Continuous Faint Lines on Pregnancy Test

Patient History:  I am a 34yo overweight woman. This is our (husband age = 38) first attempt at having a child. He has a healthy child from a previous marriage and I had three pregnancies when I was young (termination/miscarriage at 19 and termination at 24). I was on birth control for an extended period of time (off since mid-April) and this is our fourth month ttc. My doctor will not see me until I am at least 6 weeks pregnant.  My appt is August 25, 2009.

The date of my last period was July 9, 2009.  We utilized an ovulation kit this month and I have kept track of the days we had sex so I know my conception date was sometime between Saturday, July 15, 2009 through Tuesday, July 18, 2009.  I took my 1st pregnancy test (First Response) on Saturday, August 8, 2009.  The line was so faint that we could barely tell it was there but it was definitely there. Later in the day, I took another test (late afternoon and still First Response) and the line appeared slightly more visible (but only slightly). Of course, I took another First Response test on Sunday, August 9, 2009 and it had the same visibility as the one from the previous afternoon and a digital test also that stated pregnant. In the hopes of the line getting darker, I took yet another First Response test on Monday, August 10, 2009 and the line was either the same visibility or slightly more visible as the day before with a repeat again this morning, Wednesday, August 12, 2009, with the same result.

Concern:  Through research, I know that my hCG levels should be doubling every couple of days. Thus, I anticipate that if my hCG levels are duplicating at such a rate, the pink line indicating pregnancy should come in quicker and darker. I have been taking tests for 5 days now and the lines have not been immediate, have either only slightly increased or not increased at all.  

Does this potentially mean that my hCG levels are not increasing at a proper rate? What does that mean? Is this cause for concern?  

[J.M. Keyes, MD]

Hi there.
Congratulations on your pregnancy.  I think it is unlikely that the fact that your line is not getting darker is significant.  When you took these tests, it would still be very early in the pregnancy, so I would not be concerned about this.  Your doctor may even do an ultrasound on your first visit, depending on their usual practice, which should put your mind at ease.  
Good luck,
JMK MD

[andi86]

My last AF was july 9th also just like you; on thursday august 6th i took a test at night but theres wasnt much urine and it seems the test wasnt working so i out it away to use the next morning anyways my husband found the test in the morning it had 2 positive lines and for someone who tried for 3 yrs and kept getting a neg i knew it wassnt a false positive so at 6 am august 7th i decided to redo the test and within 30 seconds i got a positive pregnancy result with first response and it wasnt faint i thought id say my results cuz our af dates are the same...and i got the results like soooo fast and it wasnt faint im not sure how much this helps but yea..