I was talking with a friend of mine about how VIVIDLY we remember each positive pregnancy test. I may have to struggle to remember how old I am or whether we’re running low on flour, but I can tell you more than you would ever want to know about each time I discovered I was pregnant. I’ll try to be briefer than that.
With my first, I was charting, so when I hit day 16 after ovulation I knew I didn’t even have to take a test. I took one anyway. I leaned against the bathroom door, looking at myself in the mirror. My reflection didn’t know what to think, either.
With my second, I was charting but had gotten to be such an AWESOME EXPERT, I was only keeping track between cycle-start and ovulation. I was upset that month, because we’d totally missed our chance. Then one night at bedtime I was feeling crampy, and I thought, “Oh, yeah. I should be getting my period any day now.” I picked up my chart to count how many days there had been of this cycle. 32, 33, 34, 35, 36. I lay wide awake in the dark for a long time. I didn’t have to take a test that time, either, and I did anyway.
With the twins, we’d been trying for a few months, and I was already getting into the rhythm of living in 2-week segments. We’d hit it RIGHT ON for two months, and the tests were still negative. I didn’t have much hope for the third month. We were supposed to leave in a few minutes for an open house at William’s kindergarten, and I impulsively took a test—just to get it over with. I don’t remember anything about that open house.
With my fourth pregnancy, I had just weaned the twins and was waiting to get back on the Pill. I was supposed to start taking it on the first Sunday after my next period. I was waiting, waiting, waiting…where the heck is my period? It’s been 30 days. 31. Maybe it’s just interference from weaning hormones. 32. I took all four kids to the store so I could buy a test. An hour later, I was digging the twins’ baby clothes out of the donation pile and putting them back into storage.
Now I hope you’ll tell me yours. Feel free to use up as much comment section as you need. If you want to make a post of out it instead, leave a link in the comment section so I can go read it. I LOVE stories of Finding Out. I will read EVERY SINGLE ONE with RAPT ATTENTION.
I’ll make a post about it and link later.
Here’s the link to my (old) post on this one if you’re interested . . .
http://whoneedssleep-bananafana.blogspot.com/2007/09/shes-having-my-baby.html
Oh, I love those stories. I wrote about mine back in the summer. Here’s the link. It’s a good story. We’d been trying to get pregnant for a while.
http://mommydaisy.blogspot.com/2007/07/breaking-baby-news.html
I have never had a positive pregnancy test. However, I sort of assume that Torsten will be there and apprised of the situation before and while I’m taking the test. I took a negative test under those circumstances. But it was nervewracking. It’s hard to pee on a stick while someone is waiting.
I took a negative test just this week (breath!)and was extremely happy!
Had it been positive i’d have remembered the copious amounts of wine I drank just to pee on that damn stick!
I’ve never been pregnant, so I don’t have a story for you yet. But what I want to know is where was Paul during the test-taking? Did you take the tests “together”? If not, did he know you were going to take the test or did you surprise him? And if it’s none of my business then that’s okay, too. :)
I took my first pregnancy test the day I was late but I already knew I was pregnant. I could tell within 3 days. I miscarried shortly after. Then the following month I got pregnant again and again I already knew. I took the test when I was 1 day late and went in to show my husband. It was my grandma’s birthday and we had people coming over but I didn’t tell a soul until we had a sonogram at 7 weeks to confirm the heartbeat. I’m one of those that doesn’t need the pregnancy test I just know. But it was still really fun to see the little digital reading pop up and say pregnant. I much prefer that to deciphering little pink lines.
I had already taken four tests over the course of a couple of weeks, all of which had come up negative even though I was late late late and we were trying. So then I went to visit my sister, spent the weekend drinking and staying out late, came back home and just could not get enough sleep. I must have taken four naps that day. And the next day I felt really nauseous, and I called my husband to say “Can you pick up some cereal on the way home, because that’s all I can imagine having for dinner. And while you’re there, I guess you might as well pick up one more test.”
We took the test all totally ho hum–we knew it was going to be negative, we didn’t even watch it, just walked away and came back sometime later. And lo, it was positive. I cried. (Happy tears.)
Let’s see – the first time we were trying and it was our first month. I didn’t think we’d gotten the timing right and had to pee early one morning. I tested and went back to bed. Later, when I got up again, I threw back the shower curtain and demanded “Do you see a line?!”
#2 – we’d been trying for almost a year and we were frustrated. We took a little vacation and a couple weeks later. Bam!
#3 – I was late and feeling suspiciously pg. I was nursing a 4 mo old baby at the time and was always paranoid about getting pg and I did NOT want to be.
I eventually got over it. :)
Well, the day after we *ahem* conceived, my husband (boyfriend at the time) said to me, “I think you’re pregnant”
I told him he was crazy.
2 weeks later, we went out to dinner with my mom and grandmother, and I’d planned to go to Rite Aid on the way home, but it was closed.
So the next morning, before he woke up, I ran out to Rite Aid, fully intending for it to be negative and shut him up.
I peed on it, and set it on the counter. And I started to see 2 faint lines. I BOLTED out of the bathroom, because I was scared.
I made him go back in and look. I’m not ashamed to tell you that I was terrified. I got over it pretty quickly, but 9/21/03 was kind of an upsetting day.
I’ll never tell my daughter that. (Unless she’s in the same situation)
With both pregnancies, I’ve suspected soon after conception. So there were two L-O-N-G weeks to confirm. First one, we spent all of Christmas wondering–what a great New Year’s day when I got the positive! With #2, we just made an offer on a house–and suddenly I found out we’d be moving while I was pregnant AGAIN (something I swore I’d never do again after the first time!).
FUN TOPIC!
We don’t get pregnant easily, so I’ve peed on enough sticks to build the ark, if they were made of gopher wood and I was crazy like that.
The first time I was charting, we’d been trying for 18 months, and I figured it would be just another negative. (actually, that happens every time, and I’m in total happy shock leaping up and down thinking it must be a mistake.)
As I was peeing on the stick I heard the garage door close- my husband, who KNEW I was taking a test, had left for work, the freak. So I called him and told him by cell phone.
The second time my sister badgered me into taking a test and I told him by IM.
The third time I think my sister was here too, and I called and told him. I’ve never done it in person.
I think I’m pregnant about every other week- I constantly have signs that I attribute to pregnancy even though they turn out to be general irritability, hormonal irregularity, or whatever. It’s annoying and I spend a lot of money on tests. Which is dumb because we have trouble getting pregnant and it’s usually negative!
Thanks for the blogging material!!
http://emilyspeaking.blogspot.com/2008/01/two-pink-lines.html
We’d decided we were going to start trying in May, and then May came and we freaked out – We’re not ready! Let’s wait until September. (I’m still in grad school so we were planning around semesters and exams.) Then September came and we did the same thing. Then in November his sister got pregnant and all of a sudden we were like “Now! Now! Now! We want one too!”
But I had been expecting problems my whole life. Not a single solitary regularly scheduled period in my entire youth. I have even gone years without a period. I knew something was screwy with the machinery. So I went to a Doctor first who did some tests, came back with a probable PCOS diagnosis, put me on some medication, and told us the game plan for the next six months. Three months of trying on our own, three months with Clomid, reassess in six months. We waiting the required month after stopping birth control and started the Ovulation testing. As soon as the first happy face showed up on the test, we got busy.
Flash forward a week. (A week spent googling “how early can I test now? right now? how ’bout now?”. I skip a class and go to Target to buy a pregnancy test 2-pack. Even though it had only been 8 days, I wanted to try and see. I bought the test at Target but didn’t want to test there. I couldn’t imagine the checkout girl seeing me buy a test and then go straight to the restroom. So I went next door to Office Depot. Read the directions soooo slowly. Peed on the stick. Negative. Sad walk out of Office Depot.
Then, six days later. Still a day before I would expect a period (so says the Ovulation testing kit, I wouldn’t know. See above Re: lifelong weird periods) My husband went into work on a Saturday. I slept in late, got up around 11. Remembered the remaining test. Peed on the stick, not expecting much because of the previous negative (and because this was only the first in what was supposed to be a long struggle). I remember watching the pee creep up the stick, wash over the first line, the second line, and start seeping sideways. Filling out the + sign. The + sign?? THE + SIGN!!!
