Thursday, September 25, 2008

Why I don't like Digital Pregnancy Tests and the other exciting thing we're doing on our trip.

So here's the problem with digitals:

They often aren't as sensitive as plain old line tests. Some are - the newer generation of ClearBlue Easy Digital and First Response Digital are supposed to pick up at 25 mIU/ml of hcg. Do they? Well . . . probably. The newer ones. But I had 4 of the old ones that registered 50 mIU/ml. More on that in a moment.

Also, they are ridiculously expensive, imo. Granted, the lack of squinting and comparison and the clear statement is nice, but I could buy 18 DollarTree tests (more accurate early on, I might add) for the same price. . .

And let's talk for a moment about the messages on those digitals. CBE has Pregnant/Not Pregnant. It's blunt. I think seeing Not Pregnant is actually worse than not seeing two lines. Negative seems nicer to me, less beat you over the head with your non-pregnified status. But worse than Not Pregnant is the hideous FR message of Yes+ or No-. No? NO? Harsh man, really harsh.

So, as it may be becoming clear to you, I've had a little experience with these little digital tests. I bought them and stashed them for confirmation purposes. I got a little excited when my temp jumped up so high and thought to myself, "Self. Temp is really high. Symptoms are there. Why not go ahead and use one of these digitals you have socked away? After all, they expire in October, so you might as well get some use out of them and lots of people have gotten early positives on them, and even though these were manufactured awhile back, they still say test 5 days sooner. And wouldn't it be great not to stress over whether a line is pink or not? Whether it's an evap or not? Clarity, self, is a nice thing to have."

So I took one, hands shaking in fear and excitement, staring at the little hourglass for the full three minutes only to see 'Not Pregnant.' I was really disappointed. I mean, I can tell myself a lot about digitals and their sensitivity, and early testing and how only this % of women get a positive at X dpo and how I'm not 100% certain what X dpo is, and so on. But it does not matter, because it was hard to read. It hurt a little bit more.

So yeah. No period yet. But I don't like digitals. I expect it will be worth it to get a positive, but in terms of confirmation, it's just an expensive perk, really. Because by the time you can be sure it will register you period is going to show up or you'll have a clear line on the test, you know?

Bah, I say.

In other, happier news, the final big piece of our trip is having pictures taken. We've never ever had professional pictures done, and now seems like a good time. There is a photographer from Austin that will be coming out to meet us and we'll be doing up some pics. I'm silly excited about it and haven't any idea what the fuck I'm going to wear. I have some shirts I like, but I want to look good and I fear just looking fat and stupid. But this photographer is so good I don't think it'll be possible for me not to get at least a couple of good shots.

Tonight, we have to pack everything, do a load of laundry, Febreze and vacuum, clean up the cat litter, clean out the car and clean the bathrooms. General stuff you do before a trip. Not looking forward to it, but I am looking forward to tomorrow!

Weeeee! VACATION!

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