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Pregnancy might be planned, and yet it sometimes takes people by surprise. As seen from the stories below, the timeline of being unaware of pregnancy, in some cases, extends until the actual birth of a baby. Yet, other times, due to certain specific circumstances, finding out about pregnancy in the early stages might be just as unexpected!
Naturally, having no clue about carrying a baby might be associated with certain risks; luckily, though, it often has a happy ending in addition to making a story that gets told in the family when kids grow older. These Redditors shared exactly these kinds of stories, answering one Redditor’s question: “What’s your ‘I didn’t know I was pregnant’ story?”
Do you have something to add? Please, share your thoughts or a story in the comments below!
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#1
Not me, but my mom (pregnant with my little sister). She was on the pill and didn’t have a single symptom of pregnancy. She was getting what she *thought* was her period every month, but later learned that it was a small placenta bleed or something that mimicked her period pattern. She has always had back problems, so when it was feeling worse than usual for a while, she goes to the doctor to see what’s going on, and that’s when he asks her if she’s knows that she’s 7 months pregnant. That was a BIG no. We figured we had at best 2 months to prepare for a baby, which was relatively easy since she’s done it before. Sister came early, I mean, early as in 3 weeks after my mom found out she was pregnant, she was giving birth. She came so fast that she even got to go to her own baby shower, at a whole 9 days old.
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#2
We were practicing safe [intimacy]. And I had a very irregular period. The first symptom was missed period but since I only get my period after a month or two, I wasnt worried. Second was loss of appetite. I loved eating and always had cheat days when working out, suddenly I stopped eating a lot and only ate cheese bagels and iced coffees everyday. I couldnt get through the day without coffee. I love coffee but this was just too much. I thought I was just tired from teaching and handling kids everyday and coffee gave me the energy I needed. Then I felt dead tired, I felt like I had the flu. My body was heavy and I felt really sick. I thought it was food poisoning because I ate street foods the day before I felt sick. Until one Monday morning I threw up everything. The only thing that I can drink without throwing up is brewed coffee. That's when I told my SO everything. And I said '[darn] I think I have the flu.'. My boyfriend was quiet on the phone before "Babe, I think youre pregnant." I laughed at first but then realize it was quite possible. He went to visit me and bought a generic pregnancy kit. Yep, positive. Went to the doctor immediately and found out Im 8 weeks pregnant. Already on my 5th month right now. Apparently my baby loves coffee.
#3
My story is pretty surprising, considering how small I am. I'm 4'8 and generally hover between 95-105 lbs. Due to a previous pregnancy that ended in miscarriage a year prior, I had been carrying some extra weight. So, in 2014 I weighed around 115 or so. Doesn't seem like much but I was ever so slightly chunky being only 4'8.
All of my previous pregnancies (I have 3 living children) started showing super early. Like 9-11 weeks.
In October of 2013 I was diagnosed with uterine fibroids. No big deal, really, except they messed with my periods and I would only have on every 3-5 months or so.
Fast forward to March 31st, 2014 (coincidentally my birthday). I got to my GP for a follow up about my fibroids. They do the standard urine/bloodwork prior to me going in. He has me lay down on the table and puts a doppler to my stomach. Heartbeat. Ok...wasn't expecting that. Then, he tells me I'm 24 weeks. 6 MONTHS PREGNANT! I haven't gained a bit of weight, I'm not showing, haven't felt movement that I know of.
Saying my husband and I were shocked is an understatement.
It was a difficult pregnancy. In the last trimester I ended up having too much amniotic fluid, causing my belly to distend more than normal. It wreaked havoc on my back, I lost nearly all control of my bladder, my joints ached, I could hardly move.
They did weekly ultrasounds to check on the baby's heart and measure his femur and head because they thought he A. had a heart defect and B. might have possibly had Down Syndrome.
Turns out he did not have Down's Syndrome and they found no heart defect. That is until after he died at 48 hours old.
The tale of his death is a nightmare caused by a bureaucratic clusterf**k and is a story for another time.
#4
I used depo pro era, and had the shot every 3 months or so. I was pretty depressed at the time, my boyfriend had just died, so I was always really fatigued and slept 12 hours a day. Never felt great, didn’t eat much. Then when I did eat I threw it back up. Sometimes I would throw up without even eating, just water. I thought it was like a manifestation of how stressed and anxious and depressed I was. I started to feel bloated a lot, my stomach was firmer (I thought because I wasn’t eating and was throwing up what I did eat), I had constant heart burn. There were times where I felt like I couldn’t breathe out all the way, which is a frustrating feeling. It wasn’t until I could feel just how hard my stomach was that I realized what was up. I think if I had someone in my life at the time it would have been obvious when I was randomly throwing up, but I was so depressed and tired and sick feeling *all the time,* that it just felt like one more thing. Like great I can’t go a day without crying, can’t get off the couch, can hardly eat, *and* I’m now throwing up, when will it end?? Didn’t realize until 5.5 months in, a little over 4 months after my boyfriend died.
