Knowing how your body changes from the moment of conception can be both exciting and comforting when you’re eagerly awaiting a baby. Human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, is one of the first signs that a pregnancy has started. Because of its rapid rise in early pregnancy, it is frequently referred to as the "pregnancy hormone."
Doctors and expectant parents can track the progression of the pregnancy together by monitoring the mother’s hormone levels starting in the early days post-conception. Although every pregnancy is different, there are some common patterns in the early weeks of hCG rise.
This post will describe how daily fluctuations in hCG levels occur, the significance of these fluctuations, and the pregnancy-related information they can provide.
Days from Conception | HCG Level (mIU/mL) |
7 days | 0 – 5 |
14 days | 5 – 50 |
21 days | 50 – 500 |
28 days | 100 – 5,000 |
35 days | 1,000 – 20,000 |
42 days | 10,000 – 100,000 |
- How the second strip appears?
- How the hormone level increases?
- Test sensitivity
- Growth by week
- Video on the topic
- HCG: when to take?//HCG level growth by days//Tables
- On what day after conception can pregnancy be determined by hCG in the blood?
- WHAT TO DO WITH LOW hCG LEVELS?
- hCG during pregnancy. hCG tests. What is the normal hCG level.
- About doubling hCG during pregnancy @DrOlenaB #doctorberezovska #pregnancy #hCG
- How can an ectopic pregnancy be suspected by the hCG level?
How the second strip appears?
All pregnancy tests function in the same way, regardless of brand or price. The hormone, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG, also known as HCG or FSHA in various medical documents), is a faithful companion of childbearing and is detected in sufficient amounts in a woman’s urine. This is the only time a special reagent is applied to the strip and the strip becomes colored.
In very small amounts, this substance is frequently found in the tests of fair-skinned, non-pregnant representatives, including men. HCG starts to be produced more actively if the desired event occurs and the child is conceived. Cells called chorionics produce it. The female body needs gonadotropin in order for pregnancy to develop.
Under its influence, the corpus luteum, which is formed after ovulation, stays for the first few months of pregnancy instead of disappearing as would happen if there is no pregnancy before menstruation. It assumes the role of the primary endocrine organ in the growing embryo.
Human chorionic gonadotropic hormone causes a slight weakened immune system in the woman, increasing the embryo’s chance of survival. If not, the infant would be rejected by the mother’s robust and well-trained immunity since it is partially foreign due to the father’s genetic makeup.
The female sex hormone estrogen, which is also crucial during pregnancy, and progesterone, without which the preservation and bearing of the child would be impossible, are both commanded to "start" by the production of hCG in the female body.
Beginning at the time of implantation, the hormone level rises quickly. After meeting the sperm, a fertilized egg travels into the uterine cavity in a matter of hours. It needs to enter the uterus, travel through the fallopian tube, and attach itself to the wall of the primary female reproductive organ.
This is the "implantation" moment. A woman may occasionally be able to make her own educated guesses, such as through tiny tugging sensations in the lower abdomen or a spotting on a daily pad. After fertilization, implantation typically takes place six to ten days later. Usually on the eighth day.
The chorion begins to produce gonadotropin at this point, and the hormone’s concentration progressively rises, increasing by nearly two times every 48 hours. This does not imply that the drug can be discovered in the woman’s blood or urine right away.
The amount of HCG that exceeds the sensitivity thresholds of tests from the pharmacy and laboratory reagents requires a specific amount of time to elapse.
How the hormone level increases?
Before becoming pregnant, a woman’s hormone levels in her body should not be higher than 0 to 5 mIU/ml. Urine also does not contain any of the substance at all. Only on the second or third day following implantation, if conception has occurred, will the hormone level surpass the "non-pregnant" threshold for the first time. I must admit that the hormone is produced differently in every woman, so don’t expect laboratory assistants to be exact mathematicians.
