Today is October 23, 2016. One year ago today, I took a pregnancy test and the result was a positive. Here is the story of what happened leading up to and right after I took the test that changed mine and Dave's life for the better, forever.
Growing up I never had a regular period. In fact, if Aunt flow came to visit more than three times a year, that was a lot for me. As I got older and started going to the Lady Doctor, I found out that I had Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome. Basically, I had so many cysts on my ovaries that I wasn't able to ovulate regularly. The doctors told me that between the PCOS and me being pre diabetic, it would be very hard for me to get pregnant and it would also be very dangerous. This did not bother me much. I never even wanted to settle down with another human being, let alone have a baby. I wanted to travel the world, and live in as many states as possible. I came from a very broken home, so to me, marriage was a very foreign concept. Then, I met my future husband.
I didn't want a boyfriend. I certainly didn't want a long distance relationship, but Dave wore me down and convinced me I should give it a try. Before I knew what was happening, Dave had moved to Virginia from New Jersey, to live with me. Dave always told me that I was the woman he wanted to spend his life with. Both of us were fine with never getting married, For some reason, being with Dave and hearing him talk about wanting to have kids, made me want to have children. We both knew it would be a big struggle for me to get pregnant, but we didn't care. We were only together a couple of years, we weren't married, but we decided to try and have a baby. (we did end up getting married. I wrote a blog about that hilarious journey a while ago. if you feel compelled to read it, I can point you to it.)
For ten long years we tried to get knocked up. For ten years I took pregnancy test after pregnancy test. They always came back negative. Not having a regular period didn't help our cause, but we did everything we could. Even just trying to have a baby is expensive when you have fertility issues.
In 2013 I was injured at work and 3 days later we were in a car accident, where I was injured enough to need spinal fusion surgery. In August of 2015, I had been out of work for 2 years and wasn't able to go back anytime soon. Dave and I had a long talk and decided that we were both, finally, ok about not having children. We were nowhere near being financially stable, and my body was too broken to have a baby anytime soon. Plus, I was almost 35 and that is the magical age where a woman suddenly becomes high risk, just based on her age alone. We decided that the "good things" about not having kids, were good enough for us.
The first couple weeks of October, 2015, were pretty horrendous. I am not gonna lie, I was in horrible pain dealing with my back. I also noticed that I was having really really bad period cramps. They were always bad, but never this bad. I wanted to start my period and get it over with. finally on Friday October 23, yes I remember the day, I decided that I had enough of these cramps, and I bought a pregnancy test. One of those .88 ones from Walmart. Why? Not because I thought I was pregnant, but because for ten to twelve years, every time I bought a pregnancy test, I would start my period right after I took the test. It never ever failed. I would buy the test, take the test, and the next day I would start my period. I was also wanting avocados really bad. I always crave avocados. I find people who don't love avocados to be weird. My husband hates them. So, I rest my case.
Anyway, I bought a couple avocados, and my pregnancy test, then went home. I immediately cut open the avocados. I was so proud of myself because I picked ones that were perfectly ripened. They were the perfect color and everything. I put salt and pepper on them and sat down to eat. I took a couple of bites and thought they tasted funny. They tasted like metal. It was so weird. For some reason, and I have no idea why I said this, but I said to myself, "wouldn't it be funny if I am pregnant and Dave's demon spawn didn't like avocados?" I tried to finish the avocados, but I couldn't they just tasted bad. Between that, and the food poisoning I thought I got from eating sushi two days before, I just wasn't winning with food.
I decided to go ahead and take the pregnancy test. I took it and as I was setting it on the counter to wait, I noticed all the lines were showing up. Like, immediately. I had never seen a positive pregnancy test. I had taken hundreds of them, I knew it was showing positive, but I still dug the box out of the trash and kept staring at it and at the test. I looked up my medicines I was taking for my diabetes, on google. Sure enough, the new med I was on, has been known to show false positives on pregnancy tests. I decided to tell Dave what was going on, so I went to back to Walmart, where he works. I told him, and he was as skeptical as I was. We decided I should buy the more expensive tests. I couldn't wait so I took the test right there at Walmart. Yes, I was one of those girls. It came back negative. I was still in a lot of pain so Dave said I should call my Dr. I called but they only had an appointment available the following Friday. This means I would have to wait a whole week. In the meantime I went back home and still had one pregnancy test. I needed to wait til the next morning to take it. I waited until like 9pm to take it. I couldn't wait any longer so I took it. Those lines showed up and I nearly fainted. They weren't light. They were dark and unmistakable. I still didn't believe it. I stared at the box and the test for the next two hours, until I had to go get Dave from work.
By Tuesday, the 27th of October, my pain was too much to handle and I was also spotting. The blood was minimal, but I couldn't take the pain. I went to the hospital Emergency Department. The first nurse I talked to was so nice. I told her I took a pregnancy test but didn't really think I was pregnant. I told her it was probably just my medicine causing a false positive. She said "So why do you think it was a false positive? If two tests said you are pregnant, you probably are." I said, because for almost 12 years my husband and I have wanted a baby. For nearly 12 years I have been taking pregnancy tests, and I have never seen a positive." The nurse almost started crying, mainly because at that point, saying that to this complete stranger, nearly made me cry. She said "well, we have ways of finding out for sure." Another nurse came in the room to take my blood. He was one of the best people, I have ever met. He said that the other nurse had told him our story and we were gonna do blood tests, another pee test and a pelvic exam. when I went to pee in a cup, I heard the other nurses talking at the desk. Apparently I was the talk of the ER. They were all "rooting" for me to be pregnant. I look back now and this really brings tears to my eyes. Complete strangers wanted me to be pregnant. So the pee test came back positive. Dave was about to get off from work and we had a friend bringing him to the hospital. He made it just as the ultrasound technician came in the room. He got to be there as she searched and searched and finally found, the tiny grain of rice sized baby that had been growing inside me for six weeks. I still didn't fully believe or comprehend it. I did have tears in my eyes. The tech told us she couldn't give us a picture because the hospital doesn't allow it. It was OK though, Dave and I both saw it.
As we were getting ready to leave my nurse came in and gave me a picture of the ultrasound. He said "please do not tell anyone here, but I couldn't help it and I wanted you to have this. I also want to tell my wife about you when I get home tonight, if that's OK." He too was pretty excited for us. When we left the first nurse I talked to cried and congratulated us, as did just about every nurse that was working that night.
The next 32 weeks flew by. I ended up in the hospital twice. Those were fun times. Other than that, and the actual delivery, it was an easy pregnancy. I had major diabetic issues, but luckily CJ came out super healthy, other than a tummy issue. My delivery was scary and dangerous and I almost didn't make it, but here we are 20 weeks later. I am so very very thankful and grateful every single day. My little miracle baby is so smart, and sweet and beautiful. I just know she is going to change the world for the better.
