BFP Day!

Another abbreviation in the ttc (trying to conceive) world. BFP is big fat positive and refers to those two lines on a pregnancy test that make or break your day! I guess in this day and age some of the tests will actually say pregnant so then there is no interpreting the lines - but that takes all the fun of of it! And now the tests all claim 5 days sooner and 99% accurate - all ploys to get you to test earlier and then if you get a negative result you want to buy more tests to make sure you didn't test too early. You feel the need to buy them in bulk packs - just so you can test numerous times! That probably doesn't make sense to you if you have never undergone fertility treatments or had trouble conceiving. But ask any infertility girl and she will completely agree!

I can say that I am guilty of holding tests up to bright lights and then to natural light. I have tilted them and angled them and even squinted in hopes of seeing something! I have taken them out of the trash to just make sure one last time! I have had the bad luck of getting a test that had only half of a positive line show up - I just stared at the test dumbfounded and wasn't sure what to think - I was just standing there in the bathroom in a frozen stupor! Of course, it ended up being negative and probably a faulty test! Such a cruel joke!

I, many times, knew that I couldn't buy any tests because they always called to me - much like a chocolate doughnut calls to a dieter! They just nag you all day until you cave. And then as soon as you take the test you almost wish you didn't! This is because they can be wrong and have been wrong before. Then when you finally get your BFP - you want to test, and test, and test to make sure the line is still there and getting darker - which means the pregnancy hormone is increasing, which is what you want! If you do not get the desired result - you think was the test okay?, did I pee enough?, should I have used fmu (first morning urine)?, is is too early? etc., etc., etc.! I can also say that I could run a marathon and my heart wouldn't beat faster than it does waiting for that three minutes to see what appears.

Believe it or not there are even web sites totally about home pregnancy tests and beta levels. My favorite is http://peeonastick.com/. You can see pictures of hpt and ask questions. The person that created the site even tests different pregnancy tests for accuracy and levels. She even tested them using things other that urine! It lists all the different pregnancy tests and the levels of hcg that they claim to detect! Another one of my favorite web sites is http://www.betabase.info/. This is all about beta hcg levels and even has a doubling time calculator and a table to see if your levels fall within the normal ranges for your week of pregnancy.

There is another way you can get a BFP - when you are undergoing fertility treatments - you have a blood test that measures the amount of pregnancy hormone in your body -also known known as beta hcg. This is good because it is definitive - the tests do no come out wrong - although like hpt (home pregnancy tests) they can be done too early! Ugh! Then you get your positive blood test and the nurse calls with the happy news. Well the nurse calls at about 4pm and your blood test was at 8am - so you go the whole day in limbo and guessing what the result will be. Unless you "cheated" and took a hpt, but even if it was negative you don't lose all hope because remember hpt can be wrong and faulty! You are either sad and mad and disappointed beyond words or happy and overjoyed and wanting to call everyone you ever met!

And then reality sets in and you immediately tell yourself to curb your excitement until you have had a few more blood tests. This is because not only do you have to have a good level to be pregnant, but those levels should double or just about double every 48 hours. So two days after you get the phone call you have to wait on another phone call that tells you if your beta is increasing like it should - which usually signals the start of a healthy pregnancy. But again there are exceptions - for some reasons people whose levels don't double go on to have healthy babies and some that double do not. Also you can have multiples and when one doesn't do well, it can do crazy things to your levels! I have had my share of bfps that turn to miscarriage, so I always wanted to have a few blood tests before I told people.

If you are lucky enough to get good results from your blood work then there is the agonizing wait until your u/s (ultra sound). This is called the second 2ww (two week wait) because your first u/s is usually about 14 days after your first blood work. (the first 2ww refers to waiting 14 days after the time of conception to test for pregnancy) The u/s is to make sure the embryo(s) have implanted where they are supposed to - in the uterus and not the tubes, to make sure things are progressing, and to look for the all important heart beat! But that is another story full of emotion... I don't know about you - but none of this was ever covered in health class!