Has anyone had a surprise baby?

[Thighofrelief]

By which I mean you went into labour with no clue you were pregnant.

It must be so shocking.

My sister was 28 weeks gone before she discovered she was pregnant. She didn't look any different to normal. She'd put any symtpoms down to her IBS. she was on the pill and had been taking it and bleeding monthly as normal. She'd also been working as a cop, doing roller derby and drinking like a fish! She said she'd felt really tired but put that down to her IBS and stress. Luckily my niece was fine.

I have a family friend who didnt find out till gone 20 weeks, she went to the Dr because she thought she could feel something moving in her! She was having "periods" as she was on the pill, so basically just those monthly withdrawal bleeds you get when on the pill.

I have a friend who found out she was pregnant at 33 weeks, it was a huge shock! She was 32 and has a phd so it was nothing to do with immaturity or lack of intelligence. They were actually trying for a baby but she has pcos so very irregular periods and they had been told it was likely to take quite a while TTC. Luckily her midwife was on the ball and referred her for an emergency scan at her booking in appointment because of the lack of periods, otherwise her due date would have been and gone before she got her "12 week" scan! She called me in utter shock that evening as she had thought she would be about 6 weeks, she had gained a little bit of weight around her middle but it didn't really look like a bump until we all knew what it was. Everyone rallied round and gave her our old baby things and her family went crazy shopping so all was fine. Her dd is 3 now and they are thinking about ttc their second.

This happened to someone I know recently! She thought she was 12 weeks, went for her 12-week scan and she was 36 weeks! She gave birth the next week. She'd had period-like bleeds as usual for the first few months (and it was only when they stopped that she did the test, hence thinking she was 12 weeks - she'd done everything properly, midwife appointments, etc. She was just a few months out :-D). She was slightly overweight but not hugely obese. I'm guessing she had an anterior placenta.

I can believe women who had “periods” throughout - with DS1 I had episodes of bleeding in every trimester, anything from spots to clots - if I didn’t know I was pregnant and had always had inconsistent periods due to something like PCOS I would have thought they were periods.

I don't believe people who say they had periods throughout

my mums friend had periods throughout ALL 3 of her pregnancies. However, she knew she was pregnant each time because they were actively trying and so she was testing regularly etc. She was obviously terrified during the first pregnancy, but it carried on throughout and the baby was fine. Obviously she got pregnant twice after that and it was exactly the same.

It's called decidual bleeding and is most common in the early months but can sometimes remain for the entire pregnancy. And it occurs the same time as your periods would.

TBH. I think it depends on your periods etc. I had bleeds every month throughout the first six or seven months of my pregnancies but they didn't compare to a typical period of mine. Ther would be zero chance of me mixing the two. I wonder if people who say they had periods throughout their pregnancies were used to having light periods or periods. Iyswim

While I was on the pill, my periods got shorter and shorter - by the time I came off it they only lasted about 2 days a month and were mostly made up of old, dark blood. I could definitely have confused pregnancy spotting with a period.

My body has changed dramatically so far in this pregnancy, and for me the early symptoms were impossible to ignore - I felt so nauseous and tired - but OTOH I knew I was pregnant and I was looking for them. If I'd been in another situation, maybe I'd have shrugged them off and powered through. And lots of people don't have strong pregnancy symptoms.

Yup - I used to work at a pub with a girl who had had a totally unexpected baby when she was just 17. Hadn't put on weight (and she was small anyway).

And I didn't know I was pregnant for almost 4 months. Very irregular periods anyway and didn't put on any weight til later.

@Celebelly thank you! Now it’s got a name I feel less like I’m telling tales.

A friend of mine went for a scan thinking she may have just fallen pregnant and it turned out she was 28 weeks. She has polycystic ovaries so periods were always irregular anyway, and she was overweight so there was no noticeable bump.

Another friend knew she was pregnant but didnt show until about 30 weeks as the baby was tucked right up inside her.

I had an anterior placenta with my 2nd so felt very few movements co.pared to my forst pregnancy. Funnily enough, I didnt realise i was in labour the 2nd time Roy d either. I just felt a heaviness and was uncomfortable sitting down. By the time I realised what was happening and got to hospital, it was almost time to start pushing.

So I can see that with elements of all those experiences coming together, it's entirely possible for people to have surprise babies.

Happened to my friend too, went into labour having no idea what it was - thought she was dying lol. Went to A&E of one hospital (that had no maternity ward etc) and had to be sent to birthing one a few towns over - delivered with half an hour of arriving at 2nd hospital. She had no idea, had been drunk most weekends of her pregnancy too - oops!!

Friends of mine had a baby and didn't know the wife was pregnant until 5 months into the pregnancy.

This is verbatim what they had posted on social media.

I can understand how someone might not look pregnant but how can you not FEEL a 7 pound baby moving about inside you?

I've only had one baby but have never understood this as I didn't feel big movements or kicks at all. A few small butterfly type moves maybe. DS was also breech and anterior until right at the end (about 5 days before I gave birth) .

Also I had bleeding for the first 3-4 months so basically periods, though ligher than usual for me. I was quite worried at the time and had scans to check everything was OK .

I definitely knew I was pregnant though because was huge and we had been trying anyway!!