Pregnancy might be planned, and yet it sometimes takes people by surprise. As seen from the stories below, the timeline of being unaware of pregnancy, in some cases, extends until the actual birth of a baby. Yet, other times, due to certain specific circumstances, finding out about pregnancy in the early stages might be just as unexpected!
Naturally, having no clue about carrying a baby might be associated with certain risks; luckily, though, it often has a happy ending in addition to making a story that gets told in the family when kids grow older. These Redditors shared exactly these kinds of stories, answering one Redditor’s question: “What’s your ‘I didn’t know I was pregnant’ story?”
Do you have something to add? Please, share your thoughts or a story in the comments below!
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#1
Hubby and I wanted to start a family, so we weren't using contraception, but I have PCOS. I went 18 months without having a period, during which time I had several blood tests which confirmed I wasn't ovulating, so we were put on the waiting list to try fertility treatment. Whilst we were still waiting, hubby and I both came down with the flu, throwing up, aching muscles, coughing, sneezing, the works. After a week or so, hubby recovered but I was still tired and sickly. It was coming up to the millennium, so I was desperately hoping to be better for the big celebrations. As it turned out, I couldn't face any alcohol and fell asleep on the sofa, missing the whole thing. A couple of days later, I was still throwing up, so I went to the doctor. Turns out I was 9 weeks pregnant.
Image credits: cavergirl
#2
Not me, but my mom (pregnant with my little sister). She was on the pill and didn’t have a single symptom of pregnancy. She was getting what she *thought* was her period every month, but later learned that it was a small placenta bleed or something that mimicked her period pattern. She has always had back problems, so when it was feeling worse than usual for a while, she goes to the doctor to see what’s going on, and that’s when he asks her if she’s knows that she’s 7 months pregnant. That was a BIG no. We figured we had at best 2 months to prepare for a baby, which was relatively easy since she’s done it before. Sister came early, I mean, early as in 3 weeks after my mom found out she was pregnant, she was giving birth. She came so fast that she even got to go to her own baby shower, at a whole 9 days old.
Image credits: erin_cc
#3
We were practicing safe sex. And I had a very irregular period. The first symptom was missed period but since I only get my period after a month or two, I wasnt worried. Second was loss of appetite. I loved eating and always had cheat days when working out, suddenly I stopped eating a lot and only ate cheese bagels and iced coffees everyday. I couldnt get through the day without coffee. I love coffee but this was just too much. I thought I was just tired from teaching and handling kids everyday and coffee gave me the energy I needed. Then I felt dead tired, I felt like I had the flu. My body was heavy and I felt really sick. I thought it was food poisoning because I ate street foods the day before I felt sick. Until one Monday morning I threw up everything. The only thing that I can drink without throwing up is brewed coffee. That's when I told my SO everything. And I said 'Damn I think I have the flu.'. My boyfriend was quiet on the phone before "Babe, I think youre pregnant."I laughed at first but then realize it was quite possible. He went to visit me and bought a generic pregnancy kit. Yep, positive.
Went to the doctor immediately and found out Im 8 weeks pregnant. Already on my 5th month right now.
Apparently my baby loves coffee.
Image credits: sunnynightmares
#4
Not me but my sister-in law was driving her friend home from a party because her friend started to have severe "stomach cramps". Her friend gave birth in the front seat of my sister-in law's car! She never knew she was pregnant. She was very obese to start with so she never noticed any unusual weight gain and I'm assuming she was on birth control or something that would have normally stopped her periods. The funny thing is that she has had a child before. It's hard to believe but it really does happen.