By the way, women refer to these tough days after becoming mothers by the acronym DPO, which stands for "day after ovulation." Of course, not everyone experiences ovulation on the same day every month, but in most cases, it occurs between days 14 and 15, marking the midpoint of the 28-day menstrual cycle. Therefore, 2 DPOs are two days following ovulation or 17 days in the cycle, and 5 DPOs are 20 days from the menstrual cycle’s start date and only the fifth day following the purported ovulation.
The first day of delay is 14 dpo, or 29 days of the cycle, if the fates decide that the female cycle’s second phase lasts 14 days. Many women start testing too soon in hopes of hearing good news, and they worry a great deal if they don’t get their beloved second strip. It becomes evident how many days after conception you can safely take an hCG test if you understand how the blood’s quantitative indicator of the hormone changes.
Table showing the typical quantitative levels of HCG in blood during pregnancy:
Time since the ovulation
Average HCG concentration
HCG value at its lowest
Greatest HCG value
15 DPO (delay initiation)
28 DPO (delay of two weeks)
Test sensitivity
Only then is some of the gonadotropin released in the urine. The gonadotropin produced from the moment the fertilized egg attaches first enters the blood. Therefore, the only way to identify the "piquant situation" in the early stages, even before the delay starts, is through a biochemical blood test.
The sensitivity, or capacity to "catch" traces of the hormone in the secreted fluid, varies amongst the tests that can be purchased from any pharmacy or retail outlet. 30 units minimum, 10 units maximum. On pharmacy shelves, test strips with an average sensitivity of 20–25 mIU/ml are the most popular. Only the 14–15 days following conception are they able to respond with a control strip to an increase in human chorionic gonadotropin. It is therefore advised that they be completed during the initial days of the actual delay that has already happened, in order to ensure that the outcomes do not cast doubt on them.
At least on the tenth or eleventh day following fertilization, the analysis will provide informative preliminary results if ovulation happened on schedule and implantation was not postponed.
Of course, it occasionally happens that the test shows a weak second strip earlier, but this is limited to women whose hCG production is either above average or at the maximum level. All of the information above leads to one conclusion: if you need to learn about your pregnancy as soon as possible, you should visit the closest clinic to give blood in order to get your hCG level.
In the event that "time suffers," the woman should also exercise patience, control her anxiety, and wait for the opportunity to perform an easy-to-understand home test that will most likely provide an answer to the main question two weeks after conception.
Growth by week
Not all human chorionic gonadotropin grows as quickly as it does in the initial stages of pregnancy. The hormone first doubles every 48 hours. It then starts to grow more slowly every 72 hours, starting as soon as the substance’s concentration in the blood reaches 1200 mIU/ml. The growth will slow down even further when the concentration hits 6000 mIU/ml; the quantitative indicator will shift every 96 hours.
By the tenth or eleventh week of pregnancy, the amount of pregnancy hormone reaches its peak, and then it starts to gradually decline. The level of the hormone in the expectant mother’s blood and urine will be two or three times higher than normal when she is carrying two or three children during a multiple pregnancy (each baby’s chorion produces its own "hormonal accompaniment," which accounts for the inflated numbers).
Knowing your HCG levels in the early stages of pregnancy can be very informative. Doctors and parents can keep an eye on the health and progress of the pregnancy by tracking these levels over the course of the days following conception.
HCG levels differ from person to person, but consistent rises are typically a positive indication. It’s crucial to speak with your healthcare provider for more advice if your results deviate from the norm.
HCG is ultimately only a single component of the puzzle. Tests and routine check-ups will make sure that you and your child are on the correct path.
Human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, is a hormone that rises shortly after conception and is essential for confirming pregnancy. Its levels can be monitored day by day; in the early weeks, they usually double every 48 to 72 hours, giving important information about how the pregnancy is progressing. Expectant parents and healthcare providers can monitor whether the pregnancy is progressing as expected by knowing how hCG levels change over time.