Hidden Field Retaining Value After Second Postback jQuery Tab

[spoonybard]

I have an ASP.Net 3.5 VB web application that has a jQuery UI Tab control on it. I am trying to maintain the selected tab through postbacks so I can reselect that tab when the page reloads. In order to maintain the value between postbacks, I am using a Hidden Field.

The issue I am running into is that on the first postback, the Hidden Field does not maintain the value I am giving it. However, from the second postback on, it properly manages the selected tab value.

The following is the jQuery code that I am using. It is being built in the Code Behind OnPreRender and the Hidden Field is declared in the Code Behind:

        Dim script As New StringBuilder()

        'Create the jQuery tab control
        script.Append("$('#" & Me.MyContainer.ClientID & "').tabs();")

        'Tab change handler - stores the selected tab's client ID in the hidden field.
        script.Append("$('#" & Me.MyContainer.ClientID & "').bind( 'tabsselect', function(event, ui) {")
        script.Append("jQuery(""#" & Me.hidSelectedTab.ClientID & """).val(ui.panel.id);")
        script.Append("});")

        'Force tab selection if hidden control has a value
        If Not Me.hidSelectedTab Is Nothing AndAlso Not String.IsNullOrEmpty(Me.hidSelectedTab.Value) Then
            script.Append("$('#" & Me.MyContainer.ClientID & "').tabs('select', '" & Me.hidSelectedTab.Value & "');")
        End If

        'Register the script

Due to the restrictions of our web application, we cannot use the jQuery Cookie method for maintaining the selected tab.

Thanks!