How to Diagnose a Chemical Pregnancy
A woman is considered to have had a chemical pregnancy when she has a miscarriage in the very early days of pregnancy, before the egg reaches the implantation stage. Usually she gets a positive Home Pregnancy Test reading before her period would have arrived and had she not tested, probably would've never known she was even pregnant. Follow these steps to diagnose a chemical pregnancy.
- Difficulty:
- Moderately Easy
Instructions
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1
Look at the timeframe in which you had sexual intercourse, received a positive test reading and would normally have gotten your period. If you had sex before ovulating, it is possible you were pregnant. However, you cannot get pregnant after ovulating, so if you didn't have sex during that timeframe, you most likely were not pregnant.
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2
Take another test. If you received a positive reading and are concerned that something isn't right, take a second test 5 or so days later. If it is negative, you can give it another try the next day, but chances are you received that first positive during the tiny window when 50 to 60 percent of first pregnancies don't survive.
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3
Think back on any symptoms you may have felt. While most women do not feel the typical pregnancy symptoms (fatigue, nausea, sore breasts) from a chemical pregnancy (due to the egg never implanting), some women say they did in fact experience symptoms. You may notice mild spotting or cramping before getting what you assumed was your period.
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4
Determine whether your period arrived a little later than usual. After a miscarriage this early in the pregnancy, your period typically would begin about a week after miscarrying and be heavier and possibly longer than what is normal for your body. This is when most women realize something isn't right since they thought they already had their period the week before.
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5
Ask other women who may have experienced something similar. Look for a women's website, such as The Nest (see Resources below), which has themed message boards, such as "Babies on the Brain" and "Trying to Conceive."
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