A few articles from PeeOnaStick.com about HPT's ^.^

8. The positive line is really faint. Is this okay?

A HPT tells you exactly one thing: your urine either has detectable pregnancy hormone in it, or it doesn't. The darkness or lightness of a line doesn't mean much. Generally speaking, a very light line can mean there is a small amount of hCG in your urine, and a very dark line can mean there is a larger amount of hCG in your urine. This is why you may get a faint positive at 10 DPO but a darker positive at 18 DPO. However, this is not always true. Tests are all different, and even tests in the same box may differ in sensitivity. Comparing light/dark lines will just drive you nuts. If you see a line in the "results" window, you're preg!



9. I took another test and the line is lighter. Does this mean anything? Should it get darker?

Not necessarily. In general, the positive line will be darker when a greater amount of hCG is present in the urine, but not always. Some tests contain more or less dye (meaning there is just more or less color to "stick" to your hCG.) Some tests are more or less sensitive-- even 2 tests in the same box can be different. Also, your urine may have more or less hCG in it depending on what you ate or drank, or how long it's been since you last peed. Food itself does not cause false results, but can affect how much urine you have and how dilute it is. Eating salty chips and drinking caffeine all day will result in more concentrated pee, whereas gorging on watermelon and ginger ale will result in lots of very dilute pee. But an HPT is not meant to tell you "how" pregnant you are. It only tells you if you are pregnant or not. As long as there is a line in the results window, you are pregnant.

Some women experiencing early miscarriages do notice their lines getting fainter or disappearing entirely, but even if your line gets fainter, it is not a guarantee that you are miscarrying, or that anything is wrong.


10. I took several tests and got both negatives and positives. What gives?

There are many variables-- concentration of urine, sensitivity of the test. Since true false positives are pretty rare, if you get at least one positive HPT, you are probably pregnant. Wait a couple of days and test again or try another brand if you are suspect.



I Don't know why, but reading this just made me feel better about my situation. She said that it's actually pretty common for women to have completely normal pregnancies, but to not metabolize HCG in their urine very quickly. I'm going to go in for a blood test on Tuesday hopefully, so i guess that i'll just have to wait until then to find out for sure. I haven't started bleeding or even spotting, which would help support my chemical pregnancy theory. I'm just hoping that everything is ok. I thought that those articles could make other women with situations like mine feel better about it.

Being stuck in limbo sucks!!! (had to vent just a little bit lol)

when i took first response, the one line was very faint (pale pink) and the other one was much darker. as long as it is there, that means HCG is being detected.

Thanks for this post Chrissie!

I am going through something similar myself at the moment.

I started testing on Saturday the 17th of November. Here are my test results:

Saturday: Clearblue Digital - 'pregnant' and Boots - BFP (very faint line)
Sunday: Boots - BFP (very faint line), Asda - BFP (faint line)
Monday: Asda - BFP (slightly darker line)
Tuesday: Boots - BFP (slightly darker line, came up quicker than before)
Thursday: Boots - BFP (slightly darker line, still not as dark as the test line), Clearblue digital - BFP (came up in about 30 seconds)
Friday: Earlybird - BFP (distinctive line, came up quickly)

Then on Sunday - Boots digital test - BFN!!!!! (opened up the test and there was still a faint line there.
Two Boots normal tests - BFP (the lines came up quicker than they had done before and were darker than they were before, but still not as dark as the test lines).

I am so confused at the moment - am I having a miscarriage or not? I don't understand why one test could say BFN and another say BFP - Wobbles, did give me some good advice regarding Digitals and that they are so sensitive, they have to reach a certain threshold to register. I had been to the toilet a few times that morning before I tested, so my urine might only have been held for about an hour to two hours long. This may have affected the digital test. I am praying that my baby is alright. I have been getting a small amount of spotting the last two days and seem to have lost certain pregnancy symptoms I have had. I don't feel positive at all.