Image credits: anon
#5
I used depo pro era, and had the shot every 3 months or so. I was pretty depressed at the time, my boyfriend had just died, so I was always really fatigued and slept 12 hours a day. Never felt great, didn’t eat much. Then when I did eat I threw it back up. Sometimes I would throw up without even eating, just water. I thought it was like a manifestation of how stressed and anxious and depressed I was. I started to feel bloated a lot, my stomach was firmer (I thought because I wasn’t eating and was throwing up what I did eat), I had constant heart burn. There were times where I felt like I couldn’t breathe out all the way, which is a frustrating feeling. It wasn’t until I could feel just how hard my stomach was that I realized what was up. I think if I had someone in my life at the time it would have been obvious when I was randomly throwing up, but I was so depressed and tired and sick feeling *all the time,* that it just felt like one more thing. Like great I can’t go a day without crying, can’t get off the couch, can hardly eat, *and* I’m now throwing up, when will it end??Didn’t realize until 5.5 months in, a little over 4 months after my boyfriend died.
Image credits: RaineBearNW
#6
My story is pretty surprising, considering how small I am. I'm 4'8 and generally hover between 95-105 lbs. Due to a previous pregnancy that ended in miscarriage a year prior, I had been carrying some extra weight. So, in 2014 I weighed around 115 or so. Doesn't seem like much but I was ever so slightly chunky being only 4'8.All of my previous pregnancies (I have 3 living children) started showing super early. Like 9-11 weeks.
In October of 2013 I was diagnosed with uterine fibroids. No big deal, really, except they messed with my periods and I would only have on every 3-5 months or so.
Fast forward to March 31st, 2014 (coincidentally my birthday). I got to my GP for a follow up about my fibroids. They do the standard urine/bloodwork prior to me going in. He has me lay down on the table and puts a doppler to my stomach. Heartbeat. Ok...wasn't expecting that. Then, he tells me I'm 24 weeks. 6 MONTHS PREGNANT! I haven't gained a bit of weight, I'm not showing, haven't felt movement that I know of.
Saying my husband and I were shocked is an understatement.
It was a difficult pregnancy. In the last trimester I ended up having too much amniotic fluid, causing my belly to distend more than normal. It wreaked havoc on my back, I lost nearly all control of my bladder, my joints ached, I could hardly move.
They did weekly ultrasounds to check on the baby's heart and measure his femur and head because they thought he A. had a heart defect and B. might have possibly had Down Syndrome.
Turns out he did not have Down's Syndrome and they found no heart defect. That is until after he died at 48 hours old.
The tale of his death is a nightmare caused by a bureaucratic clusterf**k and is a story for another time.
Image credits: Shortelle
#7
I had a weird two-week long period. Then for three days straight, I mentioned to my husband that I really could go for some chocolate cake. He jokingly asked me if I was pregnant but I couldn't possibly be because I had the Skyla. What he said didn't sit well with me so I took a pregnancy test the next day. Womp womp.
Image credits: ForcedReception
#8
Everything smelled weird. My toddler was not sleeping through the night and I was working more than full time, so was exhausted. I pleaded with my husband to figure out why the house smelled like garbage and left on a business trip to Vegas. It was a regular company trip and co-workers had significant debauchery planned. I’d have a glass of wine with dinner then nearly fall asleep over dessert. And everything still smelled weird. I bailed on all the plans since my tolerance was so low, slept a lot and still felt exhausted. Saw the doctor when I got back and found out I was in week 20, maybe, but it was late enough in the pregnancy they couldn’t date it.So I warn people I can’t go to Vegas anymore, since I came back pregnant from the last trip.
Image credits: ejly
#9
Not me but a friend.She was on BC and was still having a “period”, lost a lot of weight, her hair was falling out, and she was so severely ill that she thought she had cancer. She went to the doctor and it turned out she was in her second trimester.
Image credits: orangeunrhymed
#10
Not me, but this happened to a friend of mine yrs ago. She was in her early 20s and a bit overweight. She had irregular periods. She came to visit me one day and kept telling me her stomach felt strange...like it felt "hard" and it felt like gas pains, but "squirmy". She wondered if she was pregnant. She showed me her stomach, and even tho she was on the "heavier" side, her stomach was pretty flat. I told her I didn't think she was pregnant. Two days later, her mother rushed her to the hospital with severe abdominal pains...turned out that she was in labor and within minutes gave birth to a perfect, full term, full-sized baby girl! Perfectly healthy despite no prenatal care!
