I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant

by Kim Neyer | More from this Blogger

Seriously? You didn't know? When I first saw the previews for this new show on Discovery Health, I was a little skeptical. The show, which started out as a single documentary before it was turned into a full blown series, tells the stories of numerous women who had know idea they were expecting until they were in labor. I questioned how a women could miss the signs, especially in late pregnancy. Didn't they notice their stomach was sticking out? Didn't they feel the baby kicking their ribs? What about Braxton Hicks contractions, nausea, pelvic pain, back pain, sore breasts or skipped periods?

The funny thing is, I actually know a woman who experienced this, and mistook all the symptoms for menopause. She was slightly overweight, so the baby never made his presence known through her outward appearance. All other symptoms she experienced could have easily been caused by menopause. She went to the ER for what she thought was appendicitis and came home with a newborn son a few days later. She already had a few grown children and no longer had their cribs or anything, so she had to buy everything new all over again. Can you imagine?

What's interesting about this new series, however, is the number of teenagers and young women featured who are not overweight or anywhere near possible menopause. One woman actually had a photo of herself at the beach from when she would have been 7 months pregnant, and even I couldn't tell she was expecting. She looked the way I did when I was only 10 weeks along. These women often have no classic signs of pregnancy, not even fetal movement. Some of them have had children before, and their pregnancy was nothing like past pregnancies. Often their babies are full term and completely healthy. It's so unbelievable, and yet I can't stop watching. I set my DVR to record every episode.

So how could a woman completely miss the fact she is pregnant? There seem to be two main underlying causes:

• Previously irregular periods caused by PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) or the perimenopausal transition stage (entering menopause).
• Pre-pregnancy obesity. The heavier a woman is before she becomes pregnant, the less noticeable pregnancy weight gain is.

As for the other women who don't fit this profile? I'm still skeptical.

Learn more about Kim Neyer

Kim is a freelance writer, photographer and stay at home mom to her one-year-old son, Micah. She has been married to her husband, Eric, since 2006.

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