Me and Simon are absolutely over the moon and I can't describe how excited we both are! We have been trying for a baby since just after our wedding in September last year and I actually found out I was pregnant on the 6th of April 2015. I've been wanting to share this news with you all for sooooo long! There's been so many times I've gone to write something pregnancy related on Twitter and then thought that I better not say anything yet as it was a bit too soon. I wanted to wait until after I'd had the 12 week scan and that time has been and gone so I've been looking forward to writing this post :).
Trying For A Baby
A lot of you will know that me and Si have been married since September 2014. We have always talked about having children and about having them once we were married. It's a lovely situation when you're actually trying for a baby because although it can be hard every month waiting to see if you come on your period (I'm just gonna say it how it is in this post), it is also really really exciting! I stopped taking my contraceptive pill after our wedding holiday (I didn't want to risk coming on my period whilst we were away, so I carried on taking them during this time), so it was about the middle of September that I stopped taking my pill. I was under the impression that I probably wouldn't become pregnant right away as I'd be on the pill for about 11 years, so I figured it had to have a little time to get out of my system and my cycles would have to re-adjust to not being controlled by the contraceptive pill (whether this is true or not I don't know, but that's just what I thought at the time).
I felt like my cycles weren't anything out of the ordinary to start with and considering I'd just stopped taking the pill, my periods seemed pretty regular. I was just letting nature take its course to begin with but when January came, I started to write things down and work out dates. I'd worked out that my last few cycles had been averaging at around 35 days and so in Feb when 35 days since the first day of my last period came about and I still hadn't come on, I'm not going to lie, I started to get my hopes up. I took pregnancy tests that came back negative but had read that the pregnancy hormone HCG could be low in early pregnancy and some tests don't initially pick this up, so my hopes were still quite high. 15 days after I thought I was due to come on, I came on, so my hopes were shattered a little and of course there were things I'd read about saying that you could still be pregnant and initially come on with it only lasting a day or two. That didn't occur for me, I took one final pregnancy test to check and it was still negative and my period lasted for the normal amount of days that it usually did. I then knew that it wasn't to be that month.
Ovulation
In March I decided to start taking ovulation tests. I got mine from Boots for £9.99. In the pack you get 7 tests. You can get bulk tests online for good prices, but I wanted to start taking them straight after my period near enough as I was well aware at that point that my cycles were all over the place, so I just went into town and picked some up. Ovulation tests are similar to pregnancy tests in that you have to wee on the test stick or dip it into a container holding your urine.
The Boots ovulation tests that I used.
When you're trying for a baby and you read info online and in pregnancy books, it's a real eye opener as to when you can actually get pregnant. Unless you are aware, it is very easy to think that you can get pregnant at any time during a month, as long as you have periods. However, the truth is that there are on average only a few days during a cycle that you can get pregnant. Typically, a woman is said to ovulate 14 days after the first day of her last period, this is usually based on a 28 day cycle. With my last period, I ovulated four weeks after, so you can see that my cycles weren't regular and if I weren't taking the ovulation tests, then there's a chance that I might not be pregnant today. It was important for me to take these ovulation tests due to my cycles being all over the shop. Don't get me wrong, I'm aware that a lot of people get pregnant without planning on doing so or actively trying. To put it simply, when a woman ovulates, the egg lives for 24-48 hours and sperm can live for 3-7 days in a woman's body, so trying for a baby before and after you think you are due to ovulate will give you the best chance of conceiving.
I started to take the tests in the second week after the first day of my last period. I took them every other day to start with, but as it got into the third week, I was worried I'd miss my ovulation, so I got more tests and started to take them every day. In the fourth week, I had the magic line appear which told me that the test had recognised a LH surge. This was the first time I'd ever seen that line appear, so I went running in to Si to show him. It's quite funny when I think of it now because he was aware that I was taking ovulation tests, but I didn't tell him every single time I went to the bathroom to do one, so when I ran in he said that he thought it was a pregnancy test and was getting excited. I told him to stay excited cause I was about to ovulate! Ha ha. When you get the LH surge it usually means that you are due to ovulate in the next two days. As mentioned above, you can see why trying for a baby before ovulation can be useful due to the amount of days that sperm can live in a woman's body, meaning it is already there ready to meet the egg.
The Wait
As I knew when I'd be ovulating, March into April was a very exciting time. Although I didn't come on when I thought I would, this had happened the previous month so I didn't want to get too excited again. You try not to get your hopes up but it's hard. I left it a few more weeks just in case I was really late but still there was nothing. Three weeks after I'd ovulated I decided to take a pregnancy test, on the 6th of April to be exact!
Finding Out I Was Pregnant
When I'd taken pregnancy tests the previous month, they took ages to come up with the result. I used to take them first thing in the morning, so I'd go to the toilet, test my sample and then while that little timer was going round and round on the test, I'd be having a wash, brushing my teeth etc. It was so disappointing when I looked over and it said that I wasn't pregnant. This time, I did exactly the same thing and it felt like I'd only just turned the water on to have a wash and when I looked back (as you do, you can't help but keep looking!) it said PREGNANT!!!! When I first saw that first test saying pregnant, I was holding it and just staring at it, I was thinking to myself oh my god, oh my god, really??!! I couldn't believe it. Si was working downstairs at the time, so I quickly text him and told him and he came running up to see the test and to give me a hug, bless him. Then I had to tell my mom. My mom then rang me on speaker phone with my sister and they were yelling yeahhhhh over the phone. Our closest family knew we were trying for a baby so I was often being asked, any news yet?!
I wanted to go and get some more tests to double (and triple, ha!) confirm it. I had read that it's very rare to get a negative positive though if you know what I mean and I couldn't believe how quickly the result had come up. I remember going into town to get more tests and feeling so excited. I saw my dad's girlfriend whilst out, so I was speaking to her for a little bit but couldn't say anything before telling my dad. I took another test that same afternoon and the same thing happened, the result came up really quickly. Simon told his mom that evening and I told his sister, as well as my dad. Everyone was thrilled for us. I did take another test the very next day, just because I wanted another confirmation and I had a spare test anyway, but it did exactly the same thing! I feel so incredibly lucky that I was able to get pregnant so quickly after trying. It's awful when you hear about people struggling to conceive (and I do know of some people) when that's all they want, so I'm fully aware of how lucky we have been.
At this stage, I am 14 weeks and six days pregnant! Look out for my next pregnancy post in which I'll tell you about my first lot of appointments and what happened at each, otherwise this post will be turning into a dissertation. We might also share our scan pics! :). If anyone wants to ask me anything, I will try to help based on my experiences.
It's so lovely being able to tell everyone finally!
Thanks so much for reading! Please like, comment and follow me if you haven't already :).
Gem & Bump XxOo
Image courtesy of Pinterest.
