# "I didn't know I was pregnant"



## Galatea (Jun 28, 2004)

This was a show on Discovery Health. Did anyone catch it?

What I want to know is, how is this possible? How can you not feel the baby moving all over the place? How do you get to be 9 months pg and not notice anything weird?


----------



## Sasharna (Nov 19, 2008)

Maybe if the woman has a lot of gastrointestinal distress on a regular basis, she might not notice the difference?


----------



## barefootpoetry (Jul 19, 2007)

I saw this when it was on TLC. I'm pretty baffled too. Even if mom was overweight or didn't gain any weight, would you seriously not notice? One of the moms didn't get periods normally, so that wasn't a sign for her. You'd think you would at least feel the baby moving, or notice any of the other common discomforts of pregnancy. I dunno...it's very bizarre to me.


----------



## Sheal (Apr 19, 2007)

I have IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) I didn't find out about my 4th PG until 26 weeks. I was also on a medication that caused nausea, weight gains\losses and I've always had irregular menstruation. I can go between 28 day cycle and 108 day cycle for my AF. It's a wonder I have 5 kids with that kind of irregularity.

It can and does happen, btw I had a menstruation during that whole pregnancy, that happens too.


----------



## weliveintheforest (Sep 3, 2005)

A very close friend of mine had this happen to her. She had her period throughout, so she didn't think it could be a pregnancy.


----------



## Full Heart (Apr 27, 2004)

Sadly not every woman feels movement. I have seen the show several times but I also know women who had that happen. I think its sad really, you didn't have any time to bond, to prepare. One poor lady I know that this happened to the father wanted a paternity test. It wasn't pretty. I think sometimes it can be denial but other times everything lines up perfectly and you just can't tell. I wish I wouldn't gain weight and have a flat stomach like some of these ladies. Never have ms or at least not bad enough to suspect something. To be able to skip all the worry of the first trimester, all the fear leading up to birth. Yea it would be sweet but then like I said no time to prepare, no bonding. Imagine if it was your first, you weren't trying and you had nothing. It would be such a shock!


----------



## SquishyBuggles (Dec 19, 2008)

I have heard that it is entirely possible for an obese woman to not feel movement and not 'show' for the pregnancy. Not all, of course, but it is possible.


----------



## annekh23 (Nov 1, 2008)

It happens, we were told this story, by the doctor who delivered the baby, so I think it's pretty accurate.

A women, around 50, with children already in there 20s, she was out bowling when her waters broke, but she thought it was loss of bladder control. A couple of nights later, she went to the ER in terrible pain and they realised she was pregnant, baby wasn't in good condition and was delivered by emergency c-section. Afterwards, one thing she said was "what am I going to tell them at work on Monday", seemed like she was so shocked and stunned that her brain hadn't got to the point of processing that she wasn't actually going to be in work on Monday!


----------



## mrscompgeek (Nov 15, 2007)

I would think it is highly possible. I have colon problems, Stomach problems, weight issues and very irregular periods all of which make me feel odd all the time so its possible not to realize it.


----------



## calebsmommy25 (Aug 23, 2008)

A good friend of mine didn't know until the 3rd trimester. She was going into have gastric bypass surgery when they realized she was pregnant. He is an absolute miracle. It is truly a blessing when babies are born completely healthy in these types of situations where the momma's had no knowledge of them. I needed those full 9 months to get ready for being a mommy, I couldn't imagine only having a few months!


----------



## Brown Lioness (Dec 28, 2005)

I remember this this girl in my high school class got pregnant out sophmore year? or was it junior year?

At any rate, she was a big girl and didn't find out she was pregnant until she was 6 months. The baby didn't make it (i dont remember why), but yea, i can see how it can happen (granted, ive never been pregnant).

I've seen a couple episodes of this show and i loved how they sensationlize birthing at home (cause the women didnt know they were in labor).

*sarcasm*


----------



## njbeachgirl (Oct 8, 2006)

I always wondered the same thing, there was no mistaking it for me







That show was crazy!


----------



## Veritaserum (Apr 24, 2004)

I can't imagine it for myself.... I could see maybe not knowing until 2nd trimester, but by the 3rd trimester I don't know how I could attribute a giant kicking thing in my abdomen to be anything other than a baby.