I may have jumped up and down. I may have even yelled “Yippee!” Then I thought for a few minutes about how I should tell my husband. He need to come home! So I called and asked him if he wanted to come home for lunch. “Nah, I already had something to eat.” Oh, well, do you want me to come there and you can take a small break and we can hang out for a few minutes?” “Nah, I think I’ve got something good here, I should keep working.” Um. Okay. Well…can you just come home please anyway?” Why? “Because I’m pregnant you moron! Come home!”
So that’s it. First try. He still thinks he’s a stud because of that. I took a picture of the positive test, and now we have a 15 month old.
After 10 years of marriage we finally thought, OK, we’re ready to try. Badda bing badda boom, I feel an egg jump up and burst out gleefully, as none had escaped in many years. I took action. The next few days I felt lightheaded and thought, hmm, maybe it worked. Then I felt crampy and thought, hmm, maybe it didn’t work. A week later, a friend was throwing a bridal shower, complete with very tasty margaritas and I figured I should test just to make sure I could drink a bunch of em. I was pretty sure the result would be no (well, who wouldn’t want to have those margaritas?) but it was a yes, and I was SO shell shocked. My mom was so excited, and all I could say was “It was supposed to say no! Now I can’t have the margaritas!” My husband’s answer was: “I guess we don’t have any more practice games scheduled since we already won the pennant!”
My first pregnancy was a (happy) surprise and we found out when my husband and I were vacationing in Greece. I woke up one morning in Mykonos with this sickening feeling that was kind of like a hangover that wouldn’t go away. Right away I knew I was pregnant, even though I had never been pregnant before. I couldn’t take a test till we got back to the states, but I really didn’t need to take one at all, I was so certain.
We tried for several months to get pregnant the second time and I was frustrated. Then one morning I woke up with that same sick feeling and I knew. No need to take the test again (but of course I did anyway!).
Here’s my link!
Here you go:
http://scenicoverlook.blogspot.com/2008/01/two-pink-lines.html
We’d been trying for over three years and had been going through infertility treatments – specifically IUI. This was our second round. I had gone out of town with my husband one weekend because he had to go for work and I thought it would be time to take the test, which I didn’t want to take alone. It was negative.
But as the week progressed, I was having no period symptoms at all, which is weird for me. I wanted to take a test but I was so scared. I’d seen so many negatives. I didn’t feel like I had it in me to see another one. And I didn’t feel like I had it in me to go another round of pills, self injections and ultrasounds every other day. I was paralyzed. But I had to know so I took the test one evening, fully planning on opening a bottle of wine and drowning my sorrows, perhaps even calling in sick to work the next day. Husband was out of town and I would be alone with the dogs to wallow.
Except the test was positive. And I said out loud to the dogs (who accompanied me to the bathroom) “Holy shit, I’m pregnant!” I immediately got on the phone to call my husband, not thinking about the fact that at that moment he was at dinner with his father in LA. So it was obvious something was up so we had to tell him, then we had to tell my parents to be fair then my MIL who was out of town and not with my husband and FIL, and all of a sudden the whole immediate family knew. Not what I planned but god, it felt so good to tell everyone good news for once!
Here’s the link to it, but I wanted to give more background because the whole thing was a long journey.
http://www.spuddybuddy.com/309/you-asked-for-it/
Thanks for this great trip down memory lane, Swistle!
On Friday, my boobs swelled up to twice their regular size in an afternoon. Strange. So I wore a low cut shirt out drinking that night to take advantage of the cleavage. On Saturday, I felt like I had a hot brick in my abdomen so I refrained from drinking more than a sip of wine at the BBQ that day. On Sunday, I secretly bought and took the test. It was positive before I set it on the counter. I waited 2 minutes and checked again, still positive. I went into the living room and told my husband I thought he ought to pause the Cubs game because we needed to talk…
He was newly unemployed and I was in law school – perfect timing.
With my first, we were living in on-campus housing while my husband went to college full time and I worked a crappy job. I had a dream one night that our cat had had a litter of kittens and took a test the next day in our tiny little bathroom. I was terrified when it was positive but now she’s a beautiful, sweet Kindergartener. Nearly two and half years later, I missed two days of my pill due to an error on the prescription refill date. We went to a Halloween party, drank too much and “decided” two days didn’t really matter. I picked up my new prescription and at the end of month no period so I took a test and it was negative. A few weeks later, I stopped at a Super Wal-mart for something and was standing near the counter where they prepare food. All I could smell was fried chicken and when I nearly threw up on the floor, I decided to pick up a test. I took it right there in the bathroom. It was the first time in my life that I had taken a pregnancy test and didn’t shake in fear. When it was positive, I was thrilled. After she was born, we didn’t really make any decisions about birth control. I had been reading a lot about natural family planning and we both wanted a third child at some point anyway. I weaned at one year and waited for my cycle to begin but it never did. I took the test that told me my son (and last baby) was on his way in the bathroom at my in-laws. We had spent the weekend there and I didn’t want to wait until we got back home to know. I got up before everyone else and then wrapped it up in a ton of toilet paper and smuggled it and the packaging out to the garbage in the garage since I wasn’t ready to tell them about it.
I can’t remember what day of the week it is but I can remember each test so vividly.
I was just lamenting not having anything to write about, so here it is: http://myverylastnerve.blogspot.com/2008/01/pregnancy-tests-no-im-not-dont-get.html
With my first, I was charting, but had to leave for a business trip right around day 36 or so. I noticed on that trip that temps were still high, and that I was feeling queasy when I was hungry. Then I noticed — you know, hotel mirror lighting — a gross-looking mustache developing. I’ve NEVER had to wax my upper lip before. I knew something was up. Tested not long after I returned from that trip (and waxed) and got a FMU positive. It was a work-day — hubby and I both went around that day in a daze.
With this pregnancy, I went off the Pill, waited a couple months, then had done one chart that went to 43 days ending in stupid Aunt Flo. The next chart, at 41 days, I was about to leave for our annual beach trip and wanted to know if I’d be enjoying dacquiris or not. Turns out, not! :)
And here’s another one for your rapt attention:
http://missmairzy.blogspot.com/2008/01/finding-out.html
AAAH a subject that is so interesting to me!!!! Here is mine
Heres mine:
http://wipingupsnot.com/2008/01/08/waittwo-lines/
That was fun! Makes me wanna do it again.
I also have twins born in 2005!
We’d been trying for about a month and I never thought it was going to happen. I was 24 and though I would get pregnant instantly. One evening, we were taking a walk to pick up a bottle of wine to celebrate something (I can’t quite remember what now).
Anyway, we lived the city of Vancouver – a metropolitan area – so everything was very close by and convinient. Half way to the liquor store, something in the universe told me not to buy the wine, but to go straight to the drugstore and pick up a test.
It was as if – during that walk to the liquor store – some angel or SOMETHING whispered in my ear and advised me not to drink.
The pregnancy test confirmed my suspicions and we were ecstatic.
Finding out I was pregnant with twin girls is a COMPLETELY other post!!
I did a post on my blog:
nataliemyrwold.typepad.com
you know, for someone who has no children, no husband, and no immediate plans to get knocked up, i read these kind of things with INCREDIBLY RAPT attention. can you post birth stories next? i am such a sucker for those!
http://giselles2.blogspot.com/2008/01/finding-out.html
These are fun to read…and fun to write. Although I feel really bad about my preggo test story for baby #3 here. -sigh- It is what it is.
Genius topic as always!
I was going to type it all out here, but i think I’ll just write my own post. Be back later (maybe tomorrow).
Here’s mine!
How fun! For the first one, we had been trying for 6 months, and I was also charting. LOVE that book… But every month I took a test and it was negative. Then, we went on vacation to Vietnam, and I had brought a test with me because I couldn’t wait the whole vacation to find out. My husband got a beer from the beach vendor and I tried it. Mmmm. But, I thought, what if I’m pregnant? I better go take a test first to make sure. Sure enough, it was positive. I was in shock. I wandered slowly back to the beach and told my husband he was going to be a daddy. I then spent the rest of the vacation in utter bewilderment, wondering when I would start feeling pregnant. I also had some maternity dresses made for me (bad idea, as I didn’t realize how much my boobs would expand). And although I never got sick, I soon found out (as did my husband) that when I got hungry, I needed food NOW. Somewhat challenging, when you’re in a foreign country.
I’ll post about my second pregnancy soon, as the baby born from it will turn one at the end of the month.
Thanks for doing this! I love it.
After years of trying for my first (3 to be exact), we had been doing a cycle of IUI. This was our last attempt at fertility treatments until the next year so I was sure it wasn’t going to work. I stopped charting, stopped doing everything. I took a blood test on 16 dpo, and a phone call from the nurse confirmed it that afternoon. Wow, it worked!
