How you found out you were pregnant....

[marvik]

Not sure if this should be in the Creative Writing thread.

For fictional purposes I'd be interested in hearing about anyone's experience of finding out a bit late in the day that they were pregnant. How did the penny drop?

I'd not borrow or steal anybody's experiences for my writing. I'm just interested in the practical details of how people realised. Someone's comments? Then the purchase of a kit? Through a visit to the GP?

I simply want to make my own heroine's experiences sound plausible.

Thanks so much in anticipation...

GPS don't do routine pregnancy tests these days (when is the book set? If last century, then it might have been different).

For me, it was realisation I was late and POAS (I had a left-over test in the house from a previous late period where I was not PG)

I have borderline pcos so have cycles which vary between 6-12 weeks, I realised when I felt sick for a week or so and poas with DD1 at about 8 weeks.

I didn't realise until I pregnant until was about 8 weeks - DP and I obviously had an 'incident' - never happened before in 8yrs! after heart to heart we made the decision to take the MAP so didn't even occur to me that I would be pregnant! Early symptoms - 1 or 2 isolated days of feeling queezy and ridiculously sore breasts were dismissed as other things at the time. Didn't even notice I'd missed a period! It was my DP who insisted I take a home test after I was complaining about my breasts - told him he was being dramatic but it got me thinking so next morning after he left for work I bought and took the test on my own - fully expecting to take it and send him a message afterwards to take the mick for being so OTT the night before....but the almost instantly it came back positive! Eeek! Now we are over the initial shock we are delighted and feel that clearly this was meant to happen. He loves the fact that he 'knew' before me!

Looked at a jar of gherkins on the supermarket shelf and thought how amazing they looked?!?!?! Yep! I was pregnant. 24 hours later I got my BFP.

I was suspicious from day 0 (i.e. a good week an a half before my period was due) as my boobs were much bigger than normal, I had heartburn at night, I was quite tired and started to experience headaches and hormonal tension. So I patiently waited until my period was due. The night before I left a pregnancy test on my night table (so I would not forget about it in the morning) The next morning I took the test and immediately a strong pink line followed by a light pink line appeared. My immediate reaction was to run an wake my husband, but I thought I would return to bed and wait until the line was a bit stronger. At the end there was no time to wait because as soon as I got into bed my husband woke up and asked what time it was, so I showed him the test. He asked what did it mean. I said: 'I am pregnant'

GPS will do a pregnancy test to rule it out if you go complaining of exhaustion and sickness and you're sexually active. In my case it was UTIs but in a good friend's case (who assumed it was utis) she was reasonably far along in her first pregnancy.

My mum told me I was 15 weeks, had what I thought was a sickness bug but was morning sickness, my mum was in a mood and said I was pregnant.
Thought she was insane but then went outside for a smoke with my boyfriend and ran straight back inside to throw up.
Boyfriend got a pregnancy test the next morning and it turns out my mum was right.

With current pregnancy I realised quite suddenly that I was three weeks late, bought a test and it came back positive! With dd, I knew immediately & had to wait for a positive test.

I do have a friend who was approx 16-17 weeks pregnant with her first before she realised - it happens more often than you'd think!

Is your character going to have one of these surprises later in to the pregnancy or find out during the first trimester?

My period was late. Did a test, negative. Tested again a week later. Negative. I think I did 4 or 5 tests over several weeks and all were negative. I felt fine, wasn't trying to conceive and hadn't had any accidents, so just thought 'better go to the docs at some stage and check out where my period is'.

Arranged to meet my husband (then boyfriend) for dinner one evening after work. I was waiting for him in the bar. Ordered a G&T and lit a cigarette (this was in the bad-old-smoking-indoors-days ). The smell of the gin and the cigarette smoke instantly made me heave. Ran to the bathroom and threw up. Proper projectile vomiting. Alarm bells sounded then .

Went to the chemist that evening after dinner for one more pregnancy test. Big FAT positive.

He is 11 years old and as tall as me now .

I was hanging curtains one weekend and was overcome by a feeling of exhaustion like I'd been hit by a train. Lay down on the bed and ended up falling asleep, waking up a few hours later wondering WTF? I continued to feel off-colour, which I put down to a cold/bug, but a couple of days later in work someone was talking about a pregnancy related thing and it dawned on me that I couldn't remember my last period. Bought a test that evening and it was positive.

