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Original poster

Do 'surprise' babies really exist?

95 replies

JinglingHellsBells · 27/05/2019 16:46

In todays' news.

Stacey aged 20 gave birth on her bathroom floor. She did not know she was pregnant. She was having periods still and on the Pill.

In the time she gave birth, she tried to phone her partner who was asleep downstairs ( 60 times) and he didn't answer.

(She didn't seem to think to call 999.)

Would she not...
Put on weight
Feel the baby move
Have some inkling there was a baby there?

OP posts:
bebeboeuf · 27/05/2019 17:32

I don’t know when I would have found out as my endocrinologist happened to do a test on some samples as he was getting really weird results
I had a call from him in the evening on a Saturday!

I was so scared at the time as I was homeless, jobless, and on way to divorce but all worked out ok in the end

MsSquiz · 27/05/2019 17:32

When I first fell pregnant, I found out at 19 weeks, so surprises do happen...
I was on the pill, but I was also drinking, smoking and taking drugs while in a very toxic relationship.
I only took a pregnancy test after we broke up because I had one lying around, it came up positive so I referred myself to the EPAC and they had me in for an ultrasound the next day which is when I found out I was 19 weeks.
I was still wearing my size 10 skinny jeans and didn't feel any different at all

Reachbackforthechair · 27/05/2019 17:33

A lot of surprise baby bumps are passed off as cysts if a pregnancy test comes back negative

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cwg1 · 27/05/2019 17:33

By all accounts, late MIL was a surprise baby. That's nearly a century ago, so no sticks to pee on, but she had two older siblings and her DM didn't suspect anything.

BarkandCheese · 27/05/2019 17:33

I know someone who found out at seven months. Due to cancer treatment she had no periods, had been told she was probably infertile, was used to feeling generally tired and run down, and was overweight. She noticed her stomach was swollen and went to the doctor fearing the cancer had come back, discovered she was pregnant.

ILoveMaxiBondi · 27/05/2019 17:34

Of course there are. Why wouldnt there be?

Topseyt · 27/05/2019 17:35

I can easily see how it can happen.

Some women continue to have some periods, or something resembling periods for at least some of the time whilst pregnant and not everyone feels obvious movements. I was well over 20 weeks before feeling them first time around. I knew I was pregnant from tests, but could see how it might be possible not to know. Apart from lack of periods I had no other typical pregnancy symptoms.

Some people also put on or no weight during pregnancy. Others can be overweight already and change very little.

sue51 · 27/05/2019 17:38

It happened to DD. She didn't find out till she was 32 weeks. She has EDS and constantly feels that she is being beaten up from the inside so any movement from the baby would not have felt unusual to her. She also had had surgery when she would have been approx 6 months pregnant and nothing was detected then. She found out when she was about 2 months into her university year abroad and to say she was shocked and upset would be an understatement. Her daughter is now 18 months old and very much loved by her mother and adored by all who know her.

BillyAndTheSillies · 27/05/2019 17:52

A colleague found out at 28 weeks. She found out from going to the GP with excessive wind and bloating, which she now realises were baby movements.

Was sent for an ultrasound to find out how many weeks, as she was on the pill so couldn't pin point LMP to find out she was 28 weeks.

sue51 · 27/05/2019 18:10

Sorry I meant surgery at about 20 weeks not 6 months.

greathat · 27/05/2019 18:14

A colleague got called to the hospital coz they thought his girlfriend, who had a serious heart condition, was having a heart attack. When he arrived at the hospital he was told he was in the wrong place and was sent to maternity where his daughter was born a short time later. Neither of them knew she was pregnant

BedraggledBlitz · 27/05/2019 18:15

Happened to a friend of mine. She had been told she was unlikely to ever have kids. Irregular periods all of her life. So I guess the possibility wasnt at the forefront of her mind. She discovered pregnancy at 8 months, having partied very very hard throughout pregnancy. Baby was fine.

Iamtheworst · 27/05/2019 18:16

There are 7 billion ish people on the planet. Imagine how many 1 in a million chances that is.

In my case a dr palpated my entire belly and failed to notice a i was 5 months pregnant. A midwife a week later estimated I couldn’t be more than 12 weeks at most. Was a hell of a scan.

Yubaba · 27/05/2019 18:24

I used to work with someone who had a surprise pregnancy, she was at work and started feeling unwell. An ambulance was called and a couple of hours later she gave birth.
She had no idea apparently, she was really slim and had no visible bump either.

KittensinaBlender · 27/05/2019 18:25

Girl I did A levels with. Tiny size six to eight tops. Didn’t find out till she was 8months and only found out during an exam for an unrelated illness. She didn’t have regular periods due to an eating disorder and had done a pregnancy test months earlier but it was negative.

Once she found out she did suddenly develop a little baby bump (nothing like a full term bump that you would expect though), so I do think there is a psychological element to cryptic pregnancies and how they remain undetected symptom wise.

icebearforpresident · 27/05/2019 18:48

I hardly had a bump with either of my pregnancies (i’m overweight to start with admittedly) and had almost no nausea etc, just the odd day of feeling a bit shitty here and there. If my periods had stayed the same I can easily believe I wouldn’t have known until I was giving birth. So yeah, I absolutely believe they happen.

Crunchymum · 27/05/2019 18:54

Anyone else think poor Stacy is fucked if her DP slept through 60 calls??? Shock

Crunchymum · 27/05/2019 18:59

I too had a very uneventful first 20 weeks with DC1. No bump, no pregnancy symptoms (not even tired), I felt fab in fact. But even if I didn't know, there is absolutely no way on Earth I'd have got any further along without "realising"

Once I started feeling movement it felt like a very lovely alien invasion.

Pipandmum · 27/05/2019 19:02

One of my mother’s carers almost had a baby in her bathroom as she had no idea she was pregnant. Her mother (a nurse) who was also a carer for my mother didn’t suspect. I have a photo of her taken just a week before and while not a slim woman she does not have a noticeable bump. She had her periods. She was single and in total shock - little girl is now 6!

BollocksToBrexit · 27/05/2019 19:10

I can see how it could happen. With DS I put on no weight at all and wore the same clothes throughout my pregnancy. With DD I was huge but she never kicked at all. Put those together and it's easy to see how it could happen.

OutrageousFlavourLikeFreesias · 27/05/2019 19:10

I know two women who've had this experience. Both had been seen by doctors before they gave birth. One was definitively told she wasn't pregnant. The other was examined head to toe and pregnancy wasn't mentioned as a potential cause of her symptoms. Neither of them came from backgrounds where being unexpectedly pregnant would have caused major heartache or punishment (although they were both a bit bloody surprised when they were suddenly mothers). It happens!

mumwon · 27/05/2019 19:14

I can also imagine it happen when baby is born within a year after previous one. No periods - breast feeding can stop them but it doesn't always mean that you cant fall pregnant! no sleep so you might not take close attention especially being busy with baby & your shape takes time to get back.

SheSnapsThenSheFarts · 27/05/2019 19:20

I know two people I used to work with who had no idea they were pregnant until they went to hospital with excruciating stomach pain.

Soola · 27/05/2019 19:44

Some years ago there was a news story about a very active woman who was very slender and was on a ski ing holiday abroad when she went into labour.

She had been seeing her GP for an upset tummy at some point of her pregnancy and any twinges were down to gastric problems.

The photos of her in her ski all in one suit showed her as having an almost flat stomach and no sign of being pregnant.

It was a complete shock for her and her partner as she was slightly built but a wonderful surprise all the same.

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