Second time we had gone to church after my blood test early that morning. I had taken my cell phone with to get the news as soon as I could. I knew they called the positives first and as the day progressed, I was sad it was negative. Came home to 5 messages from the nurse saying she had good news but couldn’t find my cell phone. I sat there in stunned silence looking at my husband while we both started to grin goofy grins. Now, pregnant with twin boys due in May! (By the way, they were both the same weekend of the year, the second weekend in September. Which is why the twins are due on my daughter’s 3rd birthday.)
I think mine is kind of a neat story and since I’ve had a serious case of Porky Pig fingers with my blog this week, you’ve given me something I think I can write about. I’ll leave you a link later tonight.
Oh my goodness, I never comment but these were all so fun to read.
WIth my first, I was all of 22 and just out of college, working my first real job. I’d been having a lot of issues with birth control so my then-boyfriend (now husband) and I decided that we should switch to condoms for a few months until I felt ready to try a new kind of pill.
Two weeks after I took my last pill, one of the condoms broke and i took the morning-after pill. I was panicking despite the pill and took one test of a two-test pack on the wednesday morning before thanksgiving ’04. It was negative and the two of us went up to visit my family for the holiday and we were just so relieved. I still shudder when i think about how much wine I drank that thanksgiving as I was de-stressing!
On Sunday night, we got back home and I still didn’t have my period so I took the second test in the box. It turned positive before I had even put it down on the counter. We freaked, and Charlie ran out to buy more tests, including the new digital-readout kind because he thought they must work the best! Long story not-so-short, we freaked then calmed down eventually and got engaged and had a baby.
I’m 37 weeks pregnant with my second right now. We were planning on trying to conceive starting with our very belated honeymoon to Europe. I didn’t think the first month would work out, because I had been tracking my cycle and it looked like I’d be ovulating a day or two before we got there. But lo and behold, a week after we got back the jet lag seemed to be getting worse, so I ran out for a test “just in case”. Charlie had just gotten home from work when I tested and it was so great to see the look on his face. After the first kiddo, all I wanted was a *good* positive test experience, you know? And now all i want is to have this baby already!
With our twins, we did IVF and I got a faint positive pregnancy test the day before I was to go for my blood test. I asked my husband, “Do you see one line or two?” and he said, “Two. (pause) What does that mean?” I replied, “It means I’m pregnant. I guess I’ll take a shower.” I was determined not to get too excited before the bloodwork confirmation. Then, when I FELL ASLEEP the next day waiting for the office to call me, I knew.
With my third, here is the post:
http://indigogirl.typepad.com/linda/2007/01/backstory.html
Here’s mine!
http://ihavenothingofanyimportancetosay.blogspot.com/2007/12/certifiable.html
I was leaving to go to Europe for 5 weeks. My husband and I were planning to really start trying when I got back, but I knew there was a slight possibility, so I brought along some tampons and a pregnancy test.
The first day I was late I was in Paris. I took the test in the shared bathroom of my hotel and there they were, two very dark pink lines. I stared at it for a long time, hid the test in my backpack, and then did what any girl who has always wanted to go to Paris does: went to the Louvre.
Okay, you inspired me.
Finding out
With the triplets, I took one almost every day, five days after I did my transfer. I found out I was pg on Easter night, 2004.
With Henry. I had NO idea or suspicion or reason to believe that I was pregnant. Quick background: We had gone to a church sermon. Minister told us we needed to keep the love alive in marriage and to help accomplish this, we need to sleep in the buff. We slept in the buff. Charlie’s back went out in the process of the event that brought us Henry. He couldn’t walk for an entire week. My mother had to fly out to help with our triplets who were turning two. She kept asking “How did his back go out again??” Moving furniture, mom. Moving furniture. The kids turned two. My mother flew home. Everyone came down with rotovirus. EVERYONE was throwing up, even the dog. Everyone, but me. FOR TWO WEEKS STRAIGHT, my children and husband vomited every day. Then, I thought I was getting sick, too. Because I felt queasy. Looked at the calendar, did a little math. Told Charlie I was late. Late for what? says he. I told him I thought I might be pg. He said couldn’t be. We haven’t DONE anything. I said, Oh yeah? What about your back?
We spent TENS of THOUSANDS of dollars on fertility treatments. YEARS AND YEARS trying to get pregnant. When all we needed to do was sleep in the nude.
I have taken a test every time, but like you not really needed to. I was always late, and charting for the last three, so I knew without a test. Very anti-climatic.
First one – I was in my jr year of college and took it at my lab parter’s house because I was driving her nuts wondering aloud. She made me take one so I would shut up already. We were both a little shocked at the result. It was Martin Luther King Day and I still think about it every single MLK day.
Second – we had been trying and then found out we would be moving to Japan and decided to put the brakes on. I was waiting for my period to start to start a new pack of pills. We started our cross country trek from Fl to CA (moving) and we stopped in Carlsbad NM to explore the caverns. I threw up at the ectrance to the cave when I smelled the birds. The hubs made me go to tka e test from the disgusting little grocery store that night in the hotel. Never started THAT pack of pills!
Number 3 – woke up in the middle of the night and just KNEW I was pregnant. Couldn’t go back to sleep. So, there I was at 2:45 am peeing on a stick. Couldnt wait til morning to share the news. Husband grumbled something like, “oh, really?” I was seriously pissed at the lack of rejoicing. turns out the next morning that he had no recollection of the news – and then appropriately responded :)
Here go: http://tinyurl.com/2tqan9
This is fun! Great idea, Swistle. I can’t wait to read everyone else’s stories.
I never did take a positive home pregnancy test. Ever. Here’s my story, amusing maybe only to me.
With The Girl, we had only tried for a month and I was maybe a day late but, it was Father’s Day so I figured, what the heck and peed on a stick.You could have knocked me over with a feather when that positive popped up. Hugh was delighted, however because he got his first father’s day card from the fetus.
With the Cub, I peed on at least six tests and they all cam e back negative, nada, nothing. But I KNEW I was pregnant, I just knew it. So, I went to the doctor to be tested for a urinary tract infection. Needless to say, no infection but lookie there! A fetus. I knew it.
Good topic, Swistle!
We’d were on our 7th month of trying and I had taken my fair share of disappointing negative tests. I was charting, so I knew before I took the test on day 19. Actually, I “knew” but refused to believe it and put off taking a test because I didn’t want to see another negative. I took it, then went around cleaning all ho hum, came back and was not at all surprised that it was *faintly* positive. Drove to CVS and bought a digital test, which was so much more fun to see that “Pregnant.” I miscarried three days later, so now we’re back to trying. Practice makes perfect, right?
With my first, we were trying. I bought a test, but couldn’t wait until I got home. I took it in the family powder room of a fancy dept store. It was positive. I was so excited, but then realized Crap! Now what? I called my sister and told her and then went to the Hubs’ football game (he was a coach) and took him out to dinner to tell him. He already knew because I had already driven all the way into the city on a week night for a 9th grade football game and then wanted to go to dinner. It was all very odd and he knew why.
The second was unplanned and I was nervous when I got all dizzy painting the walls in our NEW bedroom in our NEW house that we were moving into because of my NEW job. The house we bought based on the NEW daycare bill for ONE child. I took a home pg test in our NEW and empty house. Then said a swear word and had to tell the Hubs when it turned out positive. We were very nervous. How would we afford this? What would we do? It all worked out perfectly, but for a minute we wondered how it ever would.
Fun topic. I’m glad you shared yours.
I had been taking Clomid, so it’s a bit embarrassing that when I started feeling really tired in the week leading up to my period, my first thought was that I was getting mono again or that my thyroid needed to be tested. But then the nurse called to tell me my sky-high progesterone levels and it occurred me that, just perhaps, since I had been taking fertility drugs, I might be pregnant (shocking!). My first test the day my period was due was negative. I had been through so many negative tests that I was refusing to let myself hope, so I decided I wasn’t going to test again for a week. I spent the week compulsively checking for blood and getting more and more pregnancy. When I finally tested again the next week, the positive was pretty anticlimactic, given that I had spent the previous weekend half-comatose on the couch and my breasts hurt if you looked at them. Even then, I waited until the next day to take another test before calling the doctor.
The first time, I took the test on a whim and didn’t really think I was pregnant. I bought the test at Walgreens and took it home. I called my husband to tell him what I was doing and he INSISTED that I wait until he got home. We were planning to go to Costco that night to do some shopping.
