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For most infertile patients, getting pregnant is the ultimate dream, which keeps them going through tests, treatments and surgery. What happens when the dream finally comes true?
How do you find out if you are pregnant? For most treatments, doctors will wait till you miss your period before starting pregnancy testing. You should ask your doctor when you should schedule a pregnancy test every time you take treatment - after all, you never know when it's going to work! A reasonable choice would be to conduct the test 16 to 18 days after ovulation. For IVF and GIFT cycles, in some clinics, testing may start as early as 10 to 12 days after the embryo transfer or GIFT.
When the pregnancy test is positive, the first response is often one of disbelief since it's hard to believe you are finally pregnant, especially if you have been trying for many years. Some patients get emotional - it's over! The time and effort and money have paid off! Infertility is a memory! But you soon realize that it's not all over. What you want is not a pregnancy but a baby! There are still uncertainties, and things can still go wrong, which is why careful monitoring is essential.
A pregnancy should be documented as early as possible. This is important, because appropriate care and precautions can then be taken at an early stage. The most sensitive pregnancy test is a blood test for the presence of beta HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin). The HCG is produced by the embryo, and serves as the embryo's signal to the mother that pregnancy has occurred.
HCG can be measured in the blood by RIA (radio immunoassay) or ELISA (enzyme immunoassay) testing; and positive levels (more than 10 mIU/ml) in the blood can be detected as early as two days before the period is missed. In the old days, the only way of determining the presence of HCG was by testing the urine, i.e., by using urine pregnancy test kits.
Modern urine pregnancy kits (using monoclonal antibody technology) are now quite sensitive and can detect a pregnancy as early as one to two days after missing a period (at a blood HCG level of about 50 to 100 mIU/ml). The benefit of urine pregnancy test kits is that they are less expensive; and the patient herself can do testing at home. However, instructions need to be followed carefully, and errors in interpreting the test results are not uncommon. These errors could occur if the urine is too dilute; or if the test is not done properly; or if a urinary tract infection exists.
© Dr. Aniruddha Malpani and Dr. Anjali Malpani www.drmalpani.com
Credits: How to Have a Baby: Overcoming Infertility
