How to Tell When Your HCG Levels Rise

During pregnancy, women secret human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG. This hormone can usually be detected in very small amounts when the embryo implants. As the pregnancy progresses, hCG rises until it peaks at about eight to 10 weeks' gestation. It then levels off and remains low until birth before dropping off again.

Things You'll Need

  • Basal thermometer
  • Pregnancy test

Instructions

    • 1

      Chart your basal body temperature using a basal thermometer to detect the initial hCG rise. By taking your temperature every morning, you will start to see a pattern of low temperatures at the beginning of your cycle, then higher temperatures after ovulation. The temperatures go back down when menstruation commences. When you achieve pregnancy, your temperature will either stay up or rise again. This is caused by an increase in progesterone, one signal of the initial rise in hCG levels.

    • 2

      Take a home pregnancy test. If you use a pregnancy test that gives you a line or a plus sign when you're pregnant, you can see your hCG levels rise if you take them over the course of a few days. This only works in the very beginning, but as soon as five days before your missed period, you may get a very faint positive home pregnancy test. As the days go on, keep testing and the line will get darker and darker, indicating increasing hCG levels.

    • 3

      Get a blood test at your doctor. Also known as a quantitative beta, this test checks levels of hCG in the blood and will come back with a number indicating the level of hCG found. This number should double every two to three days in early pregnancy.

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