When he got home, I took the test and it immediately came out positive. I didn’t really believe it (after all, I felt EXACTLY the same as I always had), so we ended up heading off to Costco to stock up as we had planned. I remember walking around the store in a complete fog. However, when we walked by the section that sold pregnancy tests, I grabbed a six-pack and shoved it in the cart.
I proceeded to take every. single. one. of those tests!! I’m not sure why I didn’t believe it for so long, but I guess I was a hard sell!
This story has a fun ending though, because at the end of my pregnancy, we were again walking through Costco when I started feeling the first contractions that resulted in our firstborn son being born the next morning!
Costco: it’s not just a warehouse store, it’s a family tradition.
The second time it was much less dramatic. I was kind of late, took a test. When I saw it was positive, we both believed it right away and then took our two year old to the park!
And now, here we are at 36 weeks with #2. I’ll let you know if anything happens the next few times we go to Costco.
Here you go, Master…
http://playgroupsarenoplaceforchildren.com/2008/01/08/on-orders-from-swistle/
Ami- Good question! For the first test, he was in the other room waiting, and he knew I was going to take it. For the second test, I took it without telling him I was going to, but he was in the house, and I told him immediately after I found out it was positive. For the third, he knew I was supposed to wait a couple more days to take the test, but I went ahead and did it, and then told him right after (again, he was in the house). For the fourth test, he was at work, I didn’t tell him my suspicions, and I EMAILED HIM AT WORK to tell him.
He doesn’t like to be involved with the testing process; I had to kind of force him to be around for the first one. I think it’s because I’ve had so many false alarms, and he doesn’t want to get all dramatic with me!
De-lurking to share. Great blog and EXCELLENT topic.
My 3 stories are linked or in this post.
http://3littlegirls-ohmy.blogspot.com/2008/01/when-jd-is-mad.html
Oh this is fun!
I won’t post on my blog, since I think some family might read it..but.
We have a bit of a medical history issue that was going to make things challenging. So when we had been trying for 6 months and nothing happened, I went to the fertility specialist. She said, “yup, based on your history, we’re going to start working towards IUI. But in the meantime, while you get your bloodwork done, here are a few lovely, fun things to do at home that might make a baby stick.”
In short, we got drunk.
That next week, I felt awful – dizzy spells, tender boobs, need for naps, desire for hot baths. For some reason that month, I was charting, and the temp kept getting higher and higher, and then plateaued. And then I was 4 days late.
So I bought a test. Tossed and turned the whole night and got up with Kayakboy at 4:30 (we were a little excited) and took the test. No doubt – just the blue plus sign. Whee!
She’s 7 1/2 months old. Hee!
Such good stories…I love it!
My husband and I tried for 2 1/2 solid years to conceive…we did everything from Clomid to injectibles and finally IVF. So, unfortunately, I remember many many negative pregnancy tests. After our IVF, I felt nothing. No sore boobs, no crampiness, no tiredness, nothing…so I was convinced that I wasn’t pregnant. I took a HPT two days before my official blood test, and it was clearly positive…the lines were SO DARK. We were worried that it was a false positive–just leftover hormones from the trigger shot I had before my egg retrieval–so I tried not to get my hopes up. A blood test 2 days later confirmed it, and Michael was certain from that moment on that I was carrying twins. Turns out he was right–it was verified by an ultrasound 2 weeks later. Quite honestly, discovering that I was carrying twins was WAY more exciting than the positive HPT.
For my first pregnancy we had been trying in an unconcerned way, since I was certain I’d be able to get pregnant easily (Hubris!) and so when my period was late by a day or two, we thought this was it! Bought a pair of tests, took them and waited the requisite two minutes in the other room with Eric. We were kinda scared, wondering how this planned pregnancy was going to change our lives. After the time was up, we peeked in, saw it was positive and both of us cried.
In fear and excitement.
For my second pregnancy, I had been charting for 3 months and POW! Worked better than I’d thought it would, too since we wound up with twins.
Eek!
Peed on a stick twice, just to be certain. The first one was negative since I was impatient and tried to test early. The second one was resoundingly positive.
Here’s how I told the rest of the world.
And here’s my imaginary interview.
I wrote about my first pregnancy here:
http://www.livedtotell.com/2006/08/08/getting-pickled-2/
I wasn’t able to put the conclusion on the end, but suffice to say the ending was not a happy one.
I was convinced I’d have problems conceiving because I have other medical issues so I started taking *super* good care of myself months in advance of trying and I started charting months before I stopped taking the pill (to make sure I knew my body’s range, or something). We didn’t try too much the first month (to get rid of those nasty pill hormones that create babies with extra appendages and super powers) but we did the second month (which was Christmas, so we spent a lot of time not “doing it” since we were spending time at family members homes). I knew when I should test but I wanted to be alone so that I could deal, one way or the other. I secretly peed in a cup and hid it in the bathroom until after hubby went to work (I wasn’t working at the time) and then did the test and walked away for the allotted time. When I came back I saw that faint little second line and just stared. And stared. And didn’t quite know *what* to think. I spent all day on the couch, knitting tiny little baby booties and trying to figure out what to think about being pregnant. I hung the booties at eye-level where hubby would see them the instant he came in the door… and waited. When he came home he looked at them, looked at me, and said “NO SHIT!” Not quite the reaction I was expecting!
#2 I charted, but not as stringently, and for months nothing happened and I started to get worried and then one day I’d sent an email to hubby about something but he misinterpreted the message and thought I was telling him I was pregnant so he came home all giddy and I had to correct him and he said “oh, go take a test anyways!” (kidding, though). A little while later I did and it was positive so I walked out into the room where he was at, wrapped my arms around him from behind and said “Well I don’t know what to say. You were right!” He was confused, though, so I had to explain and then we had a big giddy excited nervous laugh.
I still have my charts from both times, and took photos of the positive test for the first one. I’m weird.
With the first one, my husband was traveling. We had been trying for several months and I didn’t have great hope for a positive test. But I had lunch with a friend that afternoon who told me she and her sister both got positive test results 12 days past ovulation. I was 12 or 13 past, so I decided to pee on the stick. I couldn’t wait the 24 hours for my husband to return so I called him in the middle of a business dinner and demanded he call me as soon as he returned to his hotel. We have a 16 month old daughter.
I’m pregnant again, but outside of immediate family only the internet knows. I found out December 23rd. I had been battling bronchitis and had been taking antibiotics, antihistamines AND cough syrup with codeine. So I had been taking pregnancy tests for DAYS, just to make sure. But I was QUITE confident that I wasn’t pregnant. I took tests 12, 13 and 14 days past ovulation. As I indicated earlier, the last pregnancy provided a positive test 12 dpo. When my period didn’t show up, well, I’m irregular. But for kicks I scrounged around in the cupboard and found one last pregnancy test. I just started shaking. My husband was downstairs with my daughter. I was one present short for him, so I came downstairs and asked if he wanted an early Christmas present. “Sure!” he said. I handed him the stick and burst into tears. Happy, scared, joyful, terrified tears. I have my first u/s on Monday, but given the number of times I’ve thrown up, I’m feeling pretty solid about this pregnancy.
Alice- Seriously? Asking for BIRTH STORIES? The sheer volume of responses you’ll get will SHUT DOWN THE INTERNET.
I found out I was pregnant because a freaky woman at work told me I was pregnant. Yeah I laughed at her! That was on a Thursday. Friday, the next day I went over to her and told her she was out of her mind and she looked me straight in the eye with a very serious face and said “I’m not the one laughing you are. Come back and talk to me in two weeks.” Two weeks and one day later I had to know if she was right. I didn’t even wait to see if I was late or not. I took a test and low and behold it was postive! We were not trying at ALL. It took us totally by surprise!!! I’m not joking, the same woman told another woman at work she was pregnant before she knew as well. It’s nuts!!
I’ve posted a question about charting and would much enjoy hearing your answers. Um, I’m talking to Swistle, of course, because how rude is it to jump onto somebody else’s comment thread and invite people to her own site?
*whispering* Although if anybody else wants to come over, that’s okay, too…
Here’s the link to the post I wrote about it: http://unplannedparenthood.typepad.com/klp/2007/01/rainbows_on_the.html
I love finding out you’re pregnant stories! Thanks for asking for everyone’s story, now I can read every one with rapt attention, too!
I was going to leave my story, but you already have 65 effin’ comments, and I know you can’t be that interested.
