The best way to confirm a pregnancy test is with a visit to a doctor’s office. A doctor may perform a range of tests, depending on the estimated stage of pregnancy, to confirm a pregnancy. For example, your doctor may follow your home pregnancy test with in-office urine and blood tests, physical examinations, and possibly even ultrasounds. You may also use common pregnancy symptoms as a way of confirming pregnancy. For instance, the lack of menstruation, nausea, fatigue, and food cravings may help you to feel more confident that your positive pregnancy test is correct.
If you’ve taken a pregnancy test at home, you may do well to schedule an appointment with a doctor to confirm it. Your doctor may give you a similar urine pregnancy test in his office in an effort to confirm your pregnancy. He may also follow up with a blood test, which may be more accurate than both in-home and in-office urine tests. If you believe that you are further along in your pregnancy, he may even order an ultrasound to confirm a pregnancy test, confirm that the pregnancy is viable, or date your pregnancy.
Often, a doctor will also perform a physical examination in order to confirm a pregnancy test. Depending on how far along you think you are, he may check for subtle changes, such as a slight increase in your heart rate, skin changes, and a slight lowering of your normal blood pressure. He may even check for changes in your breast tissue, including darkening of the area around your nipples and visible veins beneath the skin of your breasts.
A doctor may also feel your abdomen or perform an internal examination in order to note changes in the size of your uterus. Confirming pregnancy in this manner may be harder if you are still in the very early stage of pregnancy, however. This is especially true if your doctor is attempting to feel your uterus through your abdomen. He may first note changes in its size during an internal exam.
Your doctor’s exam may prove critical in confirming pregnancy, but you may also gain confidence in its presence by listening to your own body. A missed period is often the first sign a woman has of pregnancy. You may also, however, have such symptoms as morning sickness, fatigue, and food cravings. Sore breasts and frequent urination may also help to confirm a pregnancy test.
