Pregnancy Test Interpretation: Understanding Your Results

Question
i am 29 years old, i have a 4 year old and a 11 year old (the 11 year old is thru marriage)the date of the first day of my last menstrual period was 10/17/05.  i am every 20 days 7 long for my period. i got married on 10/22/05 and my period ended 1 day early on 10/21/05.  i have calculated that i should have gotten my period on 11/09 or 11/10.. and i have not. today 11/11/05 i took a test...i am not sure about it. there was a very light line and a very dark line...i am not sure how dark the first line should be.  I did see two lines but the first one is very light...i am not sure if this means i am pregnant. would the first line be there at all if it was negative? thank you

Answer
We count a cycle from the first day of your period until the first day of your next period, not from the day the period ended. Normally, a cycle is 28 days in length (from the first day of your period until the first day of your next period).A normal cycle can be from 21-35 days in length. I doubt that you have a cycle that is 20 days in length because you would not ovulate. I would suggest that you count again, counting from the first day of your period until the first day of your next period. If your last period started on October 17, the earliest you could have ovulated would be October 30 and you could have become pregnant if you had sex on Octobeer 29,30,31, or November 1. If you did become pregnant on one of those days, a pregnancy test would not show a positive result until 14-21 days later. The best time to take a pregnancy test is seven days after missing your period. When you take a home pregnancy test, both lines must be dark and bold. If any of the lines are light, it must be considered as a negative test. The first line is merely a control and does not indicate pregnancy.If you don't get your period by November 13, wait an additional week and take a pregnancy test on November 20. If it is negative at that time, you are definitely not pregnant.