ARGH! My first attempt apparently did not take! Probably because I was beating off my harrassing, computer-needy husband off my back while the kids played shrilly in the background. ARGH!
Ahem.
#1: We were NOT trying, but I wasn’t on the pill. He was in grad school, and I was um, “supporting” him (oh, he HATES me to say that!), so we were pretty poorly. Anyway, I was about due to start, and I even made mention to a co-worker about it as I was breaking-out, so I knew it would come in a few days. Day 30–a Friday (oh, I was like a clock back then), I didn’t start. Odd. By Sunday night, I was getting nervous–but I didn’t say word one to hubby. But on Monday, I ran to K-mart and bought a two-pack of tests. I took one the second I got home from work. I put it on the toilet tank, ran OUT of the bathroom, and shut the door for the whole three minutes. Then I tiptoed back in and peeked. OH MY GOD! I laughed and cried and laughed and cried. I had to wait for hubby to get home from school to tell him, but he was running late, and I had to leave to go to a class *I* was taking. I waited until the last minute, then he finally gets home. I ran back inside with him and showed him the stick. “What’s this?” “I’m pregnant.” “Bummer.” “WHATCHOO MEAN, BUMMER???!” Don’t worry, he calmed down after I told him that my insurance would cover the whole pregnancy with no charge to us (heh–we only had to worry about the money issues AFTER the kid was born). And we were happy.
#2: I was charting, and we were enjoying actually “trying” for this one. In the third month of trying, I noticed the plateau of temps. So, around day 32 (which was Father’s Day), when we were out of town and in a strange city, I found an excuse to run out to a pharmacy (thank goodness it was just around the corner–you just don’t want to know how directionally challenged I am, and how easily I get lost!). I took the test in the hotel bathroom. Negative. I kept the test (I know! But it felt weird leaving it in the hotel’s trash!), and after we drove home, I unpacked it and noticed a faint positive. Oh–was that because it was now an “old”–and therefore inconclusive–test? Or did I miss that the first time I looked at it (I was in a rush with packing and trying to keep my hubby in the dark for his Father’s Day surprise)? I took another test. Another negative. CRAP! The following Wednesday, still no temp change, another NEGATIVE test. WTF? Decided to wait a few more days. The following Saturday we’d gone out of town for my bff’s bridal shower. At 2:00 in the morning, not being able to sleep and trying to sneak in a test when his mother (with whom we were staying) wouldn’t somehow accidentally “catch” me, I took another test. FINALLY! A positive! I woke up hubby and told him–and instantly went to sleep. The following day he had to ask me what the heck I was trying to tell him the night before ’cause it never registered. I still can’t believe we managed to keep it a secret from his mother that whole weekend! (Although I did tell my bff–and another friend at the shower figured it out just by looking at me!)
#3: We were charting and trying again–sort of. Hubby started to change his mind and started using condoms again! Month four I was a couple days late and started feeling cranky and tired and slightly “off.” But I decided to wait it out ’cause I was still feeling the burn from all those false negatives from three years prior. But when I was on my way to work and Tears for Fears’s “Sowing the Seeds of Love” came on the radio, and I actually CRIED, I just KNEW I had to be pregnant! As soon as I got home from work, I grabbed the test stashed under the bathroom sink, only to notice while peeing on it that it had expired several months ago! So, I rushed to pick up the kids from day care, ran to the pharmacy, and grabbed another test. Finally! A positive! Hubby was still at work, so I called my bff, and another gf (who knew I was trying) instead! Not being about to wait any longer (he ended up working pretty late that night), I finally called him at work. Despite his flip-flopping on the third child idea, he told me it was the best phone call he’d received all day!
Here is a link to my stories:
http://secretmomthoughts.blogspot.com/2008/01/finding-out.html
Fun!
Took less than 2 months. I was sure it would take more, because my “fertile window” co-insided with my weekends to work. 12 hour night shifts not conducive to romance. Month #2 my husband’s grandmother passed and he had to go out of town for the funeral. Right during the fertile window. I was resigned to waiting another month at least. He got back on a Monday morning, and I convinced him to try just in case.
Anyway, about 2 weeks later, I started to feel a little funny – a little gaggy, boobs a little sore. It was just time for my period, and so I decided to pee on a stick. Nothing. 5 days later and no period (and I’m someone who’s like clockwork), so I decided to try another test. And like magic two bold pink lines appeared. I couldn’t say anything, but just took the test out to show my husband, whose response was “huh.”
The last link got cut off. I’ll try again.
http://secretmomthoughts.blogspot.com/
I’m due on Friday with the result of this story so it feels kind of like finishing the circle to be thinking about it!
My husband had just come back from three months of training for his new policing job and throughout the time he was gone we were having deep phone conversations about whether or not we were ready to have a baby. We finally decided we’d stop the Pill and just see what happened – if no baby came for a while, that was ok and if one did, that was fine too.
So I guess we’re both in fine working order because I’m not sure we could have gotten pregnant any faster. One night the poor man worked a night shift and I stayed at a friend’s house watching movies and eating ice cream until 4am. He got home at 6am and we both slept in, but I woke up earlier and decided to go to the grocery store.
At some point before or during the errand it occured to me that we’d been having unprotected sex a lot and that my period was potentially late (I was never overly predictable in that area – I still am somewhat foggy about the timing of ovulation). So I bought a test package and a comfortable sundress because I felt bloated.
Came home and peed on stick, observed with incredulity as two lines appeared. Leaned against wall for moment, then grabbed the stick and took the stairs two at a time up to leap on our bed and awaken sleeping hubby. I stuck the stick rather grossly near his face and commanded that he “LOOK”. Being still 3/4 asleep, he summoned up enough coherence to ask what that was. When I told him, he said “and?” and I explained that two lines meant pregnant. He looked blank for a long moment and then broke into a huge smile and grabbed me… and we proceeded to make sure that the baby was GOOD AND IN THERE.
After that I went downstairs and took the second test because, really, I wasn’t going to just throw it out. And it was also double-lined. Go figure. He left for work and I went for a 2 hour walk around the neighborhood in a daze.
And now this child’s butt is planted up under my rib cage and I’m in negotiations about when he or she is going to come out. So far, I’m not winning.
70 comments – omig.
I will tell you still. Anyway, we were “trying” for three months, and we were very lucky that it didn’t take longer. One night, my grandma came to me in my dream. My grandma who I was very, very close to and who had been dead since I was 12. She had never before appeared in my dream. Honestly, today, I can’t remember what she did or what she said, but I remember waking up, thinking “I’m pregnant.” But I had to wait. I bought an “early” pregnancy test and took it. I saw the faintest faintest plus sign. I showed my (then) husband and he didn’t believe me. I mean, the line was really, really faint. So I waited a few more days, and took another, which confirmed it. That’s it; that’s my story.
I will say however that my grandma has appeared one more time in my dreams since, when I was going through the divorce, and well, that’s another story for another time, but let’s just say it was very comforting.
PS – did you see this? (re: baby names)
I love reading such happy stories.
My twins were IVF and I knew 5 days before my beta bloodtest – got a BFP + = two pink lines. I was so excited at 5am in the morning. I rang the nurse early as possible and pushed my way in for a bloodtest. I got ‘told off’ by one nurse for coming in early but my beta was in 400’s . I suspected then I was pregnant with twins !
My dear angel daughter,we conceived before IVF and naturally after 12 yrs plus infertility. It was Easter weekend and we in the middle of the outback in NSW (Australia),( 1 hr from any chemist to buy a pregnancy test – if any were open ? )
I just ‘suspected’ from a few symptoms – the big and sore (.)(.) though I had never been pregnant- I was at least 2 weeks late for my period.So I had to wait it out and not tell anyone even my DH.
I did the test secretly, the day after we got home. Even buying the preg test I was scared someone I knew would see me.
So scared doing it I was fumbling and cried with joy when I got a positive.I did it again to make sure. I was then doubting myself.I still have the tests though my DD was was born still @six months.It was happiest day of my life to be finally pregnant. My Bloodtests put me about 7 weeks.
Oh, fun!
OK, with my first (now 2 years old) we had been married for seven years and it was next up on the ‘what next’ life plan of ours. We were pretty sure we would have fertility issues because it runs in my family. So, we thought we might be in for a few rough months or years of trying. So, when I started having the worst! gas! ever! in my life I knew something was up with my body. I took a pregnancy test and there was nothing. A day or two went by and still with! the! gas! I took another test. The faintest of faint lines appeared. It was sooo faint that we googled it and thought it must be an “evaporation line” or somesuch thing. The next day I ran home from work and took another test. The “evaporation line” was clearly a bonafied “line”. I put it into a baggy and drove to bring my husband his lunch at work. I showed him the test and we both just stared at each other for a few ohmygod moments. I called my doctor and she said to come in that day for lab work to check for sure. I then proceeded to take ten more tests over the next few days because no way could it have happened that quickly? Well it did, thankfully.
