UPDATE: She started having her full period today. She tested negative yesterday on the First Response pregnancy test.
I am inexpressibly relieved, to say the least. But I did want to clarify some things in response to some of the posts. First, she did test last weekend also, and came up negative, but according to the World Wide University of Google, coming up negative doesn’t always mean you’re not pregnant, especially early on. Some women don’t produce enough HCG for even a blood test to pick up until their third month. Being as my GF has wacky hormones, I wouldn’t’ve been surprised if her pregnancy flew under the HPT radar.
My GF doesn’t use birth control either, and we had sex during her peek fertility—according to her cycle-tracking app—so you can see why I would still be distrustful of HPTs. In light of this, you might also see why I completely failed to understand the purpose of a paternity test until just now (their reasoning being, I now realize, that a pregnancy in unlikely circumstances may be a sign of infidelity). However, I would stress that I think the immediate jump to this advice from some posters comes off as a tad more cynical than was called for. But I understand the impulse.
I would like to thank those individuals who shared encouraging words. I would like to thank those who offered their advice in earnest. I would like to thank those who reminded me that this was an opportunity to really reflect on the man, the (potential) father, and the Catholic I want to be. And I would to thank anybody who may have prayed for my girlfriend, me, and our situation. I am grateful for it all.
I will say that this shocked me out of my recent complacency about my chastity with my GF. It shocked me into a renewed desire cling to Christ and Church in their fullness, and it also showed me that despite my fear and panic over a possible unplanned-for pregnancy, I was willing to own up and face the challenge of being a good parent. I had already begun to mentally prepare myself to shift into parent mode just in case.
Perhaps you might not agree, but I think that God played a hand in this for these precise reasons. I choose to see this scare not as a mere lesson, but as a grace, erring in the direction of a severe mercy. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit!
