False Hopes

I've debated over whether or not I should blog about this, there are pros and cons to doing it, and even though I don't really want to, I realized that if what happened to me happened to someone else that I know and I didn't tell them about my experience, I would feel guilty. This is preventable. So, here we go. This is one of those TMI blog posts where I talk about girl stuff. Be warned.

Not long ago I was 4 days late, and nauseous. I took a pregnancy test one morning. I waited the 3 minutes it said to wait and then I read the test. It was positive. This wasn't a test that had the plus or negative sign on it, it was an electronic one that said the word "PREGNANT" on it. I was thrilled. I screamed for Rick. I showed him the test. We laughed and hugged and cried and laughed some more. Pregnant!

We had a busy day ahead of us. We had to hurry and get ready and meet a friend for lunch in Phoenix and then go shopping afterward. I wanted to take another test but we didn't have time, so we left. We finished our lunch and then went to Ikea. While we were walking around in the magical land of duvet covers and kitchen appliances, my back started to ache. The pain got worse as we continued to walk around. We bought our stuff and left. We went to Rick's brothers house to visit and while we were there I felt better. We all needed some stuff so we decided to go to Costco. While we were walking around Costco the back pain came back but I also started having cramps. I was getting a little worried because I didn't know if that was normal but I told myself that as long as I wasn't bleeding I would be okay. After Costco we went to get some food to take to my Sister-in-Law, Megann, who was on her lunch break. While we were at the sandwich shop getting our food I went to the bathroom and I saw blood. My heart stopped. I had no idea what to do. Luckily, we were about to go visit Megann who works at the Hospital in the ER.

When we got to the Hospital I went to the bathroom again and there was a lot more blood, and the cramps were much worse. When I saw Megann I pulled her aside, told her what was going on, and asked her if I should check in since we were already at the Emergency Room. She said that to be safe I probably should. Because she works at the Hospital she was able to get me the VIP treatment. Bless her for that. Each time I told a Dr./Nurse/Tech what was happening I would cry. I knew I had a family history of miscarriages, fertility issues, PCOS, and ovarian cysts. The odds that this baby would be okay were not in my favor. I was scared.

The Doctor ordered a urine test, blood test, and ultrasound. Once those were done it was just a waiting game. 3 hours later the Physicians Assistant came back with my results.

"We got your blood work back. Everything looks normal. Your blood type is O+ which is good to know for when you really do get pregnant. Your pregnancy test was negative. You're not pregnant. My guess is you're just starting your period."

I was in absolute shock. Not pregnant? How could that happen? I told him that my home pregnancy test was positive. He said I must have been given a false positive, or I read the test wrong. I asked him what would cause a false positive and he didn't know. He left and I cried and cried. Not pregnant?

The Doctor came in to go over my results with me more in depth. He basically said the same thing. I asked him what causes a false positive and he couldn't tell me either. He said I probably read the test wrong. I DIDN'T READ THE TEST WRONG. Here is a picture of the test right after I took it.

I didn't read it wrong.

I was in shock and I just wanted to go home. I was sad and frustrated and embarrassed that I was that idiot girl who went to the ER cause she was on her period. I went from thinking I was pregnant to thinking I was miscarrying to learning I was neither in a 10 hour period.

When we got home I researched false positives. Nothing gave me an answer. It told me that false positives are extremely rare and only happen under the following conditions:

1. You've recently had an abortion or miscarriage and have leftover HCG hormone in your body - that wasn't the case for me, this would have been my first pregnancy.

2. You read the test wrong - I DIDN'T.

3. The test was expired - I checked the box and the test expires in April of 2013.

4. You're on certain medications - I'm not on any.

None of those fit me. And nothing made sense. I was still so sad and so confused. I decided to research by the brand of pregnancy test that I used - clear blue. And that is when I hit the jackpot.

DON'T EVER BUY A CLEAR BLUE PREGNANCY TEST!

They are faulty and have been giving women false positives for years. One woman had a similar experience as me. She got a positive result, made an appointment with her OBGYN, and while she was there she learned she wasn't pregnant. One woman and her husband had been trying to get pregnant for SEVEN YEARS and she got a false positive. Can you imagine?

A false positive pregnancy test isn't like getting a false positive strep test where you just accidentally take antibiotics when you don't need to. This is thinking that you're going to bring another human into this world. This is thinking that you're going to become parents. A pregnancy is a big deal! I spent 3 hours in the ER and am now awaiting the bill from the Hospital because a $12 pregnancy test failed me. Don't ever buy a Clear Blue pregnancy test.