My second pregnancy (he is now 6 months) was pretty similar. We tried for a month and got pregnant. Again with the gas. With my husband in the bathroom I peed on the stick and just as we were going to flip it over to see the results there was a knock on our bathroom door. My mom (who was visiting from out of town for my first sons birthday) lost a contact and did my husband have a flashlight and some fresh eyes to look? Since there was still one minute left, and he thought he would only be out there for a second my husband went to help quickly. 2 minutes pass, 5 minutes pass…he hadn’t come back yet and I was going crazy with anticipation. I couldnt’ wait any longer so I flipped it over and WHOA baby! I only took one or two more over the next week just to be sure.
I love being pregnant, maybe we’ll be in for a third test one day??
Baby #1: We decided to try, so I started charting. My period was due while we were on vacation with my entire family. I stocked up on supplies and was fully prepared for it to start. After all, this was only our first try. Half way through the vacation, no period. We were in Canada, and I made my hubby go buy a test while I distracted my relatives. Next morning, I got up super early and took the test. POSITIVE!! We were thrilled, but I FREAKED OUT! This was real! We only tried once! Then, I had to keep it a secret from the family unitl we went home and checked with a dr. So suddenly, I had to stop drinking and going in the hot tub. I lied a lot on that vacation :) After a long, nauseating plane ride home and a trip to my dr., it was confirmed.
Baby #2: I was on the pill, but wanted to go off and try for another baby. Hubby was satisfied with only one child and didn’t know if he wanted another. I was exercising a lot and drinking protein shakes to try to get in shape. The protein shakes effected my cycle and I was all messed up. So, I was late, but didn’t worry too much. However, then I was almost a week late and I didn’t want to start a new pack of pills if I were pregnant, so I took a test. It was a weak positive (very faint line) I went to the dr. for a blood test. They said I would know in 3 days. I freaked out on them, so they put a rush on my test and they called me that afternoon at work. I can remember standing by my students when I got the news (I am a teacher) and I started to cry (I had mixed emotions at the time) But, it all turned out great in the end :) BTW: Baby #2 and hubby are inseperable now so hubby is happy :)
Here’s my link – I love how I told my husband in this one.
http://mccathy.blogspot.com/2006/11/bugs-in-bathroom.html
My husband had planned a quick trip to Chicago with a friend (who I don’t like) for the weekend of my birthday, but not actually on my birthday. Somehow the trip snowballed and kept getting longer and more involved, and it turned out he was going to be gone most of my birthday too. I had rented a stump grinder the day he was to leave, and I was positively ATTACKING that stump, I was SO EFFING MAD! After he left, I realized that it was kind of out of character for me to get so worked up over something like this, and since we’d been trying to get pregnant…hey, maybe I’ll go take a test. And lo! There was a reason for my craziness after all. I bought a picture frame and put a note in it that said “Picture expected June 7, 2004.”
For the second, we were trying again and I took a test on New Years Eve 2005, right before we went to a New Years Eve party. Husband was right there when I took the test. I remember being totally stunned and scared and happy all at once with him, standing in the kitchen. At the party, I had to pretend to drink because we didn’t want to tell anyone yet.
We started ‘trying’ just because we couldn’t really figure out what we wanted to do – if it’s meant to be, that sort of thing. That went from ‘well, whatever happens’ to ‘must meet this goal now!’….so the second month, I felt a little off but didn’t think much of it. We were just about to take the dog for a walk, and I figured I’d take a test just to see. I guess it was positive (well, in hindsight it was!), but out of the ‘plus’ sign, only part of it was there (I guess the vertical). I had to call the 800 number to ask. I didn’t know what to think – I was glad to not have to obsess over it, but I don’t think I was ready for it to happen so quickly.
Now William is 8.5 months old, and I can’t imagine why we waited so long in the first place!
I was just saying the other day, aren’t these ‘firsts’ the best? Even the craziness of birth and coming home with a new baby – you can never live that exact feeling again, and looking back it was just so cool!
with my first we had been trying forever. after a year and a few IUI’s I gave up and started drinking heavely. Oddly that led to a lot more “relations”. Anyway one day I woke up and though, huh maybe I should have one of those period things soon. I paid it no mind since my period never came on any kind of a schedule. The kicker was when I woke up and I thought my boobs were going to fall off and die and they were filled with rocks and fire and death balls. That seemed odd so on a hunch at work i took a pregnancy test. I was so shocked I couldnt interperate the box or read it, so while I had intended to keep quite till Christmas as a surprise I ran out of my office and threw the box and test at my mother asking her to read it.
with my second, we were tryig but i was anticipating another year or so long try. then the dr said before she would fill my augmentun (sp) script I had to have a negative pregnancy test (i had a sinus infection or soemthing or other). So i took the test and went to set it aside to show her it was negative…ummm but it wasn’t. i was actually pretty pissed since that same day i had just hit the 30 lb weigh loss mark!
Erica- I AM. I AM THAT INTERESTED. POST IT, YOU MEANIE!
Swistle, you fully rule. I love the shoes from yesterday. I end up here alot after visiting Beth at SoTheFishSaid. I will spare the comment section my pregnancy post, but it’s available at my “blog” http://js0512.livejournal.com/
Farrell- DON’T GET ME STARTED on that SHAM baby name list by Baby Center! OH IT MAKES ME SO MAD! It is NOWHERE NEAR ACCURATE and yet they act as if it’s real. The REAL results aren’t released by the Social Security Administration until May.
I commented on Jen’s blog Playgroups are No Place for Children..but I will put it here too:
With my son…I don’t know how long it took because we weren’t trying. I just know it was 6 months after our wedding. With him, I was a little sick on and off and I missed my period…typical signs…then on my bday I couldn’t even eat my dinner or my cake! I told DH that I thought I was preg and went and got a test the next day. I went to a friend’s house (we were living with his parents) and peed in a cup (didn’t trust peeing on the stick itself) and before I could even pull my pants up that little pink line showed up. I remember asking my friend what it meant when it didn’t take the whole 3 minutes for the line to show up!
Dh was dumbfounded and asked if the test could be wrong. I informed him that there were almost no false positives, only false negatives…he made me go to the the dr the next day to confirm it anyway. Again, the test was + and DH (being in a HORRIBLE job) refused to talk about it for weeks. He warmed up eventually though. :-)
For this one we kinda planned. for about 6 months we just did what we always did and then one day I got desperate (dh doesn’t know this part!! LOL). I looked on WebMD at their ovulation/pregnancy calendar and plugged my information in and poof…my fertile days were listed on the calendar. I have to say that the calendar was accurate up to a day or two when I was supposed to start my period. You can even make it where it will tell you the best times for a girl or a boy using the Shettles method!
Anyway…
Then one day I totally forgot to check the calendar but I was sure I was gonna start. I looked at the calendar and saw I would be officially late the next day…so I told DH I would get a test. We both were SURE I wasn’t pregnant but the calendar had been right up to that point (and I told him I was using it to track my periods…which I was…). I bought the test that night but forgot about it for almost 3 days. Then, I remembered and decided to take the test, DH was on the phone so I couldn’t call him in there with me…besides I knew my cycle was just screwy…right?
Sure enough before I could even get done that pink line showed up…but this time the line looked jagged (I think it was the paper they used) so I took another one! LOL I mean…that could mean it was defective right? Same thing happened and stood there shaking staring at this stick. I opened the bathroom door so he would know I was done in there and he came in to tell me about the conversation he had on the phone…and I showed him the test…and he got this weird look on his face. Remember he didn’t think I was pregnant either!!! I laughed at him and told him not to look like that since we were TRYING…he then started being dramatic about what is he gonna do with two kids…but I know he was happy as he had a secret smile. :-)
Holy Moley! Im number 84, so if you don’t get around to this it’s cool. But i will never read your blog again! haha.
ANYWAY. First one, found out in a Publix bathroom. Couldn’t wait till i got home! Sad, i know. Please tell no one.
