Giving Birth By Surprise???

[4cruisin]

I have never been pregnant so I can't answer but for those of you that have had children, could you have possibly gone to full term with a healthy baby and not known your were pregnant until you went into labor?

An friend's wife just gave birth to her 4th child and according to her, she did not know she was pregnant. I find that hard to believe.

What are your thoughts???

 

[DVCLiz]

Well, I know it happens, but no, I couldn't possibly have gone to term with either of my babies without knowing I was pregnant. Of course, I was as big as the side of a barn both times, so it was pretty obvious. And something kept kicking me and jumping up and down on my bladder, so I knew it was either a baby or ...well, something else alive, lol!

I'm guessing that most women this happens to are not well-educated, don't understand the biology of getting pregnant, or actually know but refuse to believe the obvious symptoms that being pregnant would create.

And someone not knowing she was pregnant for the fourth time????? Hmmmm, that just seems completely impossible to me. I can see thinking something else was wrong to account for no periods, but surely after three times with a baby coming out at the end you'd know you weren't just having indigestion....

 

[UnderTheMistletoe]

Yes, it can happen. It usually happens for people who are medically diagnosed as being obese. They don't know that they're putting baby weight on vs. the weight they would normally put on becuase of their eating habits. They usually check themselves into an ER complaining of terrible lower back and abdominal pain, and trouble breathing. Another time this happens is when women have their tubes tied (or so they think) and don't take any other precautions. Once in a blue moon, they become pregnant and never even think twice about it becuase, "My tubes are tied!" They don't realize that all the signs are pointing to yes, despite the fact they might be thinking it's impossible.

 

[NMAmy]

Well, I can only speak for myself of course but....HECK, NO!

I weighed 112 lbs when I got pregnant and weighed 160 lbs, 9 months later. If I hadn't been pregnant, I'd have been going to the doctor to see what dreadful disease I had.

 

[ChristmasElf]

I was almost 5 months pregnant with my first before I realized. I was never regular-would go for months without a cycle (miss those days) and finally DH says, you should go to the Dr and make sure you are okay.

Suprise!!! It truly was as I had no signs at all. No weight gain, no cravings, no nothing. Then in my 7th month, I started to get a little bump and by the middle of the ninth month, you could tell I was Pg.

I guess it is possible, maybe the mother has small babies or maybe she is Plus size and it doesnt show as much.

 

[UnderTheMistletoe]

I can see thinking something else was wrong to account for no periods....

Sometimes they think they're meno-pausal, or they continue to have light irregular bleeding that they take for periods.

As kooky and wierd as it sounds, my parents have had this happen to them a few times. They get a call from the ER asking whether or not they knew a patient was pregnant. "Ummm...no.... haven't seen them in the office for over a year."

 

[paslea_pooh]

I have never been pregnant so I can't answer but for those of you that have had children, could you have possibly gone to full term with a healthy baby and not known your were pregnant until you went into labor?

An friend's wife just gave birth to her 4th child and according to her, she did not know she was pregnant. I find that hard to believe.

What are your thoughts???

I HAVE heard of this. Not sure how common it is. I personally have had 4 children. I would think that after 3 she would recognize some signals that her body was not behaving "normally". There is the abscence of your period, breast size, etc. Maybe she was in denial. The mind is very powerful.

I would consider what else was going on in her life. She may have been under alot of stress at the time. The baby could or could not be her husbands. (Not making any accusations here) And that is why she was trying to block it out.

Like I said, I've had 4 children. I can't imagine someone that has had 3 children previous DID NOT know she was pregnant.

Hope that answers your question.

 

[LukenDC]

I know someone who found out she was pregnant during the eighth month. She was a large woman who was experiencing some significant health problems, so she did not attribute the changes in her body to pregnancy. Thankfully her baby was healthy.

 

[gottalovethem]

I'm plenty plus-sized and knew I was pg right away with all three. I can't imagine not knowing, though anything is possible.

 

[MouseWorshipin]

No way. Babies kick, you're going to feel that no matter how fat you are, because it comes from inside, that's where you feel it. Maybe other people can't tell, but you'll know.

 

[Mike.Wazowski]

I don't get that at all -
it is my opinion that they must be in denial or something...
there are way to many signs and symptoms of pregnancy!

