregnant
  • 70% experienced the symptoms around 6 weeks
  • 90% of women had the pregnancy symptoms by 8 weeks.

If you are unsure how to calculate the weeks, consider this. The first week of pregnancy is based on the date of your last period. So the last menstrual period is considered as the first week of pregnancy and using it as a reference, you can calculate how many weeks you are pregnant.

What Are The Symptoms of Pregnancy In First Month?

The first month is considered from week one to week four. During this time everything is happening on a cellular level. A blastocyst is created by the fertilized egg which will be developing into the baby’s organs and body parts. When the egg is implanted, some women may experience a mild pain which is often accompanied with spotting and light bleeding.

Few symptoms of pregnancy that you will experience right away and through the first month are:

  • Tender or swollen breast
  • Fatigue and tiredness
  • Slight bleeding, spotting or cramping
  • Nausea with or without vomiting
  • Food cravings
  • Mood swings
  • Constipation
  • Headaches
  • Dizziness and faintness
  • Raised basal body temperature

These signs of pregnancy are experienced because of hormonal changes in the body. However, certain foods can trigger these symptoms, especially in the first trimester when the hormonal changes are dramatic.

Sharing Is Caring
sharing-caring

Like what you read so far? How about help us to spread this AWESOME post to your friend and family? Your shout-out will help to motivate us to create more great posts for you and everyone else. Thanks for your support!

Check out this post for 'How Long After Sex Can You Take A Pregnancy Test?' @baby_dot_dot

Click to Tweet

Obvious Pregnancy Symptoms

Apart from the above-listed symptoms, there are some apparent symptoms which include:

Missed period

One of the most common signs of early pregnancy is when you have missed your period. If you think whether you are pregnant or not, this is one of the best ways to check. However, while some women may not experience periods at all, others may only experience a lighter period as compared to their regular menstrual period.

Just feeling pregnant

If you are reading this article, you may probably be just feeling pregnant, right? Many women believe that they have an intuition, which in a majority of the cases, is proven correct. Maybe you are feeling tired, lightheaded, moody, have constipation or are making frequent trips to the bathroom. You may have sore breast, stiffness in your lower back or you may not be feeling like your usual energetic self.

What is The Earliest You Can Find Out You Are Pregnant?

Answering this burning question, “What is the earliest you can find out you are pregnant?” depends on how well you know your body. While some women find it difficult to tell whether they are pregnant or not even after 2 or 3 weeks of conceiving, others know a lot sooner. Therefore, it really depends on your ability to catch the signs occurring within your body.

Pregnancy Testing

Early pregnancy symptoms can be confusing; therefore, it is recommended that you choose to opt for two or three home pregnancy tests.

  • If one of the tests negative and the other two tests result are positive, it means you are pregnant.
  • Pregnancy tests can be expensive; therefore, you can choose to shop around a bit to get your hands on home pregnancy tests that are comparatively inexpensive.
  • Make sure to test the first urine of the day as it will help you get accurate and quick results. Testing weaker diluted urine during the day may give false results.
  • If you find that you are pregnant, book a doctor’s appointment at the earliest as he will help to confirm the results.

And Finally…

It goes without saying that you can get pregnant if you have unprotected sex at any time even during your menstrual cycle. You can even get pregnant if your partner pulled out or if the contraceptive failed. Remember that no contraceptive offers 100% protection.

We hope this article has helped you get an answer to your how long after sex can you take a test question.

Click Here to Leave a Comment Below 0 comments