Image credits: deanie1970
#11
Missed my period, felt pregnant, had all my usual pregnancy symptoms. So I bought a multi pack of name brand pregnancy tests. I took all 5 over the course of the week and all 5 were negative. I made an appointment with my MD fully expecting to hear the “C” word. When the blood test came back +, I blurted out, “Oh, thank God! I thought I was gonna die!”
Image credits: FeckinBecky
#12
Not me but my mom didn’t know she was pregnant until she went to the doctor one day (or maybe it was a gynecologist) and apparently the doctor who have her the birth control thing (I think it’s called an IUD) messed up so the birth control didn’t work and next thing you know, in my mom’s words:*heavy hispanic accent*
“... and the doctor said: I’m sorry you have baby”
She was 6 months along when she found out.
Image credits: Tio_Jhonny
#13
Thought the cheese sandwich I'd brought to Wembley for the 2015 Community Shield had been dodgy. Nope. 7 weeks pregnant.
Image credits: DjangoPony84
#14
I had a 2nd trimester miscarriage. After that I stopped having periods. For years. I was in my 40s so I was told I was menopausal. Yippee-Skippee! So, my husband and I threw caution to the wind. Wow. Was that ever great. No barriers, no pills, just hot, sweet nooky.Then I got tired like I had the flu. I just was so damned weary. One day my husband said to me that I was not just tired, I was pregnant. (he said "your tits just look sooo fine!")
And I was. I was 47 when I had him. All was fine, and he is now a wonderful 11 year old kid. He loves accordion music, legos, dancing, riding his bike. Nicest surprise we ever had.
Image credits: anon
#15
I have PCOS so I was going 4-5 months without a period normally. He was on medicine for a different condition that as a side effect, killed his testosterone levels. I was there when his doctor said he would not be able to have kids while on this medicine (I think he stopped taking it without telling me, but that’s another story).The first 4 months I was actively losing weight. During this time I had just gotten a new, third shift job that involved a lot of running around and bending over so when I was super tired and sore all the time, I just chalked it up to that. I did not have any morning sickness at all. I threw up twice on the same day but that’s it and thought it was just a stomach bug, I’m still not really sure that it wasn’t just a bug.
I didn’t know until I felt a kick, and even then for the first two weeks of feeling kicks I was trying to convince myself it was gas moving around. When I went 5.5 months without a period and the I was getting nervous so I took a test and voila...baby.
Image credits: LadyExura
#16
I went on business trip to Germany. Came back. Felt very tired, but blamed it on working full time with 3 kids. Over xmas gained a few pounds. But who doesn't? Hubs said I was acting weird. One morning he caught me having a cheese and onion sandwich, dipping it in yoghurt. He asked me to get a check up asap. I went to the obgyn. Rolled nearly from the table when he anounced me I was pregnant. 24 WEEKS PREGNANT. 3 weeks later I had a huuuuuige stomach. She is blond with blue eyes and very different than her siblings. He keeps joking that her father is German lol
Image credits: anon
#17
Obligatory "not me, but..."Mum mum's first baby passed away suddenly when he was five months old. In the aftermath she was put on a cocktail of antidepressants and other medicines to correct a hormonal imbalance which meant that her periods hadn't returned after previously being regular. They still didn't come back and repeated pregnancy tests were negative so she went to the doctor for a blood test (negative) and was referred to hospital for a scan "to put your mind at rest, we know you're not pregnant but..."
She was six months gone and I turn 31 in two and a half weeks.
#18
Was working 12 hour shifts so I was already constantly tired and was working as a janitor so I just attributed the “ew everything smells gross” to that. Also wasn’t happy with the job and it was sending me into a depressive episode so strange eating habits were because of that.Was told about 2 years prior that I wouldn’t be able to have kids (had undiagnosed chlamydia for too long, also had Pelvic inflammatory disease) so I had finally quit bc because i was having s****y side effects anyway.
