To women with kids or soon to have kids or have had false alarms (nurses and doctors too):
Knock, Knock.
Who's there?
Not your
period.
So you missed your
period and you're wondering
'Am I pregnant?' You go get yourself a pregnancy kit. Now, you're in the pharmacy and you see an array of pregnancy tests. What do you do?
You're in a panic and you're confused by all the different kits.
Do you choose:
A) Ask someone for help.
B) Grab every test there is to grab.
C) Start reading each label.
D) Feel flustered, go home, wait, and call a doctor.
E) Get Clearblue's latest pregnancy test.
Aside: Okay. I should mention I'm a guy (if you didn't know), so I don't know much about this except from what I hear, see, or watch (from TV/movies). The above scenario is my imagination of an unplanned pregnancy situation. I bring up the fact that I am a guy only because I don't have experience with this, so you'll have to forgive my ignorance and inform me of mistakes.
I was watching TV when a commercial by Clearblue started showcasing the 'next generation of pregnancy test...
The most advanced piece of technology you will ever pee on...Results in words'.
I couldn't help laughing out loud (it was a reflex reaction). Results in words. I am aware of colors and lines, but now words?! What was wrong with colors and lines?
Did the commercial just plainly deride women everywhere? Or do women really need to be told they are pregnant in words?
I get that words are an improvement, but is it necessary? Do you not feel like you are being mocked? How advance does the industry need to go for simply peeing on a stick? Share your experiences? A? B? C? D? or E?
Comments (59)
with the lines, sometimes the lines can be very faint, and you question it and take another test. your emotions are running high and youre thinking to yourself "omg, what does this say, is this a yes, give me the box, I need to compare, I think a line is there, is it really there, its faint, am i making this up, CAN ANYONE TELL ME IF THIS IS A LINE AND IF ITS GOING THE RIGHT WAY"... yes. thats sort of how it goes. A lot of women prefer the test like the one you mentioned because it is a flat pregnant or not pregnant. no questioning it.
in the few times i've ever had to do it (two, to be exact) i make my boyf come with me down to the supermarket (yep, they sell them here in the supermarket lol) and i make him get it off the shelf for me & carry it to te check out chick because:
a. i'm embarrassed (don't forget, i've only done it twice! lol) because i might see a work collegue/family member haha
b. so he should.
he's cute, because his ears go red on the tops, and he looks all nervous, but he does it for me anyway, all the while cracking jokes about how we'll never get ourselves in this sticky situation again. haha
he's adorable like that, & he's definitely a keeper <3
but uhhh, yeah, back to the question.. the peeing on the stick-job is fine. i don't know why they'd need to change it for. :|
lolllllllllllllll. i read the question wrong.
TYPICAL!
@august_has_fallen@xanga - hahaha, that's me, right to the T. rofl nice job [:
What pisses me off about pregnancy tests is that they are so expensive. At least where I went. I wanted to get a pack of two so I could take a second one to make sure, and it put me out about 15 bucks.
I'm currently pregnant with my second. Even though I'm married, we weren't exactly planning this one, so when I figured out that I was probably pregnant, I went to the store and bought the cheapest test there was, and bought three of them. Why? Because sometimes those lines are almost impossible to see. In my case, even when all three came up positive, I still went to the doctor for a blood test. It's the only way to be sure sure.
The word ones seem nice, and they probably are easier to read-but I expect those are used more by women who are actually TRYING to get pregnant.
I usually use the First Response Early Pregnancy Test... my fave... I
think it detects like 15miu so you get a positive response pretty early
on in the pregnancy. I used a digital once, and I hit the button at
the wrong time or something and the result was invalid. I was so
pissed! I paid a lot for that test! So I just stick with the lines..
it's kind of fun to watch for that line and move the test in all sorts
of angles "Is there a line there???" To see the words "Not Pregnant"
when you're hoping to be pregnant can be kinda rough. Though I'm sure
if anyone else is like me- we rip it open and still look for the line
LOL
@suggestivetongue@xanga - believe it or not- I've heard the Dollar Tree store tests are pretty good ;)
i took the one with the lines, and the first time the second line was so light, i didn't really see it until I showed it to my husband, and he pointed it out.
so i could see how those could get a little confusing.
@suggestivetongue@xanga - Clear Blue only cost me like 9 bucks for 2. The other ones are cheaper, but they do me no good if a line is gonna be faint! Haha.
This actually just happend to me! I went and got the one with 2 lines. But one of the lines was so faint, I wasn't sure about it. There's this thing called evaporation lines and they disappear after a few hours. You're supposed to wait 48 hours and if the line is still there, you're pregnant.
