HOW I FOUND OUT I WAS PREGNANT

One of the first questions I have been asked on numerous times is, "So, was it planned?!". Whilst I think this is quite an invasive question in itself, I know majority of people will be wondering. After all, we only just collected keys to our new home and found out we was having a baby less than a month later.

The truth is, we wasn't putting sex and passion aside and only getting kinky in the sheets to try and make a human. However, we are a reasonable age, financially stable and living in our own home; so I guess we stopped being 'careful' and just went with the flow. If it happened, it happened... and so it did.

I have always deep down wanted children, but I think being with immature men in the past has always put me off having them with the fear I'd end up being alone bringing up my children. However, I now feel stable and confident that everything happens for a reason. 

I purchased a few pregnancy tests and put them in a cupboard for anytime that I felt curious to take one. I downloaded the Ovia fertility app after being recommended it by a pregnant friend. I had never tracked my fertility before and was unaware what days I was ovulating and more likely to fall pregnant. However, this app is pretty good as it asks for the date of your last period and calculates your most fertile days for you. It can be quite easy to become quite obsessed with those three or four hot days though, so I tried my best to keep sex natural between us and not like a chore. 

I remember it specifically being the 10th day of unprotected sex and I was home alone for the afternoon on annual leave from work, watching junk tv and dreaming about cheese burgers. I felt absolutely fine in myself and and was quite content sofa surfing at home, waiting for my boyfriend to come home. 

That was when a little voice in my head said "Ashleigh, take a test". It sounds SO unbelievable, right? Who was the voice? What made it tell me to do something randomly? Obviously, pregnancy must have been on my mind with the mix of ovulation dates and care free sex swimming around in my brain. I did need a wee, so what was the harm in taking one? It was obviously going to be negative and it was pretty easy to just replace the pregnancy tests as and when I used them.

The test was a 4 minute one in our downstairs toilet. I've only taken a few tests in my life (only after a period being 2 or 3 days late due to stress at university and thinking I was preg), so I had forgotten how awkward they are to squat and wee on the stick without splashing your hand with your own apple-like juice. Virtually impossible, might I add. 

There we go. A negative. 

I took the test into the living room and sat down to put it into its wrapper ready to chuck away. And that's when I saw it... a very, very, VERY faint + sign in the window. 

Wait, whaaaaat?!

I frantically started Googling super faint positive Clearblue pregnancy tests and many women had experienced the same thing. I had also read that it's basically impossible for a test to produce a false positive, so I was left wondering if it was an evaporation line - even though it was still only 5-6 minutes since I peed on the stick. 

I must have put that test back into its packet and pulled it out again to check for any changes about 40 times within the next hour or so. It was still there and was a tiny bit more visible when held up to the light. 

I was in half disbelief and half dancing around feeling sick. I had only started ovulating 10 days ago and my period wasn't due for another week. It couldn't be real?

I put it back in its wrapper and hid it away to stop myself from keep pulling it back out again and waited for Ricky to come home. I acted cool, chilling on the sofa with him and catching up about his day at work. All of a sudden, I started smiling but as a silent killer. I said nothing, but I didn't have to. He told me I had done a test, as if he was here all along hidden away in an invisibility cloak. He went straight to the cupboard where he knew I kept the tests and found the used one. 

"Ash, it's negative, so why are you smiling?" was what he first asked. I told him to look more closely and hold it up to the light. He did and went silent for what seemed like ages. Finally, he agreed he could see something but said he didn't want it was a positive OR negative, until I tested again and told me to test again in a few days time. Dream on!

I tested again the next morning in the downstairs loo. Ricky was still in bed, so I knew I could do it without him knowing or nagging at me to wait a few more days for a more accurate result. A second stick and 4 minutes later, another faint positive - but more visible than the first test. I ran upstairs and yelled "RICK, I THINK I'M PREGNANT!". 

Ricky being (sometimes) more level headed than me, told me to save that morning's wee (which I did - I peed into a pot this time) and get some other tests. Later that morning, I must have spent about £35 on more pregnancy tests at Boots. Many people on pregnancy threads online recommended the First Response tests which you can use up to 6 days before your period is due and also the ClearBlue digital tests - the most expensive of the bunch.  I went all out and bought a mix of brands including Boots own cheaper sticks. 

I sat at my desk 20 mins later with a mix of nerves, excitement, and anxiety and couldn't quite wait another 7 hours to be home and ready to test again. So, I nipped to the toilet with my handbag and took one of the Boots tests.  I'll be honest, it was basically negative and my least favourite test by far.

That evening, I was finally home and my sister was over for dinner. She was also staying the night, so I knew would be hard to not test until the next day when the coast was clear. I also had that morning's pee pot in the en-suite bathroom, so I was worried she would use that toilet and wonder why there was a pot of pee in there!

I told everyone I was getting changed and used a First Response test. Immediately, it was a positive and my heart started beating the fastest it has ever been. I called Ricky up to "help me lift this, please!" as an alibi for my unaware sister sitting downstairs. 

He looked at the test, looked at me, back at the test and then back at me. We agreed I would also test with the digital just to double make sure. This time, I covered it up to stop us looking at it constantly for an answer and we left it for 5 minutes. On a count of 3, we looked at it and the result said PREGNANT 1-2 (weeks).

I was sat on the floor and Ricky was standing above me. We was both silent, just staring at the test and then my constant, one million OMG, OMG, OMG's started coming out. Ricky was smiling and kissed me. I could tell he was super happy, but we had to hide it and forget about it for the rest of the night because of my sister being downstairs. Not great timing!

I must have done about another 3 tests over the next week or so and specifically wanted to save one for when I was around 4 days late on my period. My period has always been a 28 day cycle, so of course all of the test to follow confirmed I was pregnant. 

A private early scan at 6w,5d really did confirm I was pregnant when we saw a teeny, tiny heartbeat beating away super fast. I think it took a good 2-3 weeks for it to really sink in that we were going to be parents, but we are now fully on board with the idea and starting to get prepared for our family to become three. I've never been in a happier bubble than I am right now, let me tell you.