Hoping to be pregnant..

Hi, Rabbit, and thanks so much for your question.

Have you found out anything yet about your status this month?

The blood test IS the most accurate, but it's expensive (and, as you know, can be daunting) to go to the doctor every time you are a bit late just to see if you're pregnant. Getting that news is sad and frustrating.

Home pregnancy tests are very accurate, however. Is there a reason you don't want to try to find out through a HPT?

(I understand where you are, and what it's like. I was in your shoes for several years. I know that as long as you don't do a test, there's a chance, right? It's still possible, and that seems better than "It's not happening this month." It's ok to feel that way. It's normal.)

You should know that many perfectly healthy couples can take from several months to a year to conceive, even if there are no problems on either side. It's better to have sex every other day throughout the approximate 5-7 "fertility window" than to simply target one day. If you have sex every other day, you have a better chance of having sperm in your fallopian tubes ready to greet the egg as soon as it's released.

Do you know how to watch your cervical mucus for signs of ovulation? When you are ovulating, your mucus changes. It goes from being cloudy and a little sticky to being very clear and flexible, like egg white. That's a signal that your body is about to ovulate -- the clear mucus is "friendlier" to sperm.

At 25, you have plenty, plenty, plenty of time to conceive and have a baby, or more, if you want more than one. The worst thing you can do is get stressed out about it, because that affects your body chemistry as well. The best thing you can do is to have fun. Decide that you'll conceive "this year," not "this month," and then have fun trying. Be alert to your body's signals and of your best chances to conceive, but don't spend the next two weeks worrying/ hoping/ worrying/ hoping. It's not good for you to feel half of each month feeling that way.

Please feel lucky that you are so young! There are thousands of women in their 30s and even 40s who would love to have the years you have to try to have a baby! They feel up against a biological wall that you don't have to worry about for a long time.

And to answer one of your original questions, yes, it's very possible to feel signs by the time you're one week late. Especially swollen, tender breasts and extra fatigue. Perhaps even a little nausea. Here are two websites that talk about the earliest signs of pregnancy:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/symptoms-of-pregnancy/PR00102
http://babymed.com/faq/Content.aspx?13241

Hang in there, have fun, and please come back and update us, ok?

Everyone has different symptoms. The blood test is the best test. Please read this link that talks about ovulation https://www.empowher.com/community/ask/how-long-does-woman-ovulate.

Home pregnancy tests are pretty good but the blood test is definitely better. Keep trying and read the information about ovulation and this may help with your quest for having a baby. I hope this helps.