My family doc told me about a woman who came in because she was not feeling well. She was horribly swollen with high bp and a terrible headache. After examining her he found that she was 28 weeks and suffering from pre-e. So not only did she get the shock of an unknown pregnancy, but she was immediately sent over to the hospital have a baby in the next few hours/days.


----------



## ScarletBegonias (Aug 24, 2005)

sometimes the position of the placenta prevents moms from feeling movement.......


----------



## cappuccinosmom (Dec 28, 2003)

I believe it.

One, all of the pics I have seen, the women are extremely large.

Two, many of them were either breastfeeding or had pcos and the absent af wasn't a reliable sign. The latest one I think was getting monthly bleeding throughout the preg.

Three, some of us







have extremely active innards. Whatever is going on inside me often feels like a light baby kick, and because it happens when I'm not pregnant, I have learned to ignore it.

I could see something like this happen to me.


----------



## kerikadi (Nov 22, 2001)

Denial.

Of course I have heard of women who didn't realize they were pregnant until 5 or 6 months and have a good friend who had her period throughout but even for her, pregnant with her first, unmarried at a young age she knew something was up and found out via U/S at 6 months.

I don't believe you can make it to 9 months and not know unless you are in denial.


----------



## cappuccinosmom (Dec 28, 2003)

I think a lot of these women don't make it to 9 months?


----------



## crittersmom (Mar 24, 2005)

My mom didn't know with me or my sister until she was in labor.She had her period and was in the Navy getting regular checkups including pregnancy tests.An aunt who was a former OB nurse was visiting us a week before my sister was born and shared a bed with my mom didn't even know.
With my first I didn't know until I was 11 weeks.I was on the pill and getting AF and I had one the whole pregnancy.I just figured this flu was kicking my butt and taking forever to leave.I didn't think to test until the extreme pain in my breasts started.
With my second I was TTC , it never showed up on the pregnancy tests as more than a very faint line even at the end when it was very obvious.
With my 3rd I was charting it was the only way I would have known sooner since I was yet again relying on BC pills to work.
with my 4th I didn't know until I was 19 weeks.I thought that tandem nursing was finally working at keeping AF away and I only threw up once and I thought that was because I drank a beer.I was taking care of 3 kids in the middle of a cross country move so of course I was exhausted.I still feel kicks that I thought were from #4 but I guess my innards aren't quiet anymore.I still shake my head about my last baby,none of us knew.(except my oldest, he did keep in insisting)
I do have M/S all the way up until birth and at the end I am very pregnant looking, but I can believe it happening as these women said.


----------



## justbishop (Nov 21, 2008)

I can't imagine not knowing, but my mother claims not to have realized that I was in there until she went in to have her BC rx refilled to find out that she was about 5 months along o.0


----------



## Full Heart (Apr 27, 2004)

Of the women I know that this happened to - none were obese. They were thinner than me by far. The one lady was a business woman wearing business suits so its not like her belly was hidden under bulky clothes. (oh to look that good when I'm NOT pg!) There was an article awhile back (2006) about a basketball player who had a baby and didn't know she was pg. She said she wore size 0 pants the whole pg. She played a game right before hand and there was a picture of her from that game. You couldn't tell. You might be able to do a search and find the archived article and photo.

On movement - If you have an anterior placenta you might not feel movement. If you have a lot of scar tissue you might not feel movement (That happened to my aunt). Also according to my moms ob if you have a thick uterine lining you might not feel movement (Not sure how much I believe that one).

Not having a period I can see. I once knew someone who didn't have a period for 18 mos (wasn't pg, had never been). But to have one every mos on schedule? How does that happen?


----------



## ctdoula (Dec 26, 2002)

I know of a woman who recently gave birth to full term twins and claims she never knew she was pregnant. She had an 18mo (not breastfeeding) and delivered at home and her teenage sister caught the babies. And this is not just 'hearsay'. Can you imagine??


----------



## Sheal (Apr 19, 2007)

Quote:

Denial.

Of course I have heard of women who didn't realize they were pregnant until 5 or 6 months and have a good friend who had her period throughout but even for her, pregnant with her first, unmarried at a young age she knew something was up and found out via U/S at 6 months.

I don't believe you can make it to 9 months and not know unless you are in denial.
I'll address this one first. Uh...not denial in my case tyvm. I was on meds that mimicked pregnancy, I have always had irregular bleeding and I have irritable bowel syndrome. I also have a bi-corneated uterus with both chambers reactive (meaning can carry a fetus). I also have extensive scarring due to the bi-corneated uterus - with medical documentation to prove it too. Denial is not always the base reasoning to this type of situation.