But that's way too stressful. So I went and got a clear blue. Makes life soooo much easier.
Line pregnancy tests are actually tricky to read. I find the Clear Blue digital ovualtion tests and clear blue pregnnacy tests easier to lose. You don't have to worry about trying to read a line and figure out if it is positive or not. I'm embarressed just to get pads for my monthly visitor, much less pregnancy tests (I've done four all negative) and OPK once (had sex on that day and still didn't get pregnant). I don't think it is degrading to use a digital pregnancy test at all. For me the digital is just easier to handle and deal with.
F - Grab the cheapest Target 2 pack and get on with life. I guess I get the words thing...I think it's something like 1 in 4 women can misread a pregnancy test and the first one I took when pregnant with our daughter, the line came back as the faintest shadow of a line. I waited a couple of days and then took the second in the 2-pack to get a clear result.
I got a positive OPK October 15th 2008 and didn't get pregnant but all well.
BFN 12/18/2006 @ 19.
BFN 10/30/2008 @ 21.
BFN 5/21/2009 @ 22.
BFN 6/22/2009 @ 22.
2 false pregnancies.
So yeah the stupid Clear Blue Digital Ovulation tests are $23.99 + tax @ Walmart in Pittsburg, KS. So that is why I've only used them once. Of course I get the pack that has the free pregnancy test in it as well. We don't have that type of money to buy them every month which is why I've only used it once.
Tests don't have to be expensive - or complicated. I bought 50 (yes, fifty) of them at www.babycreation.com for about $17. And now i have them if I ever care to test... They use lines. But I can pretty much figure out that if there is one line it means i'm not pregnant and two lines means I am. Buy more, save more - split the shipment with a friend.
Does it seem too good to be true? As far as I can tell, they are accurate. The friend who introduced them to me got positives when she was pregnant and I've always had negatives - because i'm not pregnant.
@snowvampire@xanga - the site i mentioned above has cheep ovulation tests too.
@aliyagator@xanga - Yep, I buy cheap ones too. Only I've gotten mine from www.early-pregnancy-tests.com (at least, I think that's the link). I've been pregnant twice and both times the tests worked perfectly for me. Each time I got clear positives (two lines) a few days after my period should have shown up. But I also know that when I'm pregnant I have high levels of whatever that hormone is that shows you're pregnant (i.e. super bad morning sickness), so tests work well on me, I guess.
When I got myself tests I got the ones that say "Pregnant" or "Not Pregnant"
I didn't care that they were $20 each! I thiiiiink they had 2 sticks in them. Or maybe I bought two. No I think they had 2 sticks in them. P:
I'm not skimping on something like that.
I buy the one with words. I just like them better. I refuse to buy store brand on some things and this is one of them.
a friend of mine tried the new magical clearblue test and she said when the two she bought (one to know and one to make sure) said "Pregnant" (even though she and her husband were wanting a child) it was a total mindf***. i totally get how that'd be awkward, so i'll stick to the ones with lines or smiley faces whenever i find myself in need of a preggo predictor.
i buy the ones with lines...
@Honey14@xanga - I wonder if you'll be the first to answer the question: Whether women feel insulted by the commercial? It's like having an UP arrow on a condom.
Lines can be very faint. And even then lets say one line is not pregnant and 2 lines is pregnant.
The first line always shows up and then the second line is what takes time.. sometimes it only comes in half way and sometimes it comes out really faint.
At least with words spelled out there is no mistaking it.
I don't think it's insulting, and I don't think it's at all like having an 'up' arrow on a condom. Results on a dye test aren't always as perfect and nice as shown in picture though they can be sometimes. I've saved money by getting just a ClearBlue because I'm not buying tons of the dye tests just to make sure my eyes aren't playing tricks on me. I got extremely faint lines with my first.
@f14tomcat44@xanga - Congrats for being the first person to answer that question. The baby you have in your picture is adorable! You must know that the people who made it into words could just as easily make it into 'Yes or No', even a picture of a baby, or the sound of a baby crying, right?
I choose "F", none of the above. After reading a Consumer Reports article, I tend to lean towards First Response...and not their digital "words" version for a few bucks more. I can read one line/two line results just fine. Although, when money is an issue and you know you "late" instead of the "five days before late"...Equate by Wal-Mart has never given me a wrong answer...for just four bucks.
@suggestivetongue@xanga -
Condoms are always cheaper than pregnancy tests.
Coincidence? I think not ;)