Female sharks 'can give birth without mating'

Female sharks can reproduce without having sex, scientists revealed today.

The discovery could have solved a mystery which has baffled experts studying the species in captivity.

An international team of researchers based in Northern Ireland and the United States made the breakthrough after a hammerhead shark gave birth without mating with a male.

No traces of any paternal DNA were detected in the offspring.

More here

The earliest appt. I could get was in 3 weeks, so I broke down and bought a digital test. After 3 excruciating minutes (sitting in the toilet stall at work -- very glamourous!), it came back definitively "Not pregnant". So, who knows what the faint BFPs were all about (chemical pg.? wishful thinking?)... Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled programming. Thanks for all the positive vibes -- I'm saving them up for the next time I need them!

I took a First Response test just now (it's quarter to three in the morning, so you can see I'm not anxious about this, or anything) and got the same result -- faint line, right away. I'm still not entirely convinced, but I'm overdue for my annual gyno checkup, so I think I'll make an appointment with my doctor and see if he can't settle the question.

Wouldn't this just be a kick in the pants?!

(And keep those positive vibes coming -- I can use all the help I can get!)

This morning's test revealed another faint line. But upon reflection, I'm not entirely convinced. If I were far enough along to notice symptoms, surely I'd be seeing a dark line by now, right? On the other hand, I was using cheapy tests, so my next plan of action is to wait a few days and try again with a name-brand test.

So, stay tuned, guys... and thanks for the support! I was afraid my ultra-sporadic posting of late would have put me right off the radar screen. No matter what happens, it's been fun playing the "what-if" game again, after so long of a hiatus. The weirdest thing was having to remind myself that if there were a baby, it would not be Lydia. This would be some other new baby, who I'd have to get to know from scratch. I think I remember a couple of other "moms after a loss" having similar feelings (Laura and DBM come to mind), so I guess it's par for the course.

Most likely this is much ado about nothing, so I'm going to try to not think about it too much this weekend. After a week of cold rain, we've actually got some sunshine today, so there's lots of garden work to be done. I'll write again as soon as I have more news...

A test has been taken. It is not completely negative.

Why would a menopausal woman who hasn't had a period in almost 18 months take a pregnancy test? Put it down to a sudden rise of symptoms that I couldn't quite attribute to "the change". I laughed to myself as I forked over the money for the test, but I just wanted to see the negative for myself. Plus, testing no longer has any real emotional value for me, so I was pretty sure that a BFN would not send me into uncontrolled fits of weeping.

Anyway, there is a line. It is faint, but it came up right away, and a line is a line, right? Aw hell, who knows anymore. Maybe I'm having a menopausal hormone flux that's causing the line. I will test again tomorrow AM with fresh morning pee. I just wanted to share my temporary state of shock...