Negative Pregnancy Test... but No Period (yet)

Home pregnancy tests vary in reliability, and the earlier you test, the less reliable the results. However, I took a test this past Monday (mostly to get my very excited sister off my back) and the test was negative. According to the insert, at that many days before your period is due, the test is only 51% reliable. I was due for my period today. I did not get my period today. Am I pregnant? The jury's still out. I'm taking the next test on Saturday morning.

I've been visiting a lot of blogs, websites, and bulletin boards to read about pregnancy symptoms and "false negatives." From this "research" I've determined that no pregnancy symptoms are consistent. I mean, there are certainly a list of possible symptoms, but every woman's symptoms are different, and every pregnancy announces itself differently.

Also, science is good, but not that good, and it's impossible to know when a woman is ovulating (even with an ultrasound). Also, even within a 28 day cycle, the exact day of ovulation can vary. What doesn't vary is the amount of time from ovulation to getting your period. However, the length of time can range from 11-16 days after ovulation from one woman to the next. And, stress or travel or illness can affect ovulation, which can occur in women anywhere between day 12 and day 16 of her cycle. This varies not only from woman to woman, but from cycle to cycle. So, because you can't know when you ovulate, unless you consistently chart your cycle using Natural Family Planning methods, you can only estimate the day you ovulate, and therefore you can't know exactly how many days past ovulation you are, and so you can't know exactly when you really should take an early pregnancy test.

In addition to not knowing exactly when you should test, the test measures the pregnancy hormone in your urine. The level of this hormone varies from woman to woman, and from pregnancy to pregnancy. Some women have reported negative pregnancy tests all the way up to three weeks past their missed period, even when they were pregnant. So, just because I got a negative that early doesn't mean I'm not pregnant. At this point, we're going to wait until I am a couple of days late before we test again. Which will be Saturday.

Warning - discussion of my menstrual cycle ahead. Stop reading if you don't want to know this much about my uterus.

So, while the test was negative, this is not the final word on the subject. As they say, it's not over until the fat lady sings, and in this case, the fat lady is my period. As I said earlier, I was due for my period today, and while I've been feeling very pre-menstrual (which, oddly enough, can also be a symptom of pregnancy) I've run to the bathroom several times today expecting my period to start, and nothing. This is not usual for me - I usually have some breakthrough bleeding the day before my period is due to start. So, T minus Zero and counting... we're at 0 days past period due (DPPD)...