After 3 losses I have been testing everyday with this pregnancy because it honestly was helping me cope with some of my anxiety. My test line has been consistently darker than my control line since about 18DPO. I am now about 6 weeks.

I learned the hard way this morning as to why you should quit testing. I took a test and the test line was lighter, not significantly but definitely lighter! I about had a panic attack and immediately started thinking the worst. I text my husband a picture and he called me and told me to dilute my urine with water and try another one and see if the line was darker again... and what do you know, the line was darker again with the diluted urine! He sent me a link talking about the hook effect. Once your HCG gets so high home pregnancy tests aren’t able to process correctly, causing the test line to become fainter. (Google hook effect on home pregnancy tests)

I will not be taking anymore tests! But I wanted to share this because I know I am not alone in my high anxiety with pregnancy after loss and many women test a lot to try and ease their minds.

The test on top is just my pee, middle test is a 1:2 ratio of pee to water, and the last test is 1:3 ratio of pee to water.

As you can see the diluted ones are much darker.