Cryptic Pregnancy

[CatLady86]

Hiya all.
I'm new. I'm looking for the experiences of anyone who has had a cryptic pregnancy (aka you didn't know you were pregnant for some or all of you pregnancy).
Apparently 1 in 450 women don't find out their pregnant until they're 20 weeks or more along, which is a lot more than I had expected.
So I'm trying to get some input from anyone who has experienced one.
If you had one, please tell me:

How far along were you when you finally found out?
Did you suspect you might be pregnant before you found out?
Had you had negative pregnancy tests before finally finding out? And if so was that just negative urine tests or also negative blood tests?
Did you have pregnancy symptoms before you found out, and if so which ones?
Was your pregnancy and baby still healthy despite the low hcg levels?
And finally, was the pregnancy still a normal 9 month length (as far as you know? 'Cos apparently cryptic pregnancy can extend the pregnancy.

Sorry for all the questions but I would REALLY appreciate any input from anyone who has experienced cryptic pregnancy. Obviously answering all questions would really help, but even if you only want to answer some of them, that's fine too. Thank you so much.

And for anyone wondering who doesn't know what a cryptic pregnancy is, here's a link I found :) lifestyle.one/closer/diet-body/health-fitness/cryptic-pregnancy-happens/

Why do you want to know people's experiences and not share your own exactly??
You ask a lot of questions but don't actually give reasons why?? Are you experiencing symptoms op? Are you diagnosed as having a cryptic pregnancy

You need to give to get or you look like some daily fail journo/researcher

Moondance87

Sorry, it would never have even crossed my mind to think it might be taken that way.
I am wondering if I'm having one. I'm still having periods (or at least what appear to be periods) and hpt's are still coming up negative. But for some reason I just can't seem to shake the feelings. Maybe it's all in my head I don't know, but that's why I wanted other people's experiences. If I was preg I'd probably be 15 weeks. Thanks.

Go to go for bloods

**GP

I've been housebound for 10 years so unfortunately that's not an option. I wasn't looking for advice, that's why I didn't post my ''story.'' I was just wondering about other people's experiences :)

What feelings? What's making you think you're pregnant and what makes you think you're 15 weeks?
Especially with periods and several negative pregnancy tests?

Can't help feeling like we're smelling a rat here...

Could your DP support you in this?

Meh catlady you can't just come on and ask for everyone else to tell you their stories and expect to keep quiet on WHY
OK so you are housebound and your GP or district nurses don't make house calls?

HPTs are negative? Did you have unprotected sex 13 weeks ago? You've had a bleed around the time your period was due?

Moondance, I can't help feeling that the silence speaks volumes here.

The OP was worded too much like a research question to be a genuine post and the vague answers don't help that either do they?

Of course OP, of this is a genuine situation, could you please provide us with a bit more information. You can't expect people to share their experiences with you when you're being so coy. It's a trust thing.

mungobungo exactly.

I wrote it as questions like that because I wanted the answers to those questions so that it could help me figure out whether I might be or whether I'm being illogical. I've been housebound 10 years and used forums a few times I've never seen anyone talk about posts in relation to journalism so I had no reason to even consider my question being taken that way. I'm new to this site so if stuff like that happens on here then fair enough but right now I just feel like I'm being attacked.

How are my answers vague??? I was asked if I'm diagnosed or having symptoms, I'm not diagnosed so I said I'm thinking I might be having one. I don't see how I'm being ''coy'' as you put it.
Yes I had unprotected sex FIFTEEN weeks ago. I had a lot of pregnancy symptoms in the first month but then they settled down. The only real ''symptoms'' since then are nausea and bloating. I haven't noticed any breast changes or food aversions although I am finding I am hungrier than usual. I also seem to have increased libido which I had with my first pregnancy (8 years ago). My periods seem ''fairly'' normal although a couple of times since the intercourse my cycle has seemed a little shorter, one time it was right on time. And currently I am 1 day late (but that can be normal sometimes). I'm sure I'll likely come on tomorrow although this month I have had way less stomach cramping than usual (like literally I had it on one day about 4 days ago).

As I said I didn't go in to my own feelings of having a cryptic pregnancy because I'm not looking for input on my symptoms or people telling me to 'go to the doctor'... I was just looking for other people's experiences so I could try and figure out what the likelyhood is that it could be happening to me or if I'm just being silly. I didn't expect such a negative response, I don't have experiences of negative responses on forums.

I have been housebound for 10 years with a severe anxiety disorder and agoraphobia. Going to the doctor isn't possible for me. And no, they don't come see me. They stopped coming to see me 2 or 3 years ago. I don't know why. Every time I call with health worried they just tell me I need to come in and I say I can't I'm housebound and they basically tell me they can't help me if I can't come in. It's a bunch of crap, to the point that I rarely call even when I'm worried about my health. I was feeling very unwell about 4 months ago and didn't even call them :(

Oh, and to answer what makes me think I'm 15 weeks. Me and my partner have been using the ''pull out method'' for about 9 months and on the 28th of July I let him ''not'' pull out, if you catch my drift.

