Posted by Deanna on February 02, 2004 at 13:40:57:
In Reply to: Question-Missed Period posted by Kristal on February 02, 2004 at 10:18:10:
: Hi everyone. I'm new to this board and I have a question for anyone who can help...
: My last period started on Dec. 22 and I normally have a 35 day cycle. Well AF has not visited, but on Jan. 24 I went to the bathroom and had only a smear of blood on the toliet paper.
: This happened twice over the next few days, but I never had anything on my pad.
: I'm a little over a week late and I've taken several home preg. tests and received a negative result. My husband thinks I'm pregnant because I'm been feeling sick, haven't been sleeping well, and not eating as much. How long should I wait before calling my doctor and requesting a blood test? We've been trying and I hate to get my hopes up...
Just found out on the 22nd of December that I am pregnant. It was a big surprise! I first noticed I was 4 days late and since I've been running like clockwork lately I figured I should take a pregnancy test. Sure enough it popped positive!
I am also an RN and have a little knowledge on the medical side of this subject although I am not a mother...yet. Sounds like the streaking you had is not a normal period for you. It is probably taking a little while for your HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) level to show up on the urine test. HCG is the level that rises to give you the positive on the test. People say that blood is more accurate. That is not necessarily true. Urine tests are 99% specific and extremely accurate. Basically the same tests we use from a pharmacy are the same as what we use in the hospital. If serum (blood) testing is ordered we drop it in the well where the urine would go. Same exact thing.
Have you had any symptoms of breast tenderness too? That's good indicator for some people as well as increased vaginal discharge. You also may have increased urination throughout the day.
If you're curious you can go to www.babycenter.com. They have the best due date calculator I've seen online. This is the only one I've found that you enter in your # of days of cycle.
I would see if you can leave a message for your MD to call you. That way you can explain to him/her your symptoms, that you've taken several tests, had streaking this month, etc. and they will advise you on if you need to make an appointment and when.
Hope this helps! I was actually looking for morning sickness or hyperemesis gravidarum message boards but glad I ran across this one! :)