I only finally got suspicious when I puked up perfectly good food after just eating it. Took 3 tests and they were all positive and now I’m sitting next to my gurgling 1m son at 4am lmao
#19
I sneezed violently which ruptured a corpus luteum cyst and while they were giving me an ultra sound for that they found a tiny blob with a pulse about 1/6th the size of the cyst
Image credits: Repulsia
#20
Not me, but a friend.She was 40, and had been told by doctors since she was 16 that she'd never be able to get pregnant. She and her boyfriend had considered adopting, but then her boyfriend got cancer and passed away soon after, and she didn't want to be a single mom.
She was working as a police officer, and she was very petite and fit, but she wound up quitting that job in favor of a desk job. Apparently, when celebrating the new job, she had a one-night stand. She didn't really bother practicing safe sex and never had, knowing she couldn't conceive anyway.
She gained a few pounds in the new few months, but put it down to having a less active job.
5 months after that one night stand, she's lying on her sofa after a workout, just wearing sweats and a sports bra and watching TV. Her stomach feels weird, so she looks down and *sees something moving under the skin*.
She rushed to an urgent care thinking she had a parasite, and turned out to be 5 months pregnant.
#21
My hairdresser was 15 at the time and was drinking, smoking, eating like normal and going to the gym for an hour every evening. She hadn't had any sex ed so when she went home one day from the gym she complained of severe stomach cramps and her mum took her to the doctor, who informed her she was in labour, and my hairdresser had to ask what labour is.I've seen a photo of her 2 weeks before her daughter was born, absolutely flat stomach and no sign of showing. Apparently she was bleeding each month so she thought she was having her period like normal.
It's made me so paranoid ever since. I would never have believed that she couldn't tell at all if not for that photo. You really can't.
Image credits: anon
#22
Not sure if this counts as "we didnt know" though my wife had a copper IUD installed that has been in for about a year. IUDs are generally 99.9% effective, except for when they arent. I think her body may have shifted it because I could feel it inside her in the later stages, though we ultimately had a healthy 3rd son despite the IUD.Moral of the story, dont always trust contraception to be foolproof.
Image credits: anon
#23
Not me, but my sister’s husband’s father and his wife. (Not the husband’s bio mom, she’s the same age as my sisters husband, her step son). She went to the hospital having abdominal pains, thinking it was kidney stones. Turns out she was in labor and had a healthy baby girl. The freaky thing is, she thought she couldn’t have kids due to endometriosis and the father had a vasectomy years ago that has apparently reversed itself. The chances of them having a child together had to be crazy low. Miracle baby! The father is about 50 years old and now has a brand new baby to take care of
Image credits: Angelousy
#24
My cousin didn't know she was pregnant. Pretty overweight and doesnt take care of herself. Barely graduated high school. Milks government systems. She was drinking and smoking [substances] to try to make her cramps go away and ended up having her friend drive her to the hospital. She was shocked to be giving birth.Sad side of the story is that she is essentially an alcoholic, and the child has severe FASD. She wasn't wanted at all and the father was in jail and now wants nothing to do with them. But because its her kid, she uses it as a p**n in the family and doesnt take very good care of her. The kid is 10 and wets the bed, has no friends in school, etc. I though she would turn around when the baby came but the kids is an inconvenience in her life. It is very sad.
Image credits: anon
#25
Not me but my godmother. She didn't have any children and at the age 40 she started gaining weight. Didn't notice any other symptoms or maybe didn't have any. At some point she went to a doctor and found out she was pregnant for quite a few months now. Was kinda like a miracle, I guess she thought she couldn't have kids.#26
That happened to my mother. She didn’t know she was pregnant with me until she was going into her ninth month. According to her she felt like she might have been pregnant but kept putting off going to the OBGYN since she thought she was like 2 months along. She also didn’t have any traditional pregnancy symptoms. Not having her period for 8 months wasn’t alarming to her since she always had irregular periods and once went almost a year without having one and she wasn’t pregnant then.Though she said she got a lot of heart burn throughout, but assume it was from her eating spicy foods constantly and she was on the bigger side so there was no significant weight gain. According to my father and my family, everyone knew my mother was pregnant but her. And my aunt’s pestering of having a baby at home got my mother to go check.