I hope this is enough personal information on my life and my situation to stop the accusations -_-

I'm sorry if you felt attacked. I didn't mean it to be an attack, but was just very confused at your posts. Folks here are on alert for strange posts due to problems with journalists and trolls.

Ultimately, the fact that you've had negative pregnancy tests and periods it would be extremely unlikely that you would be pregnant and if you were, the only way to find out for sure would be to see a midwife for then to assess you. At 15 weeks it may be possible to hear a heartbeat, however if you had sex 15 weeks ago, you'd be more likely to be 17 weeks pregnant as pregnancy is calculated from period date (roughly 2 weeks before ovulation/conception). In which case you'd potentially be feeling movements.

i know that you don't want to be told to see a GP, but no amount of other people's stories are going to be able to tell you the likelihood of this being a physical pregnancy or a result of overthinking/mental health concerns. The only way of finding that out is to see a healthcare professional.
And given the hat you have significant mental health concerns, it's rather unacceptable that your GP won't see you. Have you (or someone on your behalf) contacted the practice manager and explained the situation?
Just trying to understand and help if possible

I understood most people whilst experiencing cryptic pregnancy don't POAS and that's why they don't know? If you have and it's negative, then that surely conclusively rules it out?

Hi all,

We're just popping on to say that we have no reason to doubt the OP here. If you ever have uncertainties, please just report instead of posting them on the boards - we know from experience that this can really upset a genuine OP.

Thanks

1. stop using the pull out method if you don't want to be pregnant.

2. if you want to know for certain you need a scan and you're going to have to leave the house for that. Ring the EPU and see if they can self refer but you're going to have to go to them.

I have no experience of this but it sounds unlikely you're pregnant, but you know the only way of knowing for sure is getting a blood test somehow.

What I would say is that if you are worried you are pregnant you will need to find out somehow as if you are you and the baby are missing out on antenatal care or if you didn't want to continue with the pregnancy you know there is a cut off point.

You need to be using proper contraception to prevent an unplanned pregnancy if you are too unwell to go out and receive the care you need.

From what I understand you've been housebound for 10 years but were pregnant 8 years ago - how did you receive antenatal treatment then? Did you have any scans?

I was a "cryptic pregnancy" (didn't even know it had a name). My mum was over 4 months pregnant when she found out but that was over 30 years ago and she was on the pill so slightly different situation.

@Mungo About a year ago I did contact the practise manager and talk to her, she was supposed to call me back but didn't and I gave up. :(

@Scarydinosaurs actually no, a fair few of the stories I read people had negative pee tests and even a few had negative blood tests too and only had it confirmed by a scan. It's so weird that that can happen.

@potteringalong I'm not ttc but I would be pleased if I was pregnant. I have been waiting on an appointment to have my iud changed (it is nearly 2 years expired) for 9 months (hence the pull out method for 9 months) as they have to put me under general anaesthetic due to my severe anxiety and the appointment is taking FOR EV ER. I won't take anything with hormones in 'cos I don't want it to mess with my anxiety, that's why I had a copper iud and am waiting for a new one but I'm dreading it obviously.

I don't see how you can possibly resolve this without leaving the house. And if you are pregnant you're not going to be able to get most antenatal care, particularly scans, done at home.

Are you getting help for your anxiety/agrophobia? Because regardless oh how this situation pans out, that would be a massive win.

Although copper coils have a sell by date I think they actually work indefinitely. They aren't the same as the hormone ones.

I'm pretty sure with the coil, periods and negative tests you aren't pregnant.

Just googled. Although they are recommended for ten years they last up to 12.

If you've had it in for ten years now did you get pregnant 8 years ago?

@Clacksaredown Well like I said. I wasn't looking for advice or input on my situation. I appreciate you're trying to help but I was just looking for others experiences to help me come to my own conclusion.
But no I guess there is no way to 'resolve' it at present. I will just have to see how it goes.

Yea the mental health services are really lacking :( I was waiting for cbt for 2 1/2 years and ended up with 6 sessions rushed in to 5 weeks 'cos the psychologist was leaving for another job. Now I have been waiting a year again 'cos they were waiting on another psychologist 'cos they didn't have one -_- Apparently they now have one they are sharing with someone else and my mental health coordinator said she is going to talk to her about me on Thursday.

@Neoneon I thought it might last longer too 'cos I saw an article on some research that was being done that claims they can last a couple of years longer than they had previously thought. But my doc told me in Feb that it would not be working now so I dunno shrugs
Did you not see while googling that all coils can last various amounts of time?? There are a few 10 year copper coils but I have a 5 year one. The Nova t-380. I had it inserted at the beginning of Feb 2010. So I was suppose to get it out feb last year and it's now getting on for next year.