Second one, I took the test (baby #1 was 7months old) sure that it would be negative…more of a “just in case” pregnancy test. It was negative, so I threw it away. 2 Hours later on a whim I pulled it out of the trashcan and it was POSITIVE!! I hadn’t waited long enough. Talk about roller coaster of emotions!
Third one, I didn’t bother to take a test until I was about 2 months along. I knew I was pregnant already, seemed like a waste of 10 hard earned dollars.
With my first pregnancy, which ended in a miscarriage, I took a test day 30 the first month after going off the pill. I was shocked that it was positive, since the whole “trying” term implied that it would take some extended effort (heh).
With my second, which resulted in my cutie-pie of a 5-month old, I woke up in the middle of the night a few days before my period was due and couldn’t get back to sleep. Pre-baby this was totally unusual for me, since I was a champion sleeper (I even slept through a hurricane once). I couldn’t figure out what was going on, and then I remembered the insomnia I had in the first pregnancy, so I jumped out of bed and peed on a stick. That time we were completely excited, not just shocked.
Even though my son is only 5 months old, we’d be happy to get pregnant again. I completely share your baby fever, and would be very happy to always have a baby around, at the very least for head-sniffing and thigh-chomping purposes.
Love this post, and I read ALL the comments!
For my first, took a test the morning before leaving for a two-week vacation to Hawaii. And then we had the delicious secret to keep together for two weeks.
For my second, it was Halloween, and we had three pumpkins outside. I had my then 14-month-old hand my husband a baby pumpkin.
I wrote a longer version of this on my blog. (My Infertility Story 3) in the sidebar. Here is the cliff notes version.
10 years infertile
Not even a glimer of hope that I was pregnant.
5 days late.
Kept it a secret to not get anyone’s hopes up falsely.
(Easier to tell myself I did not care that way, if it turned out negative.)
Got the afternoon off of work.
Snuck to the store to buy a pregnancy test.
Snuck it home. Took the test. Died of shock that it was positive.
Showed husband positive pregnancy pee stick.
He asked what it was because he had NEVER SEEN ONE in all our 10 years of trying… I had never needed to use one.
Dropped to my knees to thank God for what truly was a miracle.
Happy surprise! (Tessa is 5 years old now.)
For kiddo #1, we had been trying for 1.5 years and were on our 3 month of IUI. Gad. Fun. I was on progesterone and was told to take a pg test at 14 days after the IUI. The Friday before that day (Monday), we were headed out of town for a weekend of the Dave Matthews Band, so I took a test. Slightly positive. Hmm. Perhaps it was still the trigger shot. Another test of Saturday (+++) and another on Sunday (+++). We headed home on Monday (they day I was supposed to test and then call in), but I was out of pg tests. We were almost home from our 2.5 hour drive and I was holding my “good pee” in, so they test would work. I told my hb I had to run to Fred Meyer’s as soon as we got home (I didn’t want to tell him why). I have never had to pee so bad in my life. I grabbed a pack of tests and a pack of Solo cups (with this written on the side, “Never too old to party” and headed to the bathroom at the store. I peed in the cup (I’ve could never pee on the sticks very well), dipped in the cup and TA-DA! It was confirmed the next day with a beta. We’ve saved cups (but not THE cup) from the package.
For kiddo #2, we had decided to start trying, knowing how long and how much assistance we needed the first time. I went off the mini-pill and BOOM, the 2nd month on our own took. I was also taking progesterone, so I took a pg test and if it was negative I could stop taking progesterone and get my period started. I was in CA at the time with my brother’s family, so after the test was positive and sister-in-law and I went out to the store to by more. My brother was just glad it wasn’t her (they had a 4 month old at the time!
With our first baby we tried a few months with no luck. Hubby was going to be leaving for basic training soon so we decided to forget ttc until he returned. The day my period was due I decided to use the one pregnancy test left so I could get the whole ttc thing out of my mind. I take it and look at for about 5 seconds, then throw it in the garbage and go back to sleep. Two hours later I wake up and while in the bathroom I glance at the top of the trash and lo and behold there sits a positive pregnancy test!
Ohh, I love reading these stories! Here’s mine:
I had been feeling off, but couldn’t really pin-point why until it occurred to me that I was late. So, on the way home from playing at the beach with the pup, I stopped and bought a two-pack of tests. I took one and it was positive. I felt so strange: excited, scared, sick to my stomach, nervous… I waited until my husband came home that evening and while preparing dinner, I told him – surprise! I had wanted to wait, but we had gotten a call from our friends to meet them at the hospital because they were in labor and we were going to be taking care of their other kids. One of their sons said to me “you have a baby in your belly.” I denied it – we weren’t quite ready to share the surprising news! – and continued on our merry way. Now, I have an amazing ten-month old daughter and, while we’re not quite ready, I can’t wait to see the next positive line on a pregnancy test!
Kristin H, what in the world is a stump grinder?
Holy crap! I found out exactly five months ago today so OF COURSE I’ll share with you!
We had been trying. We didn’t do it right the first month (in regards to me ovulating, not the actual sex part!) so I really only consider us ‘trying’ for one month–the month the internet told me when I’d be ovulating. So we did it on those days and on the very last day I remember thinking “I just got pregnant.” Fast forward to the rest of the month: more stress at work than I’ve ever had before, my grandfather died, there was a huge flood in our apartment, and then a small fire. Needless to say, even though we were trying, when I was late I thought it was just because of all the stress. Then my boobs started to hurt. “Well, because I’m about to get my period” I thought. But Bryan said, “You’re TOTALLY pregnant.” I then snapped at him: “No, you must be thinking of EVERYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD that’s pregnant, because I’m not. I’ve never been pregnant, so why start now?” Then I burst into tears. (Um, hel-LO hormones!)
A week later we got invited to go to a wine tasting with friends. Because I’d be doing some drinking, I took a test just in case, KNOWING it would be negative. (Dollar Store Preggo Tests Really Work!) I was nervous in a giddy way, but still nervous. Bryan was interviewing in the city for a new job so he wasn’t home yet. I peed, put it on the counter, pulled up my pants and then went to get my watch to time it when I saw two very dark pink lines.
My jaw hit the floor. And I stayed like that for an hour because I couldn’t believe it. I wanted to capture that look on my face forever so I went and took a picture of myself within SECONDS of finding out. Click on link to see:
http://backtome.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/08/everyone-else-i.html#
So, I knew Bryan would be home in two hours (TWO LONG HOURS!) so I went to Target to get him a cute onesie and a bib that said “I Love My Daddy” on it so he could open a present when he came home. I was literally rocking back and forth on the couch waiting for him I was so excited. He got home and I’m bouncing off the walls. I FINALLY get him to sit down and give him the present, saying it’s a small gift for him because I’m proud of all of his interviewing for a new job (he got the job the very next day, too!). So he opens the present and first sees the bib. It takes him a few seconds to ‘get it’ and then he just said, “No way. Shut up!” and then I smiled and said “Yup” then he goes “I TOLD YOU!!!” Then his next questions were “When are you due?” “The internet said I am due the end of March.” THEN (my favorite!) “Is it a boy or a girl?” I then bust out laughing because I thought that was so funny and cute. Once I explained that it was waaaay too soon to tell he just said, “Well, you seem to know everything about this stuff so I thought I’d ask!”
Our baby boy is officially due April 9th and I am now in my third trimester. Holy geeze what a crazy ride this has been!
We had been trying for 3 months, and I was convinced we were going to have a hard time because of my medical history. The fourth month, December, we decided not to try because we’d be back East at my MIL’s during my fertility window.
While at my MIL’s, she had a call night (she’s an anesthesiologist and does trauma and OB calls) and Hubs and I had a fight, well, let’s just say we “made up” later that night. After, I counted the days in my head and said to him “huh, it’s day 17.” (The day I ovulate in my cycle). His response: “huh”.
Fast forward 10 days: we get home and I start feeling nerve pain pretty badly. I also have zero appetite and eating actually hurts me. I’m miserable and New Year’s Eve, we go to the ER. They keep me for 12 hours, do a pregnancy test that comes up negative (it was too soon) and after a bunch of x-rays and an abdominal CT, tell me they think it’s a “neurological virus”. I go to my GI doc, who seconds the murky diagnosis, prescribes Zelnorm and tells me to keep on a liquid diet for 4 days. If it doesn’t clear up, he threatens to send me to the rheumatologist.