Her last month of pregnancy was filled with doctor appointments every couple of days since she was 35 and my father was 50 coupled with no prenatal care. The doctors were worried about developmental issues like downs or autism, but I came out fine thankfully.
Image credits: XManjushageX
#27
Not me, but my cousin. She went to hospital with a suspected severe UTI and came out with a baby girl. She had no idea she was pregnant. She was pretty overweight and her mum was dying of cancer so thought the stress had stopped her periods. She made a bit of money selling her story to one of those true story magazines.#28
My husband and I have fertility problems. My periods are regular and one month it seemed to start, but never turned into more than a light flow with light cramps. I tested and it was negative. Tested a few days later and it was positive. My GYN wouldn’t see me until 8 weeks, so I waited patiently.Then, I had some stronger cramping and bleeding, so I went to the ER. Over two days my HCG levels dropped significantly and I was told I was miscarrying at almost 6 weeks. I was told I would bleed more then it would be done.
I went on lightly bleeding for the next 2 1/2 weeks and it seemed it would never stop. I started having stabbing pains so I went back to the ER. They checked my HCG levels and they’d risen, but weren’t very high for what they should have been. It turned out I had an ectopic or tubal pregnancy.
At almost 9 weeks, it was so far along the doctor had to remove my Fallopian tube, but thank goodness, it hadn’t ruptured. Unfortunately in the three years since my ectopic we haven’t gotten pregnant and IVF was recommended. We aren’t doing IVF.
Image credits: Bobcatluv
#29
My mum's leg became stiff when she had to do a relay run for fun. She went to the doctors about it and they thought it was a tendon injury. Buuuuuut they all found out that she was actually pregnant with me, and her leg froze up because I accidentally laid on a sensitive nerve.#30
A friend of mine went into labour in her bosses' office during her annual review. Had no idea at all she was pregnant. I wish I had been a fly on the wall when her boss called her husband...#31
My friend's friend is on the heavier side. She was on birth control and everything. She broke up with her boyfriend and lived life normally; still went to hockey practice, had period, no morning sickness, even the stick result was negative. She did have stomachache a couple times and she went to the doctor twice, both doctors said she had stomach ulcer. One time she was taking a bath and she went into labor in the bathtub, and just like that she gave birth to a baby girl.#32
I had been trying to concieve for 8 years and was diagnosed secondary infertile. After years of keeping pregnancy test companies in business i had entirely given up and was pursuing intercountry adoption (newborn adoption is rare in my country and intercountry adoption takes many years). I no longer tracked my cycle as it had no rhyme or reason and i did not ovulate and had no expectation to be pregnant. But one day i just had this funny urge and i drove across town and bought a pregnancy test. Cursed myself for the stupidity of it. Did the pregnancy test, read my millionth negative and chucked it away feeling stupid. A few hours later out of the blue i had this startling reflection on the test. It felt like i should go get it out of the bin.. it showed a clear positive but of course was well out of the time i should read it. I was confused. About the whole thing!! Why i got the test. Why i read negative. Why i felt like i needed to look again. Why it seemed to show a positive. It was all just bizarre. Anyway i went for a blood test the next day and yep i was a couple of months pregnant, actually nearly 11 weeks. Weirded me out then and still does now.#33
I didn't know for the first 4 months. No period was normal for me. I didn't have any symptoms. At 4 months, I just had a "feeling". Got a test that was positive and went to PP. They confirmed it and made a perfect guess as to how far along I was.