We were financially okay and comfortable, we already had three kids and were fine with more although not looking to add another baby to our family and were doing pretty good personally. So it wasn't financial, it wasn't family turmoil, I had been with the same man for many years at that point (7 years to be exact) he is the father of all my children and at that time the older three. We had family support up the wazoo.

You can't just "assume" that denial is always the reason behind it.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *cappuccinosmom* 
I think a lot of these women don't make it to 9 months?

I made it to 9 months with my 4th. As ironic as that is, actually 37 weeks on the dot so technically 3 weeks shy of full term, with a bi-corneated uterus and a history of pre term labor and delivery.


----------



## Quickbeam (Jan 6, 2009)

My close friend adopted a little one whose first mom did not know she was pregnant. LO was born at 28 weeks; she went to the ER with what she thought was extreme stomach upset







:.


----------



## PaigeC (Nov 25, 2008)

I am overweight and I have an anterior placenta. I felt the baby move at 13 weeks. I feel my self ovulate. I think some people are just more sensitive.


----------



## Belle (Feb 6, 2005)

Last year a baby was born in the local McDonald's bathroom and the mother didn't know she was pregnant. The baby was early and had some rare disorder (I can't remember what; I'd never heard of it) where his movements weren't felt by his mother.

They played the 911 call from the McDonalds employee. Let me paraphrase it.

Operator: "911"
McDonalds employee: "Yeah, there's a lady on the toilet in a lot of pain and she thinks she's having an appendicitis problem or something. "
(Screaming in background)
Employee: "Holy $358! she's having a baby"
Operator: "Is the baby moving"
Employee: "Yeah, its splashing around in the toilet! What do I do?!"
Operator" "Pick it out of the toilet"


----------



## MoonStarFalling (Nov 4, 2004)

I never believed the stories until DD's pregnancy. She never kicked. Not once! I did not have an anterior placenta she was just an extremely inactive baby. I have gone a year without periods before so I can totally understand now how this happens!


----------



## tinyblackdot (Aug 31, 2007)

The one woman on there had only had like 3 periods in 3 years or something crazy like that. She was a bit overweight, but the Dr on the show said that she had a very very thick placenta that was up against her stomach (i dont know what the technical term is), and the baby was quite small at like 4 lbs. She was also happily married to her husband for 5 years or something and was told over and over and over again that there was no way that she would ever be able to have a baby.

I could see it being very possible.


----------



## Galatea (Jun 28, 2004)

I finished watching it. I still don't get it. I have had anterior placentas with all my kiddos and still felt them just fine! I also feel ovulation, etc. I don't get that thing that if you are fat, you don't feel a baby - can't fat women feel menstrual cramps? Then why couldn't they feel a baby?

Anyway, IT MADE ME FURIOUS that the narrator said every time, "The baby could die b/c the mom didn't get prenatal care." Now I know that prenatal care is a good thing, but it seems like you need to have an OB wave a magic wand over your belly for everything to be okay.


----------



## tinyblackdot (Aug 31, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Galatea* 
I finished watching it. I still don't get it. I have had anterior placentas with all my kiddos and still felt them just fine! I also feel ovulation, etc. I don't get that thing that if you are fat, you don't feel a baby - can't fat women feel menstrual cramps? Then why couldn't they feel a baby?

Anyway, IT MADE ME FURIOUS that the narrator said every time, "The baby could die b/c the mom didn't get prenatal care." Now I know that prenatal care is a good thing, but it seems like you need to have an OB wave a magic wand over your belly for everything to be okay.









both of the babies where preterm and both had some serious medical problems right?


----------



## filiadeluna (Oct 2, 2007)

I have a _very_ hard time believing it. I'm not saying it's impossible... anything is possible. However, I am overweight, have an anterior placenta, and I have felt plenty of movement (not as early as most people, though, and not as strong). Yes, missing your period for months can be easily explained by other conditions. Aside from that, though, I had mood swings, fatigue, severe morning sickness, I have had sore boobs/nipples on & off, colostrum leaking occasionally since 15 weeks, hip/pelvic pain, and hello... a HARD stomach.