Well, on day 51 of my (admittedly somewhat irregular) cycle, I come home from a tough day at work and pour myself a big glass of wine. I had a pack of pregnancy tests left over from a friend who had gotten pregnant and didn’t ned them anymore and something told me to go take one, what the hell. About .02 seconds after taking it, I said “UM” loud enough for my husband t hear it, he said “Yes?” and I then came downstairs and said “It looks like I’m not going to be drinking that wine tonight…”.
I was scared, overjoyed, all of the above. Neurological virus MY ASS!
We’d been trying for nearly 2 years. After all the tests and doctors’ appointments, we were told IVF was really the only way. Ok, we do the whole shebang and no. Total failure. Doctor tells us to take a month off to get my body back to normal and then we’ll give IVF another go and to call him the day I get my next period. Check. Four weeks go by, no period, I ask the doctor is this normal, he says yes, the hormones really change things. Ok. Two weeks after that it is hot hot hot outside and my husband and I want to drink a cold beer. He goes into the liquor store, I go into RiteAid and get a test, just to make sure it is ok. I have no idea what possessed me to get a test. We go home, I pee on the stick and place it on the bathroom sink, pledging not to look at it for 3 minutes. Except that the word “PREGNANT” (it was a digital, my first digital) was obvious to see right away. Believing that perhaps the word “NOT” needed the 3 minutes to show up, I walk away. Time passes. I go back, it still says PREGNANT. I call in my husband to verify. He thinks there must be a really faint second line or something that needs analyzing. When he sees the perfectly clear PREGNANT, he’s like, “what you call me for? it’s obvious! and whoa! you’re pregnant??? hooray!” Four days later we get the bloodwork to confirm. A week later we see a heartbeat. Two weeks after that we saw TWO heartbeats!!!
I just found your blog recently and have really enjoyed reading! I couldn’t resist commenting on this one. With my first daughter I had started on meds to get pregnant since trying on our own for three years had been unsuccessful. I was on the second month of meds and since the first month hadn’t worked I didn’t hold out much hope that month either. We went to a concert with some friends the night before Easter and I was super moody. My friend asked if I had taken a pregnancy test yet (I guess since I was grumpy she wondered if I was pregnant). I took a test on Easter morning and sure enough…pregnant:) She is 5 now. We then went on to have 2 spontaneous pregnancies in 2004 and 2006 that both ended in miscarriage. We chose to pursue adoption at that point and it went extremely fast for us: we started the process and 5 months later brought home 4 day old boy/girl twins! The weekend before the twins were born I woke up one morning sick to my stomach. I knew my period was late but I am very irregular so really didn’t think much of it. But when I woke up sick I thought “holy crap, could I be PREGNANT?” Took a test the next morning and sure enough…pregnant!! My pregnancy went awesome and our little boy was born in October. Our twins and our son are 8 months and 8 days apart:)
What a great idea. Here’s a link to my post:
http://wwwjerseygirl89.blogspot.com/2008/01/surprise.html
With Darsie, the boyfriend and I had just bought and moved into a house. I thought the missing period was stress but I was feeling..pregnant. I laid on the couch crying and told him I was late. He asked me if I felt pregnant (I had been pregnant by him once before and lost the baby at 24 weeks). I told him yes, so off we went to Albertsons and we could NOT FIND THE TESTS! GAH. Finally we did and returned home and up pops the two lines. With Elise, we had been trying for six months and had almost given up. I bought one of those refillable tests at Walmart thinking, hey, I might be needing this thing longer than I want and of course that is the month I end up pregnant. I tested on the day my period was due and no dice. So, when my period was absent for a few more days, I tested again and viola, Elise!
I had a suspicion around the time we conceived the girl, but I kind of put it out of my mind.
Then missed period, moody, so freaking tired, super smell, sensitive boobs…
I took a test to calm my nerves because I couldn’t be pregnant.
HA! I more or less breathed on the thing and two lines appeared. …Ok I still had to pee on it, but it was turning the second the pee hit it. I thought the test was negative, because I could barely see the control line. Went to pee on a stick addicts and verified. OMG! BFP!
Told the husband…”no hon the horizontal line is the test.” He’s all ok…goes back to his game for a minute. I am standing there about to cry and he all of the sudden looks up … “horizontal…wait…OH we’re having a baby?!”
good times. best surprise EVER!
Here’s my link:
http://constancethethirteenth.blogspot.com/2008/01/welcome-to-suite-13.html
I am LOVING all of these stories! Great idea, Swistle!
Our first “surprise” was much more exciting than our second. We were out for a great shee-shee dinner for our 9th anniversary and I was complaining to my DH how tired I was and how I could barely make it through my run that day. We had just opened a beautiful bottle of wine and it hit me. I started counting back and said, “um, I think I am a few days late.” Needless to say, he drank the rest of the wine, we bought a test on the way home. Happy Anniversary! The best gift ever…until #2 came around.
http://sweetsammigirl.blogspot.com/2008/01/i-follow-where-swistle-leads.html
Blogged it ~ too long to post here ;)
http://milestogrow.blogspot.com/2008/01/howd-you-find-out_10.html
I loved reading the other stories. Great idea!
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I just found your blog and hte timing is funny. I just got a positive pregnancy test last week! This will be #5 for us, we have a set of twins too. I was charting and so I suspected it but yet I am still surprised! I find myself wondering if it will be twins again.
Okay :). We had been off the pill for about three months, to give my body “time to adapt” and to learn my natural cycle before trying. We’re pretty active, but I remember, one night, saying to each other, “Wow. Just WOW. When we’re ready to try to get pregnant, THAT’S the way to do it”. I know there’s no real logic in the latter, it just felt so different. I think on some level we just knew. A wee bit later and we realised I would have been ovulating around that time. A wee bit later again: I’m insanely emotional about the tiniest things and then realise my period is a few days late. I don’t think I’m pregnant, though (having always wanted to have children so much, I thought it would always be beyond my reach somehow), but take the test to kind of check it off the list. Leave the test on the bench, go back into the lounge room with my husband and say, “I know it won’t be positive” then two minutes later return to the test and see TWO PINK LINES and am rendered inarticulate for the remainder of the weekend. Due in June and so very, very grateful and happy :). Heather :).
Here’s my “How I Found Out”: http://sojessasaid.blogspot.com/2008/01/pregnancy-how-i-found-out.html
Here’s my story. Oh what a doozy it is…
http://skiplovey.com/?p=191
My husband wanted to get pregnant from “I do,” but knowing my sister’s kids, I thought I could stand to wait a few…hundred years. One day while vacationing in Canada, after a little over 2 years of marriage (…so I’m wishy-washy, okay?), he said something about having a kid, and it was the first time I even thought it was an option. I kind of liked the idea! Hey, what the heck!
So I instantly stopped taking the pill and we went on our merry way…if you know what I’m sayin’. I didn’t have a period after I went of the pill, mind you. A few weeks later, still no period. We bought some tests, and I think the first was negative. A couple of weeks later, no period, so I took another. (Oh, and the husband times the tests for me and we look at them at the same time.) I think we’d bought the cheap kind and then thrown the box away with the first test (morons), so we didn’t actually know the directions for the test (and even the internet failed me here), so when it turned out to be positive, we thought it might be wrong. Besides, I hadn’t had a period AT ALL since I got off the pill, so maybe I was experiencing some post-pill weirdness. Or something. We rushed out to CVS for a more expensive test, just to make sure – and voila! Prego! We wrapped a framed picture of the positive test and gave it to my parents for their anniversary.
Our kiddo is 7.5 months old now, and (*we think) we’re ready for number 2! We’re not doing anything to prevent it, and as we’re apparently the after-school-special kind of fertile, I’ll probably post again soon…
We’d been trying for a baby for five years, since we were 26, and finally did a round of IVF (I have endometriosis, so it’s hard to get pregnant, and some clotting disorders ((antiphospholipidemia and antinuclear antibodies)) so it’s hard to stay pregnant). I was sure I was pregnant because I was gagging as I walked down the hall at work, ten days after embryo transfer. My beta (blood test) was after Labor Day weekend and that Tuesday night, my IVF doctor called to tell me that it was positive. I wasn’t surprised but I was thrilled. I didn’t even get out of bed, just yelled to my husband that I was still pregnant. He said, “Duh.” It was a fun evening.
My endometriosis is getting worse and I’m almost 33 so we are probably going to jump back into IVF in the next year or so. It never really occurred to me the first time that it might not work, but for some reason, I’m much more nervous this time. I would do IVF again now but it’s expensive and I am NOT willing to wean my toddler, the baby I HAVE, just for a CHANCE to have another.
Thanks for thinking of this topic, Swistle – this was fun to read!