e.p.t. and the "Moment You Knew"

Usually when it comes out that my husband and I tried for a full year to get pregnant before we conceived Big Sister E, people are surprised. But honestly, I was surprised it took that long, too. I felt like everything I had ever been taught or learned in school (or from teen dramas and soap operas) was warning that the moment you didn't use protection, bang! Pregnant.

But for us, each month went by and still nothing. The thought of not having a baby now that I really wanted one began to consume far too much of my mind and every time a pregnant woman or mom came into the library where I was working, it caused a little more heartache.

Everything I had read said that, for my age, I needed to try for a year before heading to the doctor, so that is what we did. By the last few months I had pretty much given up all hope and was mentally preparing to hear about the next step. What tests we would have to take and what possibilities were available since clearly my body didn't want to do this on its own.

To top it off, the day before my appointment my brother and sister-in-law called with the news: they were expecting. It wasn't a complete shock but they hadn't been talking too much about trying either, so the surprise was still there. And as much as I held it together on the phone and congratulated them and reiterated how happy I was for them, that night I burst into tears and let out all of my "why not me?" emotions.

The next morning I awoke early. As I went into the bathroom, the one last pregnancy test that hadn't been used stared at me from the counter. I figured I might as well just take it so that if the doctor asked how recently I had taken one, I would have a set answer.

So, at 5-something in the morning, you can imagine how long I stood with my mouth hanging open when I saw this:

At the time, I was pretty sure I must be mistaken in thinking that the two lines meant positive, so I read each word of the instructions again. And again.

And again.

And then even took a picture of those as well.

My husband was excited as well, but maybe would have showed it a little more had he not been woken up quite so early to find out the news. He also didn't really have any urge to examine the test itself, apparently the whole peeing-on-it thing was too much for him, even if that one stick was telling us the single largest change that was going to occur in our lives.

Due to his feelings and strong comments about "what are you going to DO with it?" I ended up not saving the actual pregnancy test that time, nor two years later when I found out I was pregnant with Little Sister B. (On a side note, it took one try for us to get pregnant the second time so apparently my body remembered what to do without any problems.)

But did you know that 67% of expectant mothers save their at-home pregnancy test? This symbol, along with ultrasound photos and items from the delivery day, has been found as a top keepsake to commemorate this milestone of motherhood in a woman's life, whether the first time or the fifth.

So, to help women remember and cherish the "Moment You Knew," e.p.t. has come out with a free (with purchase) Keepsake Case to safely store and treasure a pregnancy test.

This cute zippered bag is just the right size for tucking a pregnancy test right inside and stashing it away for safe-keeping. I wish that e.p.t. had come out with this years ago so that I would have had a reason to ignore my husband's disapproval!

So tell me - when was the moment you first knew? Did you save your pregnancy test or any other keepsakes from your pregnancy? If not, do you wish you had?

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of e.p.t. and received an e.p.t. keepsake case and a $20 gift card to JustGive.org to facilitate my review.