Giving Birth By Surprise???

[MosMom]

I worked with a woman who gave birth and did not know she was pregnant (and this was her 3rd!!). She went into premature labor and the baby ended up being fine. I often wonder if she truly didn't know because she was up for managing a new store and probably was afraid she would have been passed over if she was pregnant again. Who knows though, she is pretty convincing when she talks about it.

 

[4cruisin]

The woman is mid 20's and not overweight at all. She is actually on the petite side. There is no doubt that she must have thought something was going on. I think she was either in denial or was afraid to tell the dh because he really didn't want any more kids. He had to sit down after the baby was born because he was so surprised. Of course, he is fine with the baby but was shocked at first.

The baby was over 7 lbs so it's not like it was a little premie. Thank God that both mom and baby are fine. I'll never believe that she didn't know.

When my sister was pg with her 2nd child, he used to stick his little elbow or foot out and you could see it on my sister's stomach. It was the cutest thing. I find it hard to understand how you couldn't know something was brewing.

 

[pixiemomma]

MY SIL didn't know she was pregnant until she was about 26/27 weeks along. She has used drugs for a very long time so this could be a contributing factor. She was 32 at the time with a 12 year old and not overweight. I tend to believe she didn't know because I am sure she would have had an abortion had she found out earlier.

 

[MouseWorshipin]

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.

Women who say they went to the bathroom and out popped a baby are lying. No way to go through a pregnancy (not to mention labor) and not know something's up.

 

[RadioNate]

I knew a woman this happened too. She was VERY overweight and had sever gastrointestional issues. She had 2 children. She continued to have a period throughout her entire 3rd pregnancy. I saw her several times during the pregnancy and I wouldn't have guessed she was pregnant at all. She said that she occasionally felt 'gassy' or had an upset stomach but since she had problems with that in the past she didn't think much of it.

Her DH ended up calling an ambulance when she was in sever pain and she had the baby. I saw her not long afterward and she didn't look different at all.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

I have to ask: these woman that chalk their symptoms up to something else, taking a simple home pregnancy test never came to mind??

 

[barkley]

one of my best girlfreinds in college got a "surpise" baby sister this way. her mom (a delightful highly educated woman) had been experiencing pre-menopausal symptoms for a year or more (hot flashes, light or skipped periods...) and decided she wanted her body back! so she changed to a very healthy diet and embarked on an exercise program. she lost weight (not alot she had maybe 20 or 30 she needed to drop) and then hit what she thought was a plateau in her weight loss-the last stubborn 5 or so pounds that just would'nt drop. she did'nt think much of it until it started creeping up and she felt bloated (she was thinking maybe a gastric problem) so she went to the doctor who advised her she was over 5 months along. the baby was born right on schedual and she still refers to it as her dream pregnancy (no morning sickness and the only baby she had that was kind enough to never kick her like mad).

while in social services i had many clients claim to not know they were pregnant until delivery i believed only one. she was a tall, lean, muscular woman who had always had very sporadic periods due to her athletics. i saw her on a monday and she mentioned to me that she was having pelvic and back pain but not to an extent that she felt the need to go to an e/r-i suggested she call her doctor because that type of symptom should not be ignored (this woman did not look any different from any time i had seen her over the course of a couple of years). that night she (at home) the pain intensified such that she was rushed to the e/r by family-a healthy baby boy was born. her doctor's indicated they had seen her for routine issues in the previous nine months and had'nt seen any indication of the pregnacy, and felt that because she was so physicaly fit (an awsome set of abs) she gained only the minor amount of weight necessary to sustain the baby and possibly did not feel a great deal of movement due to her highly muscular abs.

personaly-i had morning sickness from day one with both (much worse with ds )and found my body changing (not so much weight gain but the natural movement of the hips to facilitate delivery) so there was not doubt something was happening.

 

[winniedapooh]

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.

I so agree with you here... I can't figure it out either...the way those little ones moved around inside of me...of course my smallest was 7lbs 8 oz and my biggest 9 lbs 10 oz...my tallest was also 23 1/4"...the drs measured her 4 times and she was 2 weeks early!

 

[scraptoons]

Are you kidding? No one could carry my kids and not know!!!

My DS tumbled and rolled and stretched so much that my whole big belly would be jumping around and taking different shapes and forms. Not to mention that it was uncomfortable when he did that.

I swore he was tying a knot in his umbilical cord.

Guess what!

When he came out, the doctor and nurses gasped and called everyone on the floor in to see....

He had a gigantic bona fide knot in his cord!!!!

They were so amazed since it was a rare occurrance, and alot of babies actually shut off their oxygen and food supply, causing an unthinkable event to happen.

I was freaked, but so thankful that that knot wasn't too tight.

He was 22" long and nearly 9 pounds. He is normal size and weight now, and needless to say..very strong.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

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.

I totally agree with you. One of my friends knew she was pregnant, but spent the whole pregnancy worrying about the baby because she barely gained any weight and could NEVER feel the baby moving. She was in to her Dr. all the time because she was scared something was wrong with her or the baby. Even when she was 9 months pregnant, she didn't look like it at all - there were a lot of people who said she was just faking it and didn't believe that she really was pregnant. Boy, were they surprised when she delivered a healthy baby girl! Of course a few loosers still insisted that she must have adopted a newborn. She offered to show them the video of her delivery to prove that child came out of her, but most refused. Her whole experience taught me that every pregnancy is different, and even though most women experience some common symptoms, there's always going to be someone who doesn't get the "typical" pregnancy. If my friend hadn't been trying to get pregnant, I can see how she might have missed the pregnancy completely - there just wasn't anything "normal" about it!