I know not everyone gets all of those symptoms, but not noticing your stomach hardening up is the one thing that makes me want to call B.S. on people unless they had six-pack abs to start with (in which case surely you'd notice your stomach expanding). At some point you can feel it even when you are standing up. Unless you've got some strange disease that gives you some/many of the other symptoms, and then think you have some sort of stomach tumor???







I dunno....


----------



## Galatea (Jun 28, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *tinyblackdot* 
both of the babies where preterm and both had some serious medical problems right?

All of the ones I saw (except the last one with twins and pre-e) were full-term and fine. I'm not saying prenatal care is not important. I just hate the way this channel medicalizes pregnancy, like it is always scary and dangerous, unless a doctor is there.


----------



## Girlprof (Jun 11, 2007)

I have a friend who didn't know she was pregnant until pretty late - but before full term. She's thin (not skinny) and fit with very strong abs and she has PCOS. Not only does she not get regular periods, she had been told it was impossible for her to conceive. She came back from a cruise complaining that she had put on some weight while on vacation. A MW friend looked at her and said, hm, that "weight" has a kind of suspicious look to it.....sure enough, she was something like 25 weeks along. I'm not sure why she hadn't felt movement by then - she may have been writing it off to gas. She was fine, as was her baby.


----------



## Eliseatthebeach (Sep 20, 2007)

I just saw this thread. While I did not see this program and I do not understand how you could go to full term without knowing, I did myself go until 21 weeks before I knew I was pg with my second dd. I know how ridiculous that sounds and if someone told me that I would immediately think they were nuts and how could you not know. But, I didn't know! It was so soon after my first dd and I had gained a ton of weight with her, I was finally starting to lose some and she was nursing so I was not getting regular periods. I had no idea what my body was supposed to look like 6, 8 or 10 months after birth, and honestly I really didn't care! I was suprised one day when I felt kicking, I knew I was pg!


----------



## Jilian (Jun 16, 2003)

I can't imagine not knowing either. I have videos of DS2's elbow literally poking right out of my belly at the end of my pregnancy, you can easily tell it is an elbow. How do you miss that? Then I think of the moms who did not know until they delivered and I can't imagine what that must be like, it must be horrifying not knowing what is going on then ending up with a baby you had not planned for at all.


----------



## asundaykindalove (Jan 19, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Brown Lioness* 
I've seen a couple episodes of this show and i loved how they sensationlize birthing at home (cause the women didnt know they were in labor).

*sarcasm*

Or how about when they mention that it's too late to give the woman an epidural and she'll have to *gasp* go through an UNMEDICATED birth Dun dun duhhhh.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Full Heart* 
Not having a period I can see. I once knew someone who didn't have a period for 18 mos (wasn't pg, had never been). But to have one every mos on schedule? How does that happen?

I don't understand this either!


----------



## wbg (Mar 28, 2008)

I know that I am pregnant after 5 minutes, so it very hard to relate to. But I think the human body is so complex and that individuals feel and respond to things in such a unique manner that it is certainly possible. I think it can be that the brain tricks you into believing you are not, or that your body simply functions in a different way.
Nonetheless, a coworker just helped a mother deliver a healthy 8# baby to a woman who thought she was having a seizure, when in fact she was in labour! Mother and baby were just fine...not so sure about the stunned onlookers


----------



## majormajor (Nov 3, 2006)

i believe it can happen. DD1 was SO active in utero (and posterior the WHOLE TIME) that i thought to myself, how could a woman even not know she's pregnant?
then came DD2, face in and much quieter. i'm sure some babies move far less than her even, so i could see not guessing on account of movement.

i also saw this article in good housekeeping years and years ago about a women who didn't know she was pregnant. she was thin (not bigger than a size 8 i'd guess), and they showed a picture of her in a BIKINI at 7 months pregnant (unbeknownst to her), and her stomach was flat. my grandmother told me she worked with a woman who, at 7 months pregnant, finally had to unzip the top of her skirt an inch. and that's a 1940s skirt fitted at the true waist.

i'm sure it's sometimes denial... like the pregnant teenager maybe. but certainly not always!


----------



## Storm Bride (Mar 2, 2005)

re: body size and showing.

I've been overweight or obese in all my pregnancies. However, I was at my thinnest with ds1. I also gained the most with him. He was the one who showed the least. People who didn't know me had no idea that I was pregnant until about 8 months or so, and still weren't sure even then. Even people who did know me, but hadn't heard my news weren't sure.