#5
I had a 2nd trimester miscarriage. After that I stopped having periods. For years. I was in my 40s so I was told I was menopausal. Yippee-Skippee! So, my husband and I threw caution to the wind. Wow. Was that ever great. No barriers, no pills, just hot, sweet nooky. Then I got tired like I had the flu. I just was so d***** weary. One day my husband said to me that I was not just tired, I was pregnant. (he said "your [private parts] just look sooo fine!") And I was. I was 47 when I had him. All was fine, and he is now a wonderful 11 year old kid. He loves accordion music, legos, dancing, riding his bike. Nicest surprise we ever had.
#6
Everything smelled weird. My toddler was not sleeping through the night and I was working more than full time, so was exhausted. I pleaded with my husband to figure out why the house smelled like garbage and left on a business trip to Vegas. It was a regular company trip and co-workers had significant debauchery planned. I’d have a glass of wine with dinner then nearly fall asleep over dessert. And everything still smelled weird. I bailed on all the plans since my tolerance was so low, slept a lot and still felt exhausted. Saw the doctor when I got back and found out I was in week 20, maybe, but it was late enough in the pregnancy they couldn’t date it. So I warn people I can’t go to Vegas anymore, since I came back pregnant from the last trip.
#7
I had a weird two-week long period. Then for three days straight, I mentioned to my husband that I really could go for some chocolate cake. He jokingly asked me if I was pregnant but I couldn't possibly be because I had the Skyla. What he said didn't sit well with me so I took a pregnancy test the next day. Womp womp.
#8
Not me, but this happened to a friend of mine yrs ago. She was in her early 20s and a bit overweight. She had irregular periods. She came to visit me one day and kept telling me her stomach felt strange...like it felt "hard" and it felt like gas pains, but "squirmy". She wondered if she was pregnant. She showed me her stomach, and even tho she was on the "heavier" side, her stomach was pretty flat. I told her I didn't think she was pregnant. Two days later, her mother rushed her to the hospital with severe abdominal pains...turned out that she was in labor and within minutes gave birth to a perfect, full term, full-sized baby girl! Perfectly healthy despite no prenatal care!
#9
Not me but my mom didn’t know she was pregnant until she went to the doctor one day (or maybe it was a gynecologist) and apparently the doctor who have her the birth control thing (I think it’s called an IUD) messed up so the birth control didn’t work and next thing you know, in my mom’s words: *heavy hispanic accent* “... and the doctor said: I’m sorry you have baby” She was 6 months along when she found out.
#10
Was working 12 hour shifts so I was already constantly tired and was working as a janitor so I just attributed the “ew everything smells gross” to that. Also wasn’t happy with the job and it was sending me into a depressive episode so strange eating habits were because of that. Was told about 2 years prior that I wouldn’t be able to have kids (had undiagnosed chlamydia for too long, also had Pelvic inflammatory disease) so I had finally quit bc because i was having s****y side effects anyway. I only finally got suspicious when I puked up perfectly good food after just eating it. Took 3 tests and they were all positive and now I’m sitting next to my gurgling 1m son at 4am [laugh out loud]
#11
Not me but a friend. She was on BC and was still having a “period”, lost a lot of weight, her hair was falling out, and she was so severely ill that she thought she had cancer. She went to the doctor and it turned out she was in her second trimester.
#12
Obligatory "not me, but..." Mum mum's first baby passed away suddenly when he was five months old. In the aftermath she was put on a cocktail of antidepressants and other medicines to correct a hormonal imbalance which meant that her periods hadn't returned after previously being regular. They still didn't come back and repeated pregnancy tests were negative so she went to the doctor for a blood test (negative) and was referred to hospital for a scan "to put your mind at rest, we know you're not pregnant but..." She was six months gone and I turn 31 in two and a half weeks.
#13
Not me, but a friend. She was 40, and had been told by doctors since she was 16 that she'd never be able to get pregnant. She and her boyfriend had considered adopting, but then her boyfriend got cancer and passed away soon after, and she didn't want to be a single mom. She was working as a police officer, and she was very petite and fit, but she wound up quitting that job in favor of a desk job. Apparently, when celebrating the new job, she had a one-night stand. She didn't really bother practicing safe [intimacy] and never had, knowing she couldn't conceive anyway. She gained a few pounds in the new few months, but put it down to having a less active job. 5 months after that o**************, she's lying on her sofa after a workout, just wearing sweats and a sports bra and watching TV. Her stomach feels weird, so she looks down and *sees something moving under the skin*. She rushed to an urgent care thinking she had a parasite, and turned out to be 5 months pregnant.