I have heard of this before and I NEVER understood it!!

 

[Fan2CSkr]

I have heard of this happening many times before. For me personally, NO WAY would I not know. I believe it happens I just cant figure out how. I had a 60 lb weight gain with my second so there were clues.

 

[SueEllen]

I knew immediately (within days) of becoming pregnant. Terrible nausea (never sick, just felt sick) smells making it worse. I literally knew with both of my children before the tests could even tell. That first day I was late I took the test on both children and confirmed it.

I cannot imagine going an entire pregnancy and not knowing (although as others have said it does happen, and often with those who are struggling with weight issues and other health problems.)

I guess the only other explanation would be someone who was very uneducated and had no idea what was going on, but I'd say that by 2/3 of the way through if you didn't know by then you SHOULD have figured out that the kicking is NOT GAS!!

Sue Ellen

 

[MUFFYCAT]

NO WAY!!! especiaally when she's already had 3 kids.

or she's extremely ditzy

 

[bevtoy]

Sounds like a title off of The National Enquirer magazine:
72 Year old Woman Gives birth to Child Fathered By Alien! Didn't know she was pregnant till she gave Birth!

Sounds doubious at best, yet I know lots of women who think its possible.

 

[Danauk]

My friend was 7 months at work was 7 months pregnant when she found out she was having her 2nd child. She is very slim and had hardly any weight gain. Plus she continued to bleed through the pregnancy, she only went to the doctors because she could feel the baby moving and thought something was wrong with her.

Another girl I used to work with found out she was pregnant the week before she had the baby. When she went into hospital to have her daughter she was wearing size 4 hipsters!!

 

[goodeats]

I read an article once in some women's magazine about a woman that this happened to. She was not obese, in fact she was thin. I think she had had her tubes tied or something so she was not expecting a period. She only gained 5 pounds and atributed it to too much frozen yogurt or something. She didn't have a belly because she was carrying the baby toward her back. I guess one day she felt the urge to go to the bathroom and she ended up delivering in the bathroom!

I was only 12 when I read the article, and I still didn't believe it!

 

[chasbos]

I have heard of it before too, but find it very hard to believe.

Now if it was me, I think I would be in denial too!

4 kids are all I need! No need for a 5th!

 

[LindsayDunn228]

I think she had had her tubes tied or something so she was not expecting a period.

You still have periods when your tubes are tied.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

No way. Babies kick, you're going to feel that no matter how fat you are, because it comes from inside, that's where you feel it. Maybe other people can't tell, but you'll know.

That's not true. It DOES happen. Not everyone is the same. Blanket statements like this just don't hold true.

I know a woman who, yes, did know she was pregnant, but swears she NEVER felt the baby move the whole time. For what reason? Who knows. Her 2nd pregnancy the baby was very active.

A classmate of my son's was delivered into the toilet...her mother didn't know she was pregnant (and she always seemed pretty smart and educated to me.)

My sister met a woman in a doctor's office who just found out she was pregnant at about 6 or 7 months. She had started to gain weight, so she started an exercize program. She thought the fluttering she felt was muscle spasms.

My BIL's cousin was married for 20 years and had wanted children, but it never happened. At a holiday dinner at a relative's house, she went into the bathroom because she had "stomach pains" and gave birth to a baby. She was, actually, a very intelligent and educated woman.

I've also heard of larger women who know they're pregnant, but who lose weight during the pregnancy, or gain very little; surely that same situation could prevent someone from knowing that they were pregnant.

One of my best friends didn't know she was pregnant until 6 months...and this was her 4th baby. She was breastfeeding her 3rd, hadn't gotten a period, didn't gain weight, didn't feel any movement that she took for being a baby kicking.

Were any of these pregnancies like mine? Nope. I knew I was pregnant before I was even late. I gained weight immediately, and my babies all weighed between 10 and 11 1/2 lbs at birth.

But just because the majority of women go through standard basic experiences with their pregnancies, doesn't mean everyone does. There are HOW MANY pregancies in the world year after year? There certainly ARE going to be situations where this can happen. There are MUCH odder medical occurrences than not knowing you're pregnant.