Is it possible to be pregnant with your second child but not know until the time of giving birth? Is it possible to start with labor but believe that your pain is due to food poisoning?
Incredible as it may be, this is what happened to a woman from Florida, who gave birth in week 37 to her second child, after a pregnancy that had gone completely unnoticed for the absence of symptoms.
An unnoticed pregnancy and an unexpected baby
The dawn of March 25, Crystal, a 29-year-old woman from Florida and mother of an 18 month old child, woke up with a sharp pain in the stomach that immediately blamed the dinner of the previous day.
But the pains intensified and Crystal spent hours in the bathroom with cramps that worsened at times and believing to be really sick. So much so that she asked her husband to call an ambulance since she was convinced that she had suffered severe food poisoning.
However, moments after the toilets arrived at her home and before they could examine her, the woman realized that those cramps were not due to a spoiled dinner but to labor contractions, as doctors finally verified.
So the woman ended up giving birth to her second child in an ambulance and in a state of shock, at a news totally unexpected for her and her husband. And it is that finding out that you will be a mother again just a few minutes before having your child with you should not be easy to assimilate!
Crystal claims not to have had symptoms of pregnancy, or if she had gone unnoticed between the daily maelstrom, her work in a nursing home and the care and attention of her son."It was a scary moment. I was convinced that I was dying. The ambulance trip was the most painful and scary moment of my life."
"At that time I could not think of anything. I was only focused on pain" - this woman reminds People magazine.
"I only gained five or six kilos. I had no nausea, nor did my gut grow or round. I worked full time during the eight months, and the nights I spent attending to my 18 month old son. I did not have time to stop to feel and realize that I was pregnant, especially because I did not experience the typical symptoms "
"The only thing I had was a constant backache, but my back has always hurt, so I didn't give it any importance either"
The unexpected baby, whom they called Oliver, weighed two and a half kilos and doctors estimated that her gestational age was 37 weeks, approximately. He was transferred to the hospital but after a few days he was admitted and now the family is adapting to the new situation.
"Oliver is progressing very well. He sleeps well, eats well and smiles when he is awake and sees us. We are also fine, although we miss a good plate of homemade food and a night of sleep" - jokes Crystal.
The main drawback they have is their small car, which does not fit two baby seats. Therefore, the family has created a page on GoFoundMe with which they hope to raise money to acquire a new vehicle.
Is it possible to be pregnant without knowing it?
Logically, I am not the one to question what this woman says, but personally I find it very difficult to understand as a mother, who not only is not a first time but also has the memory of her last pregnant woman quite close, is not able to identify that is pregnant again
Because it is true that there are pregnant women who are lucky to live the nine months without a single symptom, who do not suffer nausea and that even the volume of the gut goes unnoticed, but ... and the movements of the baby? And the contractions of Braxton Hicks?
When we are new, the first movements of our baby - which are usually felt around the 18th or 20th week -, are likely to go unnoticed at first. We do not know what they are or what we should feel, so those bubbles that we may notice may be attributed to gas or intestinal discomfort. But as the pregnancy progresses, the baby's kicks become clearly identifiable and unmistakable
The same can happen with the hardening of the gut because of the contractions of Braxton Hicks, which although they are not painful, can be annoying and easily identifiable as the gestation progresses.
On the other hand would be the subject of absence of menstruation during pregnancy, but we don't know that fact in the news. Maybe the woman didn't have the rule even when she got pregnant because she was breastfeeding her son. We do not know.
In my case, my three pregnancies could never have gone unnoticed, not only because of the volume of my gut, but because they were accompanied by endless symptoms (insomnia, nausea, atrocious hunger, back pain, abdominal pain, emotional changes, fluid retention, chest pain ...) and other ailments associated as urinary infections, anemia or low blood pressure.
That is why I would like to ask those who have experienced the pregnancy without any symptoms: do you think that if they had not known you were pregnant, the kicks of your babies or the contractions of Braxton Hicks would have alerted you at some point?
