I finally unpacked the last box (um, yeah – we moved a year and a half ago).   It was that one lonely box that was full of stuff I don’t want to get rid of, but stuff I don’t know where to keep.  So, I took that obligatory trip down memory lane, trying to remember where I got what jewelry and why I’d put that specific book in with my special things… and then I came across my pregnancy test (um, yeah – my son is 19 months old)!  Gross.  The memories of that little stick flooded me and I caught myself chuckling.

Rewind.  I knew I was pregnant.  I knew right away, but I waited until I was late to confirm it.  Pregnancy tests are expensive and I wasn’t about to take one everyday or two.

The day I decided to take a test, I told my “husband” (we’re not married) I was going pick one up and wait til he got home.  So, I went to the store and picked one out – it was the one with the line for ‘pregnant.’  Once I got home with the test, I knew I wouldn’t be waiting to take it.  So, I read the instructions, cracked open the package and peed on the stick.

I waited for the line.  It appeared.  I was doubtful.  Now what?  I had no one to confirm the existence of the line! (and the box said the results were only reliable for 10 mins – that is such a lie, by the way – the line was so there over 2 years later).

What was a girl to do?  I took a pic of the test to see if it showed up better.  It totally did, but I was still not convinced.  Panicking as the 10 minutes wore on, I looked out the window and saw a mother walking down the street with 3 kids – one in a stroller.  She’d know!

I barreled down the stairs of the walk-up we were living in, flew out the door, and awkwardly halted in front of the woman.  She looked at me curiously as I stood wondering what to say.

So, I said “Um, I have an awkward question to ask you”  She just looked at me.  I presented the test that I had been holding behind my back and said “I need someone else to confirm this for me.”  Laughing, she took the test (which I was pretty sure I had just PEED on! Ew), looked at me and said “Girl, you better start gettin’ ready!”  Ack!  I was so excited.

Later, I picked up my “husband” at work.  He looked at me and said.  “So, you’re pregnant.  I can tell.  I knew you wouldn’t wait.  Right?  I’m right, right?”  And he was.

I kept the test as a memento because I couldn’t believe that I was actually pregnant.  I looked at it a few times before I was pregnant enough to get ultrasound pics.

It now resides in a landfill somewhere, I’m sure.  Michigan, probably.  I don’t need it, anymore.