Call Page_Load event of VB page using VB.Net in ASP.Net

I have a vs2008 webform that I'm porting to vs2017 In the vs2008 I had both the page/html and code in the .aspx did not use the code behind .vb  for vs2017 I separated the page/html in the .aspx and moved the code into code behind .aspx.vbI have code in the sub page load to optionally populate the form form for testing but that is notbeing invoked in the debugger

    Sub Page_Load(ByVal Sender As Object, ByVal E As EventArgs) 
       If Not Page.IsPostBack Then
            'Message.Text = "First Time Load, the time is " + Now() 'debug code
            Session("postBackCnt") = 1
            buildPage()
         Else
             Session("postBackCnt") += 1
             work = Session("postBackCnt")
             'Message.Text = "page load count is " + work 'debug code
             'Response.Redirect("confirm.aspx")
             If editcheck() Then
                 processApp()
             End If
         End If
     End Sub

when debugging now with vs2017 with iisexpress the page loads ok but without invoking the sub page_load, ie I set a break point at the        If Not Page.IsPostBack Then line but it never gets there? until now I thought the Page_load would be invoked before the page gets rendered I want the page_load logic to execture before the page render