(This is for reference only. I understand that everybody has naturally different levels of the hcg hormone at different stages. This is just my own personal comparison.)

I have been doing so much research on trying to find inexpensive HPT, since I like to test early because that two week waiting period always kills me.

So I’ve finally found a comparison chart online listing that these 88 cent tests from Walmart are just about as sensitive as the ones that detect the hcg hormone 6 and/or 5 days sooner.

Yesterday I tested at 9DPO and the test stayed blank after the 10 minute max window but about 4 hours later I saw that there was a super faint line. That line got just a tiny bit more visible the following hour but then after that time frame it seemed to fade more and more.

Anyway, I decided to test with “First Response Early Result” (test up to 6 days sooner) and got a definite faint positive line after about 3 minutes. Wow.

Later that day we ran to the store and picked up a “Clearblue Digital with Smart Countdown” (results up to 5 days sooner) and there it was in words —> “pregnant”. No denying now, that there really were two lines.

Today I tested again with the equate brand HPT because I had bought so many since they’re so cheap. I was interested to see what difference one day would make.

Today I started seeing a faint positive line on that one at the three minute mark, which got stronger up until the 10 minute mark.

In my opinion equate’s 88 cents pregnancy tests are as sensitive in detecting early pregnancy as the expensive ones, HOWEVER they take a lot longer to show results and the ink is harder to see and read if you decide to test early.

Where, to me, it seemed that it could have been a shadow or a demarcation instead of a faint positive in the equate brand, when I saw the faint positive on the First Response test I saw it within three minutes and there was no doubt about it that it was actually pink and not some kind of shadow play. So in that sense it is by far superior to the equate brand.

The Clearblue test was sensitive enough to detect at 9DPO and, as ridiculous as it may sound, it gave us peace of mind to see it written in words and not make us doubt and feel like our eyes were playing tricks on us.

It’s been a long time trying to conceive for us. It took us exactly one year to get pregnant with our first baby. This will be our second and it took just about the same amount of time so it’s still kind of surreal to me.

Below are the pictures of all three brands at 9DPO and then the pictures of the equate brand at 10DPO.