OTOH, with dd, ds2, Aaron _and_ baby-under-construction, I've been _big_ at conception - obese at the smallest, and morbidly obese now (using medical terms). Every one of these pregnancies has been _obviously_ a pregnancy to anybody who so much as glances at me by no later than 4-5 months.

I've only ever had any delay in feeling my baby move with _this_ pregnancy, and it was also hard to pick baby's heartbeat at first. (I have an anterior placenta, which may have caused the delay in those things - maybe it's the scarring from the sections - I don't know.)

I could see this happening for some people. I tend to pick up on it when I'm pregnant very quickly (before my period was due in about 6 out of 8 pregnancies), so I can't imagine it happening to me, but that doesn't mean it can't happen to _anybody_.


----------



## TwinsTwicePlusTwo (Dec 7, 2008)

I get strange pregnancy symptoms, so I believe it's possible someone else reacts in ways they don't even recognize as pregnancy. Each of our bodies are SO different.

Personally, my babies kick the crap out of me for the whole 3rd trimester, so I don't think it would be possible for me not to know. At least, I'd know there was _something_ moving around in there. It had better be a baby!


----------



## elanorh (Feb 1, 2006)

I've a friend from high school who didn't know she was pregnant.

I think part of it is knowledge/age. She was a freshman in college, didn't have any friends who'd had babies, so didn't know all the 'symptoms.' She didn't have morning sickness. She was in ROTC, which she thought explained her periods going away - all the exercise, lack of sleep, etc. And she thought she'd just gained the "freshman fifteen," at the same time. She was a relatively slender woman (still is). She is long-waisted, so didn't really show her pregnancy.

Her boyfriend (now husband) took her to the ER right before finals week, with suspected appendicitis. Surprise! I think their baby was a couple weeks early, but healthy.

Knowing her, I honestly don't think she was in denial. She probably just interpreted baby movements as 'gas,' and didn't think much about it. I've had gas that felt a lot like a baby moving, myself .... I can buy that argument.

When I'm pregnant, I feel great. I'm a little tired in the first trimester, but other than that I feel awesome. None of the morning sickness or aches and pains etc. that I've heard many other women describe. I honestly don't feel 'pregnant' much during my pregnancies, except in the least couple weeks maybe. And even then, I've never felt that "Oh,lets.have.the.baby.now.please!" sort of feeling that a lot of my friends describe in the last 4-6 weeks.


----------



## 3pink1blue (Jun 23, 2008)

my cousin is very thin and had a baby without knowing she was pregnant. she was at my wedding in May 2003 and she didn't look pregnant at all, but then a few weeks later, early June, she was in the driveway with her then 2 year old and sat down feeling "weird" as she puts it, and her baby boy was born, 8 pounds and full term, into her shorts. She said she never felt pregnant and never felt him move, and about an hour before he was born she thought she wet her pants (water breaking) - but that wasn't unusual because she had a traumatic birth with her first and had bladder issues ever since.

It might be a family thing, but when I was thin and pregnant, you couldn't tell till the very end of pregnancy. I wore my size 9 jeans throughout my first pregnancy, only using a rubber band to adjust the button in the last month or so. I knew i was pregnant though.


----------



## NaturalMindedMomma (Feb 5, 2007)

This makes me wonder actually how much of our pregnancy is in our minds? KWIM?

with this baby, I took a picture with my now ex fiance and my face was rounder than normal. I looked at him and said, "I need a pregnancy test" I wasn't even really all that late. I think a day or two. I just knew I was pregnant. I have an anterior placenta and felt definitive movement at around 18-19 weeks.

However with this pregnancy, I was not extra hungry, I have not gained an alarming amount of weight, I never had nausea. Maybe a few dizzy spells and some tiredness, which can also be attributed to my bi-polar disorder. Honestly, I don't totally get it either, but I do think it's possible.

I would think going to 9 months is much more rare than finding out in the second and third trimesters, but still. I think it CAN happen.


----------



## mellowyellowmama (Feb 7, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *3pink1blue* 
*sat down feeling "weird" as she puts it, and her baby boy was born, 8 pounds and full term, into her shorts. She said she never felt pregnant and never felt him move, and about an hour before he was born she thought she wet her pants (water breaking) -* .

I'll take a birth like this!


----------



## zonapellucida (Jul 16, 2004)

I had a firend that hsi happend too. she did not look pg. WEIRD!!!!


----------