Image credits: anon
#34
Found out I was pregnant when I was around 16 weeks. The day after I found out I was pregnant I found out I was having a girl. She was 33 weeks along when I had her. I was roughly pregnant ( that I knew about ) for 17 weeks about 4 months. I was 19.#35
My coworker didn't find out until she was 5 months along. She had switched birth control methods a few months before (likely the cause) and went in to see the doctor because her new pill was giving her migraines. Turns out, it was actually a baby. When she told me, I was in disbelief because her stomach was very flat still. Not even a hint of a bump. But she did indeed have a baby a few months later.#36
I was in college going through nursing school as well as working full-time at well known giant retail store. It was the first time living on my own, and I of course moved states away to prove I could do it on my own.January I got super sick, went to the doctor and got antibiotics, of course you know what happens...I was on the pill, my partner used condoms for back up.
End of March I’m watching TV and a Qwest commercial came on and I was sobbing over it. I’m not that softy type person, so it struck me as odd but waived it off. Couple weeks later I’m watching some sitcom type show and again I am sobbing over it. THEN I went and got a test. Sure enough positive. Called my doctor in a panic asking if i could come in for a pregnancy test and the nurse asks me “why do you think you’re pregnant?” I tell her about the test “oh honey, those don’t give a false positive. Well get you set for an appt to see how far along you are.”
Yeah. I was a good 9 weeks along. Here I thought it was stress causing the delay in my period.
Image credits: pinkfish28
#37
About two weeks after having a period, I went into the doc for severe dizzy spells. My blood pressure was 70/40 for a good week. I had developed nausea and was having severe headaches. Even started seeing black spots. Before they did any radiology, they needed a pregnancy test.Definitely preggers. Not even a little bit. My hcg count was so high that I was either incredibly far along or was pregnant with multiples.
Ended up with just one thankfully. Based off the dating, I’d gotten pregnant two periods before and still had one anyways. Was 12wk+5 at my first appointment
Image credits: PhoenixTears14
#38
Not me, but my best friend. She had a daughter 3 years ago and had a tubal done right after she gave birth.She was having constant flu-like symptoms. Found out she was 8 weeks pregnant, so she was one of the 0.5%. She had a miscarriage before she was able to abort. There was a reason why she had a tubal in the first place, as she was done having kids and due to various health issues (preexisting heart condition), her pregnancy was high risk and utter hell. Her daughter is also special needs and already had lung surgery, so money was ultra tight.
#39
A friend of mine went to the doctor for a huge mass in her stomach. She was terrified that it just kept growing. She was 4 or 5 months pregnant and figured it out when the dr started asking pointed questions.She had an ebf infant (no period expected) and thought she couldn't lose the baby weight! Until get stomach got hard and then she thought it was cancer. Next time around she took the dr. recommendation about abstaining and using birth control.
Image credits: MojoJojoZ
#40
I just kept getting negative pregnancy tests for like two weeks after my missed period... finally got a positive test at 7 weeks. Nothing too dramatic. Didn’t feel pregnant for another few weeks either cuz I had zero symptoms, then about week 9 I got nausea and food aversions and sore boobs and exhaustion and everything all at once lol.
Image credits: AaahhFakeMonsters
#41
There was an honest to goodness stomach flu going around the school where I taught right when my "morning" (hahaha it was all day) sickness started so I kinda knew but at least it provided a good alibi.
Image credits: WrenDraco
#42
Wife got a shot to get her period regulated. Did a great job. 12 months of regular periods. We weren't really trying for a kid. But if it happened, cool. At the 12th month, no period. We were also in a place where she was depressed. We did a store-bought pregnancy test. And it was negative. So we just figured the shot had worn off Fast forward 3 months. We lived 5 hours away from our hometown. So the wife held off going to the lady dr. Till we went on vacation back home. I hung out with friends for the day while she went to the doctor. And hung out with her family. That evening we all met up. She handed me a wrapped gift. Baby motif. The card said "wes preggers" She said she had gone to the lady dr. While doing the girly inspection had said "Either you are a few months pregnant, or you have a massive tumor in your lady parts " 5 months later she had my son.
Image credits: stankmo
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