"Are You Positive?" excerpt excerpt from Full Of Life

Home pregnancy tests have become so advanced that you can pee on a stick five days before you get your period and learn whether or not you're with child. Which is exactly what I did. I couldn't wait until the first day of my missed period-I needed to know as soon as possible.

So, I peed on the stick and waited for the results. I tried to be Zen about it, but I swear, three minutes have never felt longer. When the time was up, I took a deep breath, turned the stick over, and there, smack dab in the middle of my EPT stick, was a very faint line. I called Keith in and said, "Am I crazy or is there a line there? " Keith thought he saw something but he wasn't sure. I took two more tests - same faint line results but we both agreed that it looked like something was there. What it meant, if anything, was another story. But I had to go to work so I stuffed the remains of my various home pregnancy tests in my purse and ran out the door.

I was so excited I called my sister, Karen, and my mom with the Guess what? I think I may be pregnant news. My sister was cautiously optimistic and said, "I think maybe that's good news that you think you may be pregnant. " I quizzed her on whether she thought the faint line meant I was pregnant, but she couldn't tell me. Finally, [I called my doctor for him to weigh in on what an almost-maybe-possible line on a pregnancy test meant and he explained that the way the tests work is by detecting the presence of the pregnancy hormone hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) in the urine. So even though the line was faint, there was a good darn chance it meant I was pregnant! My doctor then told me to take the test again in the morning when the presence of the pregnancy hormone would be even stronger. Turns out that that hormone (the one that produces a positive result) doubles every twenty-four hours.] He suspected I would have a much darker test line the next day.

I woke up at five a.m. to go pee on a stick. My doctor was right. There was no question the line was dark. I was definitely pregnant!