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Expectant Moms

A general group for all expectant moms....

660 Members
Club type: Common Interest
Leader: MothersClick
Created: May 15, 2007
Question

Is it really possible to go full-term without knowing you're pregnant?

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I caught a couple of episodes of TLC's show, "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" over the weekend because they were running a marathon, and I have to say I was shocked. I remember hearing stories about young girls "not knowing" and I have to admit I always assumed it was urban myth (or they'd simply been hiding it the whole time). But apparently it does happen, and happens often enough that someone has found enough women to make a series out of it.

Have you ever known anyone who didn't know they were pregnant until they were basically ready to deliver, or in some cases AFTER they've delivered? There was one story where the woman literally gave birth -- to the first of twins -- in the hospital toilet (she'd been at the hospital by luck with her mom when her contractions started and had just learned she was pregnant but they didn't yet know how far along she was). I'm just having such a hard time understanding how you can have all these changes happening in your body for 9 1/2 months and not know you were carrying a child (or two!)

This link from the TLC site give some reasons why women don't know they're pregnant, but I'm still having a hard time with this. I'd love to hear some thoughts.

How do you carry a baby to full-term and never know you are pregnant?

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6 Answers

I watch The Soup and he showed a clip from last week's episode of that show where the nurse cuts away a woman's pants and finds a full term baby in there. Seriously? How delusional does a person have to be to not know you're having a baby?

I can understand teens who are afraid to get a test and get far along without realizing but come on. How can this be true - let alone true enough to make a whole TV show out of it.

Oh, I know!! Isn't is bizarre!? I think I saw parts of the woman you mentioned with the twins. I rememer thinking, "Wow! I would LOVE that!!! I wouldn't stress or worry about the pregnancy at all because I wouldn't know!";)

But, at the same time, I would not want to not know that it was going on for many reasons, one being the things you should do to try to help with the pregnancy like prenatal vitamins and prenatal care.

But I think it's totally possible from a medical point of view.

Every woman is SO different with her pregnancies. Some get so sick that they're hospitalized from dehydration, while others feel the exact same as they do when not pregnant.

I seem to be one who doesn't experience many symptoms and I can imagine attributing the small amount of morning sickness I had with both pregnacies to an upset stomach for just a second because when not pregnant I would feel a little sick after eating in the morning sometimes.

Other than that, when pregnant with my daughter, I felt the same as I did when I wasn't pregnant. With this little one, my boobs are swollen and tender, but I can also see myself thinking I was just going to start and just leaving it in the back of my mind during all the things that keep you busy througout the day. And if you have spotting during your pregnancy, you could think it was just a weird, short period, if you are normally irregular and think, "Well, there it is! That explains my boobs...."

And the differences in the ways that some women carry their babies is just amazing. Some carry high, others low, then "long", wide.....I'll get online every week that goes by and type in the week I'm in and look at Google images and it is so crazy how much bigger or smaller women can be! Some look like they're not pregnant at all, just a little bloated.

But I think if a women is irregular, it is easier to not realize what is going on. If your body doesn't work like clockwork, you don't notice things like another woman would and you especially wouldn't if you have zero symptoms and aren't showing because of extra weight and body type.

Plus, some women are on different birth controls that cause their periods to stay away for months at a time and then take months for their bodies to "resume". So while the woman is thinking that her body just hasn't adjusted yet, she could be pregnant and not know.

PLUS, there are women who get pregant soon after they have a baby. Women know that it takes your body a while to start it's cycles again, so while you could have gotten pregnant, you could just be thinking that your periods haven't started again yet. (I wondered about this alot when nursing my daughter-thinking that I'd never know if I was pregnant because I hadn't started yet, but if I had ovulated once and got pregnant, I never would start, so how would I know until months into it? In fact, when my daughter was 9 months old, I had only had 2 or 3 periods and they were very irregular. Things were obviously still "working themselves out" in my body, which I attributed to nursing her because I knew that that effects your cycles.Unbeknownst to me, I was pregnant, but she was 11 months when I took a test and I just took one in the off chance I could be! It was VERY EXCITING)

I personally can't imagine not knowing just because of how my belly grows, but I can see, with the different ways women carry, the lack of symptoms, the irregularity (is that a word?) and crazy busy and hectic lives that others lead, how a pregnancy can go undetected until they deliver-as bizarre as that is to me!!!

I don't know anyone who hasn't known they were pregnant until they delivered either. I thought that it was pretty rare, but like you said, if they made a TV series about it, it must be more common than I thought!

Biology and the differences in our bodies is such an fascinating thing!!! No one but God could possibly have the unparalleled genius it would take to create such miraculous creatures

Yes, our bodies are utterly fascinating, aren't they? I remember being in awe the first time around at all the changes taking place on a daily basis. It is a miracle and so amazing. I still have a hard time imagining not knowing I was preggers, but like you my belly is pretty obvious (and with my daughter, oh my was she a kicker and an acrobat once she got pretty big -- holy moley!) Without that, and if I wasn't so anxiously trying to conceive and awaiting the good news, I can *sort of* see maybe being unaware. I do have irregular periods, and with my first I didn't know until almost 7 weeks that I was pregnant, about 6 with the second. And that was looking for it. If you really aren't expecting it, and are in denial...I don't know, I still have to stretch to imagine, but I can sort of see how it might be possible. I guess we're also lucky because we were wanting it and expecting it! Not so for everyone, sadly.

Patti
SAHM in SoCal and administrator of the Sleep Forum group, http://www.mothersclick.com/group/sleep-forum and Tri-Counties Moms, http://www.mothersclick.com/moms-club/tri-counties-moms-sb-ventura-slo-c...

I have watched that also and I just don't see how that can happen!  I mean, maybe it does happen but really?  You don't feel the baby kicking, how could you miss that towards the end?  It boggles my mind really!! LOL

www.4theLoveofMyFamily.com

Alyssa M.

Mommy to Kylan ~ 09/22/2007

I have seen a few of those episodes on TLC. I think that for most of these woman they were told they could never have kids, they were overweight/obese to start and they majority had irregular cycles.  I was SHOCKED when I saw a few of the episodes. I remember one lady was the leader of some rock band and drank and smoked her entire pregnancy and ended up only gaining 7lbs. (she was tiny to start too)  But the baby turned out fine. I believe she had some irregular bleeding throughout so she thought she was having a period.

Yeah, I still don't get how you could mistake your stomach swelling and something kicking you/moving inside you for not being pregnant.  Those shows did intrigue me!

Smileymom :)

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hello, your ? is very interesting... i also posted a ? ... see if you can help ... any advice.. the link is http://www.mothersclick.com/questions/please-i-need-some-advice?cmpid=taf ... thank you so much

 

* also for your ? ... my mom had a friend who was very very heavy and she didn't know she was pregnant until she was due. *

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