#14
I sneezed violently which ruptured a corpus luteum cyst and while they were giving me an ultra sound for that they found a tiny blob with a pulse about 1/6th the size of the cyst
#15
I have PCOS so I was going 4-5 months without a period normally. He was on medicine for a different condition that as a side effect, killed his testosterone levels. I was there when his doctor said he would not be able to have kids while on this medicine (I think he stopped taking it without telling me, but that’s another story). The first 4 months I was actively losing weight. During this time I had just gotten a new, third shift job that involved a lot of running around and bending over so when I was super tired and sore all the time, I just chalked it up to that. I did not have any morning sickness at all. I threw up twice on the same day but that’s it and thought it was just a stomach bug, I’m still not really sure that it wasn’t just a bug. I didn’t know until I felt a kick, and even then for the first two weeks of feeling kicks I was trying to convince myself it was gas moving around. When I went 5.5 months without a period and the I was getting nervous so I took a test and voila...baby.
#16
Thought the cheese sandwich I'd brought to Wembley for the 2015 Community Shield had been dodgy. Nope. 7 weeks pregnant.
#17
My cousin didn't know she was pregnant. Pretty overweight and doesnt take care of herself. Barely graduated high school. Milks government systems. She was drinking and smoking [substances] to try to make her cramps go away and ended up having her friend drive her to the hospital. She was shocked to be giving birth.
Sad side of the story is that she is essentially an alcoholic, and the child has severe FASD. She wasn't wanted at all and the father was in jail and now wants nothing to do with them. But because its her kid, she uses it as a p**n in the family and doesnt take very good care of her. The kid is 10 and wets the bed, has no friends in school, etc. I though she would turn around when the baby came but the kids is an inconvenience in her life. It is very sad.
#18
Not sure if this counts as "we didnt know" though my wife had a copper IUD installed that has been in for about a year. IUDs are generally 99.9% effective, except for when they arent. I think her body may have shifted it because I could feel it inside her in the later stages, though we ultimately had a healthy 3rd son despite the IUD. Moral of the story, dont always trust contraception to be foolproof.
#19
My mum's leg became stiff when she had to do a relay run for fun. She went to the doctors about it and they thought it was a tendon injury. Buuuuuut they all found out that she was actually pregnant with me, and her leg froze up because I accidentally laid on a sensitive nerve.
#20
Not me but my godmother. She didn't have any children and at the age 40 she started gaining weight. Didn't notice any other symptoms or maybe didn't have any. At some point she went to a doctor and found out she was pregnant for quite a few months now. Was kinda like a miracle, I guess she thought she couldn't have kids.
#21
My husband and I have fertility problems. My periods are regular and one month it seemed to start, but never turned into more than a light flow with light cramps. I tested and it was negative. Tested a few days later and it was positive. My GYN wouldn’t see me until 8 weeks, so I waited patiently. Then, I had some stronger cramping and bleeding, so I went to the ER. Over two days my HCG levels dropped significantly and I was told I was miscarrying at almost 6 weeks. I was told I would bleed more then it would be done. I went on lightly bleeding for the next 2 1/2 weeks and it seemed it would never stop. I started having stabbing pains so I went back to the ER. They checked my HCG levels and they’d risen, but weren’t very high for what they should have been. It turned out I had an ectopic or tubal pregnancy. At almost 9 weeks, it was so far along the doctor had to remove my Fallopian tube, but thank goodness, it hadn’t ruptured. Unfortunately in the three years since my ectopic we haven’t gotten pregnant and IVF was recommended. We aren’t doing IVF.
#22
Not me, but my sister’s husband’s father and his wife. (Not the husband’s bio mom, she’s the same age as my sisters husband, her step son). She went to the hospital having abdominal pains, thinking it was kidney stones. Turns out she was in labor and had a healthy baby girl. The f***** thing is, she thought she couldn’t have kids due to endometriosis and the father had a vasectomy years ago that has apparently reversed itself. The chances of them having a child together had to be crazy low. Miracle baby! The father is about 50 years old and now has a brand new baby to take care of
#23
A friend of mine went into labour in her bosses' office during her annual review. Had no idea at all she was pregnant. I wish I had been a fly on the wall when her boss called her husband...
#24
Not me, but my cousin. She went to hospital with a suspected severe UTI and came out with a baby girl. She had no idea she was pregnant. She was pretty overweight and her mum was dying of cancer so thought the stress had stopped her periods. She made a bit of money selling her story to one of those true story magazines.
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