Negative Pregnancy Test

[ailel]

Hello, its me. The person who posted the 'Implantation Bleeding or 'Early' Period' Thread to give some updates.

Today (in my time zone,) is the 14th day since we had sex and was able to do a pregnancy test. I used my first urine of the day and it came out negative. Is this result accurate enough or should I wait on my supposed period week to test again? (But most likely I would do it again. Lol)

At the same time, I am currently using two period tracking apps (the most common ones, Flo and Clue) and they both predict that my period is in nine to ten days. Flo also mentioned that on the day that I had sex, (september 6th,) I had low chances of pregnancy. Has anyone of you who uses these tracking apps were true? Like they said you had a low chance of getting pregnant and you did not get pregnant. Thanks!

[Nicole]

Hi ailel,

Typically, people wait 14 days after they have sex to use a pregnancy test, so I think you did everything right. If taking another test will make you feel more secure and comfortable, then go ahead! You can read more about this here: Peeing on a Stick: All About Pregnancy Tests under the section "When and how do I use a pregnancy test?" There's a sidebar with some more information on why the 14 day mark is recommended, but you can test after that day as well, of course!

I do not use those tracking apps, so I can't help you out there, but I'm sure there is more information on this somewhere online, like maybe in communities like Reddit. From a Google search, I found this wesbite from Flo that says "even a 'low chance of getting pregnant' means that the possibility of getting pregnant still exists" I hope this helps!

[Heather]

Hey there, ailel.

I just wanted to follow up by leaving you a link here on the site that talks about these apps and how reliable they are: https://www.scarleteen.com/blog/heather ... _freakouts

I can also add some more to what's there, by just letting you know that NO app could do a very good job telling someone when pregnancy -- which I italicize because actually becoming pregnant involves so much more than ovulating and periods, including a whole part that involves what's going on with someone else's body besides your own! -- is possible. For people with cycles that have been very regular for a while before even using an app, they'll do a passable job predicting ovulation, but that's the most they can do, and with just dates of periods, and not the additional information cervical mucus and basal temperatures provide, they're not actually going to be very accurate for a whole lot of people.

I don't say any of that to freak you out so much as to just let you know that paying too much attention to what a period charting app tells you about your fertility is probably a big waste of your time and energy. The better use of time and energy in preventing pregnancy is always going to be finding and practicing methods of effective contraception properly if you want to have the kinds of sex where pregnancy is a risk. <3