 

[AmazingGrace]

I read an article in Woman's day about this woman who had a lump on her tailbone, never missed a period, the "lump" on her back kept getting bigger, so she went to the dr and the lump was her tailbone, and she was like eight months pregnant. Her uterus was tipped back or something so she didn't carry any belly weight.

 

[chris1gill]

The woman is mid 20's and not overweight at all. She is actually on the petite side. There is no doubt that she must have thought something was going on. I think she was either in denial or was afraid to tell the dh because he really didn't want any more kids. He had to sit down after the baby was born because he was so surprised. Of course, he is fine with the baby but was shocked at first.

The baby was over 7 lbs so it's not like it was a little premie. Thank God that both mom and baby are fine. I'll never believe that she didn't know.

When my sister was pg with her 2nd child, he used to stick his little elbow or foot out and you could see it on my sister's stomach. It was the cutest thing. I find it hard to understand how you couldn't know something was brewing.

Here's the real question, didn't the husband notice SOMETHING? Didn't he see his wife?? Maybe getting dressed or getting out of the shower?? Or even get close to her?? He couldn't tell she was pregnant??? You know, if he couldn't tell, then, perhaps she really didn't know?? I was as big as a balloon, you'd have thought I had at least twins in there

 

[jen0610]

Contrary to the statement that she should have know because babies kick...NO not all of them do. DS NEVER kicked, DD kicked the living daylights out of me. So I do know what a kicking baby feels like.

When I was carring Logan, none of our friends would believe me that I wasn't being kicked. Our friend Shelly was 6 months along and I was 7, she was HUGE, I did not look pregnant and was still wearing my regular clothes. As a joke the one night, she and I each put a soda can on our tummies to show the action going on inside. Other than the can going up and down with my breathing, that can did not move for the 5 hours I left it there. Shelly didn't even have hers sitting on her tummy for 5 minutes before Rebecca kicked it off. Several different times, friends would be sitting by me and rest their hand on my tummy and never once did any of them feel any movement. And most of them had kids already, so they knew what to feel for. The only thing he did and only did it 3 times, was press his hand (1x) and foot (2x's) out, so that you could see an outline of it on my tummy.

So should she have known because of being kicked, maybe or maybe not.

 

[goofygirl]

I remember years ago Sally Jesse Raphael had a show on this very topic. I remember a woman who thought she was constipated, went to the bathroom, and to her surprise, a baby came out in the toliet!

My worst nightmare, but I do find those stories fascinating!

 

[tw1nsmom]

Well, I definitely knew I was pregnant, but count me as one that barely felt any movement during my pregnancy. I did however, get quite big. I was heavy to begin with, then with the twins I was huge. I had this red maternity top that made me look like a giant tomato.

I think in many instances there is some denial involved in these surprise pregnancy cases, but I also believe that some of them truly had no symptoms.

 

[left210]

Well I am living proof of a surprise pregnancy. I am 34 yrs old and the third child and my mom did not know she was pregnant with me. She was not overweight but had some problems & they told her she had a tumor. She did not gain much weight and of course did not look pregnant. She was a security guard and the night I was born she chased a suspect and jumped over a fence to catch him. That night she thought she hurt herself in the chase and went to the hospital and I was born. I had a small tumor on my head that was removed at birth (still have the scar to prove it!). Anyway, she didnt know she was pregnant and definitely would not have been in the occupation she was if she had known. Of course this was 34 years ago and I guess things were different then but who knows. I gained 60 lbs with my pregnancy and was huge so I can understand why others would question if someone told them that but it can happen. Each persons circumstances are different.

 

[lunchmomd]

I, too, was 5 months pregnant with my 2nd before I found out I was expecting. And the only reason I found out was because I went to the Dr. for my annual. With my first, I was sick almost from day one, thru my 7th month. After he was born, I had 4 miscarriages and was told I couldn't have any more.

I never had one symptom, no sickness, tenderness, cravings, weight gain, etc. I spotted pretty heavily the entire pregnancy. I went for weekly ultrasounds, so we knew he was alive, there was just no kicking. And he never moved, right up until I was induced.

It can happen!

 

[cteddiesgirl]

Oh yes. It happens. Very rarely, but it happens.
Pregnancy affects women differently. Yes, most have the same signs. But there are women who never have nausea, don't really gain much weight, may attribute kicking to gas pains or indegestion, and many other things.

As said too, there are women who have very irregular periods and some women do have periods while pregnant. My mom had a couple normal periods while pregnant with both me and my sister.

So there are times when a person may not know if they're pregnant or not.

 

[Skylarr29]

Wow, what a surprise that would be

 

[Randi]

Yes, a surprise pregnancy is very possible. I had one 36yrs ago. My second. Had been on the pill (early version-needed to go off it occasionally) so lack of periods was not unexpected. Felt (actually hoped) I might have been pregnant, but doctor's EXAM at approx 4 mos was a negative. So I went on with life. Woke up one night and rushed ER with pains, and 10 mins after arrival had a 9.5lb baby boy.
I am college educated, was not in denial, and did not feel kicking like with my first child. So there goes those theories.
As to a pregnancy test, not around in those days. Standard procedure was to wait 3 or 4 months and then get a physical exam. Then told to call if any questions, and didn't see the doctor again until you met him in the hospital. My it is a wonder how we all survived, isn't it?