I kept this secret for 9 months

How I found out I was pregnant

Dec 05, 2025

If you’re reading this, I gave birth to a beautiful baby and kept it all to myself, friends, and family these past 9 months. Congratulations to you, future self! You did it! Anyways, this newsletter today is part one of my journey through pregnancy. I am writing this at 30 weeks pregnant, feeling my baby’s kicks as I tell the tale of finding out about her existence. I hope you will love these letters these next few weeks as I open up to you about the most magical time in my life…my journey to motherhood. Enjoy…

Love, Anastasia Hounnou

The story of how I found out I had life in my womb begins on what I thought was a typical Saturday. I missed my cycle by one day, but it was a common occurrence for it to fluctuate. I knew better than to get my hopes up and think that I was pregnant. I just couldn’t be pregnant.

But, silly ol’ me decided to grab a cheap pregnancy test while I was grocery shopping at Walmart just in case.

I came home and took the test, but nothing came up on the little window of the pregnancy test. I figured it was a faulty test and just threw it away. I didn’t want to waste another test, so I just saved the other pregnancy test in the package and went on with my day.

Later came, and as I was using the restroom, I had an inkling to look to my side in the trash and see if a line came up…and too my shock, I saw a strong cross on the pregnancy test. I grabbed the test out of the trash and my stomach flipped. There’s no way this was correct. So I took another test, and this time the cross came immediately.

I went out to my husband and told him, “babe, come in here.”

And we both just looked at the two pregnancy tests. Our hands over our mouths in disbelief.

I told him that they were probably just evaporation lines. They’re cheap tests anyways, their probably wrong…the whole time praying to God that I was actually pregnant, but not wanting to get my hopes up.

I told him I was going to run to Walmart quick to grab a digital test so I could confirm.

I came back 20 minutes later and fell into my husband’s arms and sobbed. I wanted to be pregnant so bad, but I was afraid to take the test and get another disappointment—another time God telling me “not yet.” So we just prayed and listened to worship music before I took the digital test.

Once I felt at peace at either outcome, I went into the bathroom and took the test. My only regret is not recording this moment (again, I really didn’t think I was pregnant).

I waited for what felt like hours as the digital test took it’s time loading the results, the longest three to five minutes of my life…and there it was.

The word I prayed to God for years to see on a test.

Pregnant.

I went out to my husband who was doing the dishes and told him, “babe, I’m actually pregnant.”

He rushed to me and held me as I sobbed a deep cry from the pits of my soul. I was carrying life. A life that came from the love I shared with my husband.

I cried and cried. I was in a state of shock for days.

We went to a doctor to confirm if I was actually pregnant, and I was. We were overjoyed (and still are).

This is the start to my journey of motherhood.

I hope you will follow along as I share the rest of it, and what I learned along the way as I was pregnant for the very first time.