Ok ladies. So your friend hasn’t turned up and you’re starting to get a bit worried. Nooooo, not that girl from primary school you met on Friends Reunited who keeps promising to come and “do lunch” but never quite makes it. I mean your other friend. The one who scares you to death if they don’t arrive like clockwork once a month.
Are ya with me? Are we on the same page? Good. So, your friend is tardy and you’ve got butterflies in your stomach….and goodness knows what else ;)
***Why do a home test?*** In this situation you often need answers, and you need them quickly, for the sake of your sanity, and the safety of those around you who don’t understand why you threw that plate at them when they said you looked “radiant” today.
Of course there are two reasons why you need to know, and you need to know NOW. Either you’ve been trying desperately to get pregnant and this result could mean the end of enforced purposeful sex, of standing on your head after copulation so as not to lose any of his itty bitty swimmers, of your partner doubting his manhood and complaining about his bits flopping about in boxers instead of his customary tight pants, and of having either a thermometer or your partner seemingly permanently inserted in one or other of your bodily
orifices. Or, you really, really need to know that you’re not pregnant and won’t be like a beached whale at the busiest time of the business year, or on your wedding day, or even worse, when your previously devoted partner is saying your relationship has become too intense and needs to slow down, whilst disappearing into the sunset with the speed of a gazelle with a cheetah on its tail.
Home pregnancy test kits, or “pee sticks” as I affectionately call them, are a huge technological advance for women. In the olden days, women would have to go to their doctor, give a urine sample, it would be sent away to an outside lab for analysis and you’d have to chew your fingernails for a fortnight before going back to the GP for the results.
Modern home test kits are as accurate as a doctor’s test and you can get the results in one minute. And you can take the test from the first day of your missed period, meaning you never need to go through the agony of waiting to find out if you are preggers, increasing, up the duff, have a bun in the oven, and all those other delightful euphemisms.
***Which one to choose*** I’ve used a couple of different kinds over the years, including the ClearBlue and First Response, and, more recently, Boots own brand version, aptly named Boots Pregnancy Test.
For £8.99 you get a small, turquoise and white box embossed with the reassuring words “accurate, simple, fast”. The box contains two separate tests. You can buy a single test for £7.99, but it hardly seems worth it to save a pound, when you might mess up the first test and wish you had another, or simply refuse to believe the result and need a second try carried out under the eagle-eyed supervision of a close girl friend who is an expert at looking for blue lines.
I chose this one purely because it was the cheapest on offer, it had extra Boots Advantage Points on it (always an important factor in any Boots purchase ;)), and the results seemed clear and easy to read.
Each test is wrapped separately in foil and when unwrapped looks similar to a pen with a cap at one end and a slightly flattened, conveniently thumb-shaped grip at the other end. It’s made of white plastic and is about the size of a tube of mascara. In the middle of the stick are the two windows, one being the “control” window to show the test has worked, and the other the one where your result will show. The stick is clearly marked with the results you would expect to see for a positive or negative result. A positive test will show a blue line in both windows, a negative one will only show a line in the “control” window.
***Just Add Water*** So, we’ve rushed to Boots in the lunch hour, bought our test and are now secreted in the work’s loo, facing the prospect of trying to pee in a concentrated burst for five full seconds onto a half centimetre by three centimetre absorbent stick, without splashing urine into the little windows or peeing on your hand, while your knees are knocking with fear, in a tiny cubicle with the biggest gossip in the company reapplying her lippy outside.
A far better idea is to take some kind of receptacle (preferably not a colleague’s coffee cup though) to collect your urine. You can then remove the cap on the test and plunge the absorbent tip into the liquid for 20 seconds, thereby removing any element of chance. These things aren’t cheap and the results could change your life forever, so you want to make it as foolproof as possible.
***And the winner is……*** Once you’ve peed on the stick, you can replace the cap and in one minute you will have your answer, for better or worse! You simply check the window – one blue line you’re not pregnant, two blue lines and you are.
These tests are over 99 per cent accurate and can pick up even the smallest amounts of pregnancy hormone in your urine, so they can be done at any time of the day (you used to have to do these tests with your first, and therefore most concentrated, urine of the day). It is advisable not to drink too much before doing the test though, as that could dilute your urine too much and make the results unreliable.
If neither window shows a blue line the test is faulty or you might have had a little splashback into one of the windows, so you should repeat the procedure using the second test (see, now you’re glad you paid the extra quid, aren’t you?) If the test shows negative but your period still hasn’t started, test again in three days. If you get a further negative result you should consult your doctor.
And if you get a positive result? Make an appointment to see your GP or British Pregnancy Advisory Service. Your doctor might want to do his or her own test to confirm your result.
I found the Boots test very simple to use and the result I got has now been proved to be accurate. Nine quid is a lot of money to me, but it was worth it to get an almost instant answer to a very important question. The instruction leaflet was very clear and simple to follow and the test itself is well designed and the results easy to read.
So, if your friend is late and you really can’t wait to know, I’d recommend you try the Boots test. It really is accurate, simple and fast (a bit like that rapidly departing gazelle ;))
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Great review.
Just goes to show you don't need to pay an arm and a leg for a good test!
Thanks.
Leopardskinny 08.10.2009 07:58
Great op! When I had to know I used the Tesco pee sticks (haha) they are only £4.99 for two and aren't cheap looking, and are very accurate! =) X
LBuSBu1 31.05.2003 18:12
Hi. I think this would be extremely useful for someone looking to purchase an accurate pregnancy kit without having to sell their right arm for it. A very well balanced op that was a pleasure to read. Take care, Stacey.x
Apr 28th, 2003
very helpful by (100%):
