Step Away From the Pee Sticks!

Well ladies, so sorry I haven't been posting too much lately.
I've been a bit lazy about blogging and getting into trouble.
My anxiety has kicked back in with a vengeance and that gets me into trouble.
I think this may have been the longest I have gone without seeing the babies on an ultrasound and all the old fears and worries come rushing back.

I am aware that during the second trimester, some of the symptoms of early pregnancy can ease up.
That didn't matter when I suddenly felt quite good this week.
I went a little crazy, but we all go a little crazy sometimes don't we? lol!
I measured my belly
Kept poking my boobies to see if they were still sore

And
...I found the hidden stash of my old Internet cheapie pregnancy test strips.

Now I know that hcg levels begin to level off at this stage of pregnancy because the placenta takes over.
I know that for sanity's sake you should not be messing around with those pee sticks once you get this far.
I know about the "hook effect"

The hook effect occurs when silly women like me pee on a stick when we are weeks and weeks into our pregnancies.

A brief explanation, once you get 8+ weeks in, the hcg is so high that it causes hpts to go a little wonky.
The test line of the test will start to progressively get lighter as the hcg gets so darn high the test is fighting to maintain it's hold on the situation.
There are very technical explanations on the web, but professional pee-on-a stick addicts like me describe it as "the reason to put down the pee sticks once you've had the blood test"

There's a simple way to find out if your test results are effected by the "hook effect" when you are well into your first trimester weeks.

Take two hpts(preferably cheapies)
Collect your urine in a cup but don't fill it all the way.
Dip one in the pure urine sample
Now dilute the remaining urine with clean water
Dip the second test ( I had five test so I diluted the water even more after I dipped each test)
Sorry, told you I'm crazy
The result of the second test that was dipped in the diluted sample should be darker than the test that was dipped in pure urine if your tests are being effected by the "hook effect".

Well my crazy experiment resulted in the line of my very last pee stick(#5 the urine sample was so diluted it was almost clear) being the strongest and darkest line of the lot. Yes, I had a progression with the same urine sample based on the dilution of the urine. The lightest test line was the pure urine, the darkest the super diluted urine.
I just realized how crazy I may sound.
WOW!
I'll stop!
Look it up for yourselves ladies.
Told my therapist yesterday about my experiment...
she almost dropped her coffee mug!
Per doctors orders I have been told to keep a journal of my exploits or crazy urges that are brought on by my anxiety over this pregnancy.
I'm suppose to bring it to each session I have with my therapist from now on.
Maybe writing it down before acting on it will help me get a handle of my irrational or rational thoughts.
Maybe It will keep me away from "Dr. Google"

I can imagine my nosy sweet husband finding the journal thinking he was finding my steamy hot thoughts, reading my crazy rantings, grabbing the dog and running out the back door to get away.

Well, I have one more week before I might get to see the babies again.
If you don't mind, I'll probably be blogging a lot more.