We'd been 'trying by not trying' for so long that I had almost put it out of my mind that I would ever fall pregnant, which was why I wasn't really paying attention to my menstrual cycle.

I had been working at a casual job and hadn't been there for a while, one of the girls there was pregnant and for some reason I just knew I was too.
Got home and did a test, I was 8 weeks along. It hadn't even occurred to me until I'd seen the pregnant colleague. Doh!

Second time, I woke up one day and felt exhausted. I knew I was pregnant and I was.

Third time, I was poas all of the time so I knew before my period was even due that I was pregnant

Was late but initially thought nothing of it. Had an overwhelming craving for toast and cheese. Did a test. BFP. Then the sickness started...

Couple of really crap runs at a time where I should have been in great form, felt a little nauseous in the swim leg of a sprint tri when I tried to pick up the pace, quite a bit of random bloating and blamed feeling a little queasy on a packed lunch of cheese sandwiches I'd brought to the Community Shield at Wembley. Got a positive test in early August when I was just over 7 weeks along.

I hadn't suspected anything after I'd had a negative blood test in early July. It turned out that if I'd had that blood test done one day later it probably would have been positive. I'll be 32 weeks on Sunday...

Thanks all. Writing is contemporary so yes, I had wondered whether a GP's involvement was not realistic - given all the pressures on their time plus easy availability of testing kits at chemist.

But this scenario - GPS will do a pregnancy test to rule it out if you go complaining of exhaustion and sickness and you're sexually active - could work well, from my point of view.

Before my period was even late, my boobs were red hot and felt weird. sure enough about a week later, got a positive test.

first pregnancy, something just told me to do a test, no idea why, wasn't expecting a positive or anything, but there it was! I even forget to check the test after I had done it....hes now 5! I was 8 weeks and didn't realise I had missed a period because I had ran 2 months of my pill over without a break.

this time I held a macmillan coffee morning, forced everybody to eat loads of cake and wasn't until after everyone left I realised I hadn't actually had any myself as I felt a bit sick.....I just knew, got a test and there was the line! 4 weeks so quite early! now 22 weeks!

After telling my colleagues I felt that all of my clients were secretly friends and were working together to try and annoy me (still embarrassed about that) I went a purchased a test. I was 11 weeks.

After years ttc and many losses we'd stopped formally trying for a while. DH was away in Italy on a course and I was vaguely aware that my period was a few days late. Didn't think much of it. At work a colleague came in from a cigarette break and the smell made me heave! Got home and found a test in the cupboard. Couldn't believe it when it was positive.

Spent the next week crying and keeping it a secret from DH until he came home. Didn't let myself believe it would end well. Still don't and I'm 36+1!

Was camping with the family, I have endemitriosis and pcos, as well as one ovary, so we aren't that careful.
I got sick, throwing up blood sick, DH and DD1 dropped me at a&e and went home to get washed/fresh clothes etc.
Sat in the emergency bay throwing up in a kidney bowl when the doctor said " you do know you're pregnant right?" I ever so elegantly turned to him and said "do what?".
Turns out phylocampha bacteria from a contaminated water bottle is great practise for hyperemesis, we're at 30+5 now and both (yes both) babies are fine.

With DD - I found out because I was dared too i burst out crying called dh (then dp) quickly ran to boots to get folic acid.

With my twins we had planned them so we did the deed and sure enough got a bfp first time

With ds I just knew x

Add: For ds I think I knew from conception too x

Mines fun-2 days before my hen do I was 4 days late-thinking it was stress I bought a test. I'd decided if I knew I wasn't pregnant then I would relax and my period would come. Lo and behold-positive. So no Prosecco for me on my hen do

Me and my oh had just moved 100 miles away from home for work. We were having our first date at a restaurant in this new city. For some reason it just came to me and I told my oh 'I'm pretty sure I haven't had a period recently'

Neither of us thought I could be pregnant so we got a test a few days later. I did the test and as soon as I did it the screen said 'pregnant 3+ weeks' and I ran down the hall shouting 'fucking hell, I am'

Ds was born 4 months later

I was at a friend's hen-do at The Oxo Tower in London. I suddenly realised I didn't fancy a drink and I couldn't get enthusiastic about any of the food either. That's when I knew something was up!

I was a day late and the damn cat just would not leave me alone, meowing and sitting on me (not a lap cat usually) and kneading me. Did a test next day - BFP!