The first step to knowing whether you are pregnant is to bring home a simple pregnancy test and check it by yourself. However, your much awaited moment of joy can turn into one that consists of utter confusion. This might happen due to the appearance of a faint blue line on the device, whereas a bold line is supposed to determine pregnancy. In this situation, you will very likely wonder whether you are pregnant at all. Many experts and previously experienced women say that even a faint line can mean that you are pregnant, provided you look into the other details like your symptoms, menstruation, and food cravings.
Am I Pregnant if There’s a Faint Line?
Doctors would generally say that a faint line on your home pregnancy test device might mean three things, mainly:
You are pregnant
While a bold blue line makes it almost obvious that you are carrying, a faint line can also signify the same. The pregnancy hormone that is now developing inside your body, ‘human chorionic gonadotropin’ (hCG), might still not be well noticeable. This results in the faint line in the home test stick, due to lack of the hormone’s traces in your urine. As soon as you conceive, the level of this hCG hormone starts increasing. The home pregnancy testing device captures the traces of this hormone in order to determine whether you are pregnant. Hence, even if the blue line is faint, the device does determine the presence of the pregnancy hormone in your body. However, the faintness of the line is indeed confusing, which will be best sorted once you visit the gynaecologist.
You are not pregnant
The faint blue line on the testing stick can also, at times, mean that you are not pregnant at all. The line, in this situation, is referred to as the ‘evaporation line’. As your urine evaporates from the stick, this faint blue line appears. Mostly, this happens when your level of hCG hormone is on the slightly higher side, irrespective of whether you are pregnant or not. However, you must keep in mind that there is a window time, which is the limit, for checking the result. If you check the device within the mentioned time span, there is a high possibility that you are pregnant. But if you miss the deadline and check the stick after that, and still see a faint line, it might also just mean that the urine has evaporated, leaving behind a mild stain. If you are stuck between whether you are pregnant or whether you just saw evaporation line, visit the gynaecologist without any delay. The ultrasound test, essentially intravaginal, will most possibly clear your doubt.
You have suffered a miscarriage
Unfortunately, a faint line on the detecting stick can signify that you had conceived, but for some reason the development of the embryo has not been successful. This is also called a ‘chemical pregnancy’, which can take place way before an ultrasound machine can even detect the presence of a foetus, possibly within the first 12 weeks of conception. Taking home a pregnancy testing stick after conception, hence, shows that you are pregnant, while you are actually not. Visit the doctor for further treatment and a counsellor for coping with the depression that this situation might bring about.
Based on these possible reports, the best thing that you can do is to visit the doctor and ask for an ultrasound scan to detect the internal developments, if any. Most of the times, at such an early stage, an ultrasound test does not procure the precise results. Hence, the doctor will recommend a blood test and a urine test for checking the level of pregnancy – human chorionic gonadotropin – hormone. Even if these tests do not clearly reveal your situation, you might be asked to monitor your symptoms and the functioning of your digestive system, until 12 weeks are completed. After this, the gynaecologist will be able to give you a clearer picture of what is going on inside your body.
Hence, a faint blue line does not necessarily mean that you are not pregnant. To keep your chin up, visit the doctor, and try for another time if the result is pronounced as negative!
