Pregnancy tests are a reliable way to detect an early pregnancy around the time of your missed period. Unfortunately, not early enough for some people like myself. In my search for the most sensitive pregnancy test, I found that the brand really does make the difference. Since all pregnancy tests have different sensitivity levels, it's best to pick the most sensitive one to get the earliest result possible.

Even the most sensitive of brands can be used too early and give a false negative result. You have to wait at least two days PAST the implantation window to ensure you will get an honest answer. The implantation window is the time it can take for a newly fertilized embryo to implant in your uterus to start making hCG- the pregnancy hormone detected by pregnancy tests. It can take anywhere from 5 to 11 days PAST ovulation for the egg to implant itself and at least a couple more days to begin secreting detectible levels of hCG. There is no real definite way to determine the exact day of implantation in everyone, so testing at 13 to 14 days past ovulation is your best bet. It is known that some women have picked up a positive result as early as 7 days past ovulation, but this doesn't mean you will be able to do this as well. It all depends on when the embryo implants itself and how much hCG it is producing.

Here are the sensitivity levels for some well-known pregnancy tests. Remember, the lower the number- the more sensitive the test! The numbers represent the level of hCG that must be in your system before the test will register a clear positive result.