Anyone UP/UCers decide NOT to take a HPT?

[lia_joy]

all 3 of my boys were UCs but I had pretty standard prenatal care for each pregnancy.  I'm interested in hearing the experiences of women doing UP who decided not to take a pregnancy test... It makes sense to me that if you want to connect to the intuitive side, you'd start by looking within instead of relying on the hpt to confirm pregnancy. I've peed on way too many sticks over the years because of an obsessive nagging that couldn't even wait a couple days past my expected period & I'd love to hear about anyone who's taken a different approach.

TIA

lia

[pregnova]

I haven't actually gone that route, but DP definitely felt that we should have foregone a HPT for the same reasons you listed. It also made sense to me...and, by the time I did take my HPT, I KNEW I was pregnant beyond a doubt, but still, I couldn't take the suspense of not having that PROOF. lol. 

Interesting post though...are you thinking you might be pregnant?

[mtn.mama]

I've been pregnant four times and never peed on a stick.  This last time, I knew there was something happening within hours of conception.  I could feel my body changing by the minute.  It was amazing!

[lia_joy]

@ mtn.mama -- Very cool! I've been thinking that if you reach a certain awareness, that's how it would feel (and I hope to reach that point.)

@pregnova --  I'm working to spend more time in that space within where you don't have to ask, you just know. I'm pretty confident in my awareness at the moment, but I'm not at the point of discussing it publicly, so Lets just say I'm striving to get in touch with what is happening in my body without analyzing/obsessing every month ;) 

*if* we have more babies, I definately want to explore doing UP. I'm thinking that I'm comfortable at least going the first few months & deciding if I want to see a midwife based on how confident/connected I felt (or based on information recieved from that connection)

It seems to me that intuition is like a muscle that needs excersize & I love hearing about other people's processes!  Those HPTs are so hard to resist (and if I were on meds or about to get an xray or something, I'd definately see the benefit of immediate proof,) but I'm thinking that (for me anyway) it circumvents part of the process of connecting.

  Before I had my youngest son, I had an early miscarriage & I know that could have been easier on me if I'd really looked within instead of fighting it -- then, getting pregnant right after the m/c I ran right in for the earliest ultrasound to confirm & my dates were off by Weeks  leading me to believe I was having another m/c... I KNOW that if I'd spent the time/energy connecting with those pregnancies from the beginning (rather than relying on ultrasound & blood tests) it would have saved me a lot of stress.  When i think about how I felt seeing the pregnancy tests, even though I knew in my body what was happening, it was like a Jolt (both pregnancies were accidents, believe it or not so i was quite shocked) I thought it was just that the hpt made it more 'real'  but I'm considering that maybe it's not supposed to feel so real so early... conception is a pretty amazing & unreal thing. I'm thinking about the value of feeling that for a while.

[Almi]

I could tell I was pregnant this time around, I would have been about 2-3 weeks pregnant, so I knew about the time of fertilization/implantation.  I tested when I was almost 4 weeks just to make sure (I have not had a PP period yet, btw, so I didn't have anything to go off of), and sure enough I got a BFP.

I couldn't tell at all with my twins, and I would not have wanted to UP with them.

[lia_joy]

Well, the last week just proved my theory. LOL.  When I first posted here I was SURE that I was pregnant (didn't want to say that since I hadn't talked to DH about it yet) well, I was going out of town for a couple of days & when I told DH my period was late & I was pretty confident I knew why, he asked me to take a test.  I respected that he couldn't go within the same way I could (although, it's funny, he had made a few jokes before our conversation that I think were his intuition at work.) I took the test and it was negative. I went on my trip still feeling 'off' and a few times I thought maybe the test was wrong, but mostly I started to wonder if I had something else going on like a bladder infection.  I got a dr appt when I got home & they got 2 very faint positives.  while I was waiting for them to come take blood, I saw a very faint rainbow out the window & thought about how I'd known before the test knew (DH had a dream while I was gone that we had a little girl.)  This morning I got the phone call that my HCG level is consistant with 4-5 weeks gestation.  So, if I'd gone with my innitial feeling -- NOT to test -- I'd have known all along :)  Good lesson if I decide to UP!!

[AbbieB]

This pregnancy I KNEW it well before a positive showed up. I did not need to see a test since my body was screaming "Your pregnant!"

But, I needed to get proof of pregnancy (for insurance just in case, and later for the birth certificate) and had 3 pee tests sitting on my bathroom shelf from 4 years ago. So I tested to help confirm dates, then once I got a positive, went down to the health department to pee on their stick and get my official, very not official looking form filled out.

I really wish I could have just gone with the flow and not peed on anything. It would be very magical to have a pregnancy with no interventions at all. I almost had it last time.

Last pregnancy I felt a strong call to be as intervention free as possible. I did self care and it was so wonderful. I did birth with a midwife in the end, DH was not comfortable with the level of responsibility that goes with a UC (with good reason I think, I hemorrhaged and had a retained placenta the first go around. It scared him silly.) The only thing I did test for in the first 2 trimesters was to see if I was pregnant. We had been trying for 2 years so if I was a little late, I tested. I wanted to know if I was having early miscarriages.

This time around I feel the need for a little more care (and so far I really have needed some help, I would have lost this baby without taking some progesterone, my levels were so scary low.)

