Well my period was due on the 17th January 2006 and I had felt like she was on her way for at least 5 days. I thought that this was a little bit odd as since starting the acupuncture treatments I hadn’t had any premenstrual symptoms until I actually started to bleed or at most a few hours before. I was also extremely windy and seemed to have a lot of saliva in my mouth……not sure if those meant anything, but that is how I felt. I didn’t let myself read into it too deeply and actually put it down to the fact that I had been so bad at taking my Chinese Herbs that month, and made a mental note to start taking them properly when my period had finished!
Anyway I had cut down my temperature charting to just the few days around ovulation over the last few cycles. In fact this month I had only taken my temperature from the day after I thought I had ovulated as with so much drink being consumed over New Year I knew they wouldn’t be accurate. Anyway, I thought I had ovulated on cycle day 13 which was great and confirmed that the acupuncture was working. I stopped taking my temperature when I saw that it was staying high and I didn’t take it again until the day before my period was due.
That day it was quite a low temperature, what I would normally expect at this time in my cycle, so I prepared myself for my period and made a mental note just to take my temperature again the following day to see if it had dropped (it does this around 24 hours before your period arrives) so that I would know for sure that it was on its way and I could tell Lori, my acupuncturist, so that she could structure the treatment in the right way later that same day.
Anyway the 17th arrived and I woke up feeling different. I could feel my pulse pounding while I lay in bed but I tried not to get my hopes up as I had been here so many times before. I took my temperature…it had gone up 0.1 degrees, which although not a big rise, was not what I would have expected with my period being around the corner. I reminded myself that I could have ovulated a day later than I thought which would partly explain the lack of temperature drop, and that I had had this a few times before over the last 2 years. I berated myself once again for not taking my Chinese Herbs properly as this no doubt has made my body throw a wobbly and revert to its old ways!!
I had fleeting impulses to buy a pregnancy test that morning but I told myself not to be stupid, and thought that maybe Lori would be able to shed more light on the situation as she normally could feel in my pulses that my period was on its way, so possibly she would be able to feel the opposite as well.
I went along to my appointment and down played my “symptoms”. Lori was very non-committal and decided to give me a gentle treatment just incase I was pregnant. I left the appointment telling myself that I wasn’t pregnant, as if I was she would have been able tell and she would have told me to buy a test. The fact that she didn’t comment really implied to me that she thought my period was on its way and she wanted to let me down gently!
So I came home and kept myself busy until mid afternoon. I came on the internet and logged on to my internet forum (!) and decided to ask if my symptoms sounded plausible and if I should test. Of course everyone said I should! I told myself I would wait til the following day, see what my temperature did as maybe I ovulated later than I thought, and if it was still high then I would test. I set off to buy a test at the pharmacy down the road. I went into the pharmacy and bought a test, and then went next door to the supermarket and bought 3 cartons on Ribena and a pack of 3 tubes of Smarties so I would have something to comfort myself with if it was negative!!
I got home and got the test out and started reading it to see when it was accurate from. It said that it was accurate from the first day of your missed period, which was that day. I knew when I bought the test really that I would never be able to wait til the following day (!) so I decided there and then to do it as surely it would be accurate and I would know either way, no sense in holding out when I knew it would be negative anyway!
I had been here a few times before over the last 2 years, and although each time I had tested I had been sure it was going to be negative I was gutted every time when that dot faded away into nothing and there was no doubt that I was not pregnant.
I went into the bathroom and just as I was collecting some “wee wee” the phone rang. It was Peter telling me he would pick me up in about 10 minutes to meet some friends for drinks. I thought to myself the fact he called the split second I started to wee must be a good sign!!! Anyway, I returned to my sample and dipped the test in, for a little longer than specified just to be sure! I stood with the test walking around waiting for the dot to disappear, waiting, waiting, waiting…………..
It didn’t disappear!! This can’t be right! It must be wrong! Am I pregnant??!!
I couldn’t believe it! I felt like I was going to burst. I can’t even describe my emotions at that point!! Complete disbelief and shock! I sat down at the computer with the test in front of me and just kept staring!! Even now, a few weeks later I can’t adequately describe to you how I felt!!
I telephoned Peter and told him that I wanted him to come in the house when he came by to pick me up, but in the end I met him out front with the car. I couldn’t contain it. I had a grin as broad as they come, and I said “can you keep a secret?” “What are you doing in September?”. He looked all confused! I just said “I am pregnant”. The tears welled up in his eyes and I began to cry. “are you sure?" he said…………”yes, yes, I just did a test”!
It was the moment I had been dreaming of for nearly 2 years. It was really happening. Whatever the future held for this little miracle, at that moment in time I was pregnant and I was going to enjoy every second of it!