[Pirogi]

I didn't POAS this time.  I just this morning got my 21st raised temperature after ovulation, which supposedly puts you at 99% chance of being pregnant.  But I was having about 7-day luteal phases postpartum, so by about day 12 I knew I was most likely pregnant.  I did have to go in last Friday to get a blood test for my job/insurance.

Next time I won't do any of that.

[Just1More]

I always POAS, but I always know ahead of time, too.  Like mtn mama, I just know.  Very, very early.  POAS is just a confirmation.  In fact, this last time, I was certain, but it was neg.  That kind of threw me, but I decided I would wait 2 more days and try again.  Yep.  Pg.  I knew it.  So strange.

[Multimomma]

Haha! I am too eager to know, and I always take a test. Or four. I always think how fun it would be to go slow and just Be, but I'm not a waiting type of person lol

[rainbow_mandala]

Originally Posted by lia_joy 

Well, the last week just proved my theory. LOL.  When I first posted here I was SURE that I was pregnant (didn't want to say that since I hadn't talked to DH about it yet) well, I was going out of town for a couple of days & when I told DH my period was late & I was pretty confident I knew why, he asked me to take a test.  I respected that he couldn't go within the same way I could (although, it's funny, he had made a few jokes before our conversation that I think were his intuition at work.) I took the test and it was negative. I went on my trip still feeling 'off' and a few times I thought maybe the test was wrong, but mostly I started to wonder if I had something else going on like a bladder infection.  I got a dr appt when I got home & they got 2 very faint positives.  while I was waiting for them to come take blood, I saw a very faint rainbow out the window & thought about how I'd known before the test knew (DH had a dream while I was gone that we had a little girl.)  This morning I got the phone call that my HCG level is consistant with 4-5 weeks gestation.  So, if I'd gone with my innitial feeling -- NOT to test -- I'd have known all along :)  Good lesson if I decide to UP!!

Awesome story, lia_joy!  Thank you for sharing and congrats on your little miracle   I *knew* with both of my kids, but I felt the need to take a test to "make sure".  In hindsight, I didn't really need the test, but it helped me wrap my head around being pregnant (also really helped their fathers).  I'm a very visual person so having something to look at was very helpful for me psychologically.  In fact, I saved the positive test I got when I was pregnant with my son and regularly looked at it during his pregnancy   So, for me, it didn't take away from the experience, it was just a nice reminder of what I already knew.  I'm not an obsessive test taker, though, I rely more on my intuition, so it hasn't been a real issue for me.

[Paigekitten]

I thought about not taking a pregnancy test with this baby, but I KNEW I was pregnant even before I did.  I knew I was pregnant with my first two daughters too, but there were two other times I've been sure I was pregnant, but had then my period a week or two late (I'm usually right on time).  So my gut tells me that I know better then the tests and that the two times I was "wrong" were actually very early miscarriages.  My logical side likes to dispute that though.

[journeywooz]

Originally Posted by mtn.mama 

I've been pregnant four times and never peed on a stick.  This last time, I knew there was something happening within hours of conception.  I could feel my body changing by the minute.  It was amazing!

exactly this!  except this is my second.  i think it helps me connect with my intuitive side.

[jenrose]

I've had a couple of miscarriages, and for me, knowing I"m pregnant isn't the issue, I just find it reassuring to have a stack of the internet cheapy tests and watch them get darker by the day. I've gotten pregnant every time I tried, I just haven't stayed pregnant every time I've been.

Also, I like science, and there's something sort of mad sciency about the pee tests. I find them satisfying. Not so much necessary. 

[BaileyB]

I think I have read this thread before but then didn't answer because I was still TTCing. I am newly pregnant (won't be 4 weeks until Friday) and I have not peed on a stick. I too am a stick-a-holic. I started checking my cervical position this last month of TTCing and that is how I knew along with knowing that we DTD on the exact day I ovulated and started feeling changes the next day. I am now 13 dpo and have a small tummy, super sore boobs, some nausea and heartburn, and my cervix is super high, closed, and in a smile-shape. haha.

Actually now that I think about it, I think reading this thread a few weeks ago is what made me want to try to not use a stick! You're so inspiring Lia!

[lia_joy]

Originally Posted by BaileyB 

I think I have read this thread before but then didn't answer because I was still TTCing. I am newly pregnant (won't be 4 weeks until Friday) and I have not peed on a stick. I too am a stick-a-holic. I started checking my cervical position this last month of TTCing and that is how I knew along with knowing that we DTD on the exact day I ovulated and started feeling changes the next day. I am now 13 dpo and have a small tummy, super sore boobs, some nausea and heartburn, and my cervix is super high, closed, and in a smile-shape. haha.

Actually now that I think about it, I think reading this thread a few weeks ago is what made me want to try to not use a stick! You're so inspiring Lia!

Very cool!! I kind of regretted that I ended up testing -- I think it'd have been cool not to... But as it turned out, I had a really excellent trip hanging out with my friends and not having my mom-brain turned on.  The negative pregnancy test helped me to really enjoy my independance (probably the last time for quite a while)  without having baby on the brain, so there was definately a silver lining :) 
 

[Sharlla]

i needed to POAS because i need to get on medicaid so i can get an IUD after this baby is born.