I didn't know I was pregnant?

Specialties Ob/Gyn

Published

Alright guys!

I am a new L&D Nurse.. I try not to watch TV shows like the one mentioned above but this is the one I can watch for hours and be amazed! Haha! Has anyone out there had any patients that DIDN'T KNOW THEY WERE PREGNANT? Do you believe them! Please share your stories!

My doctor told me about a patient of hers who had lots of intestinal issues and was told she couldn't get pregnant. She found out she was pregnant at 34 weeks. Two weeks later she had the baby. She said, "Most women have a bun in the oven. I had a bun in the microwave."

Up Vote Up Vote ×

i can believe some cases because it happened to me. i didnt know i was pregnant til i was 6 months along.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
With my daughter she kicked the crap out of me. When I was about 8 months pregnant she would stick out an elbow, a knee, whatever, and it would feel and look like I was an alien host. She got her foot stuck in my rib cage for day or two. I mean, I just can't understand how people don't know they're pregnant at least in third trimester at least.

Every pregnancy is different. I've known moms who had one child kick like a kangaroo and another child who had to be poked to get enough movement to be certain they were still in there. I gave birth to five and no two pregnancies were alike.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Obstetrics.

Hmmm, Do RNs in the other specialties get as jaded and cynical as us L&D nurses? I've often wondered this....I was a pretty skeptical person even before nursing school, but in 16 years I have turned into one of the most unimpressed and unsympathetic individuals I know~ other than my L&D comrades of course! Not knowing you're pregnant falls in line with my general policy of "15% legit/85% B.S." Harsh I know. :smackingf

But having said that, I also have to say that I've noticed an alarming trend of patients (women in my case of course) have ZERO awareness of their bodies. The younger, the more clueless! Whatever the reason, our young folk are not being taught about keeping up with what's going on "in there"! Sad but frustrating too...

Up Vote Up Vote ×

What I don't understand is that a term baby moving around does NOT feel like gas. You can SEE them. I'm skeptical of most claims of "I didn't know" but I suppose it does happen on rare occasions that a woman truly doesn't know.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
What I don't understand is that a term baby moving around does NOT feel like gas. You can SEE them. I'm skeptical of most claims of "I didn't know" but I suppose it does happen on rare occasions that a woman truly doesn't know.

If you have a small baby who is relatively inactive and an anterior placenta, you wouldn't see or feel much activity. As I mentioned with my sister, she attributed the little bit of movement she felt to gas and damage from a rupture appy several years earlier. She was told her organs were so messed up that she couldn't have kids. And she'd lost so much weight then she was sick that the 15-20 lbs. she put on just got her back to her normal weight. Her periods were extremely light, and when her weight was so low, she stopped having them altogether. The doc said it was because she was underweight. She was, but there was another reason. :D

Her next two kids seven and ten years later, she knew early in the pregnancy that there was a baby in there. She was HUGE, and the kids kicked like crazy. So incredibly different from the first one.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC, Acute care.

I love watching that show, guess because most of the stories have happy endings for both mama and baby. Having said that, I don't know how people go through 9months and not have a little bit of clue. I guess they are lucky.

I didn't know for almost two months, well, I kinda suspected but I was in denial. LOL. After I found out for sure, morning (all day) sickness hit and hasn't stopped even though I'm almost in my eight month. Guess none of those TV women were that sick. Lucky them!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I really think it depends on the woman and the situation. I could have easily never known that I was pregnant with my daughter. I'm not by any means a large woman. I'm 5'8 and then 120 lbs. I never showed, never needed maternity clothes, I bled at pretty regular intervals. I was actively TTC though and my hyperemesis was unmistakable.

I give the show a lot more credit because my best friend has almost had 3 babies this way. She was told she had severe PCOS and would never have children of her own. The funny thing is she had to have been 4-5 weeks pregnant when they told her this. They gave her lots of meds (some of which should have killed or damaged the baby). She did feel off during this time but thought it was the meds. She goes back for a follow up appt a few months later and they find what they think is a large cyst. They send her to u/s and she's 28 weeks pregnant.She goes on to deliver a healthy baby girl.

The dr's tell her it was a fluke and would never happen again and that her PCOS had gotten worse. 4 years later she falls and thinks she broke something in her foot. She goes to the ER. They want to do an x-ray and because she hadn't had a period in a few months they p/g test her. Sure enough it's BFP. She tells them they are kiding or the tests got switched. They take her to u/s and she's 16 weeks along. Luckily she didn't break anything and she gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

The Dr's tell her she's very lucky and she'll never have anymore. A year or so later the dr tells her again that the PCOS has gotten worse. 3 months ago she went to have a physical for work and found out she's pregnant again. she was about 14 weeks when she found out. She's expecting another little boy and is getting a tubal after the birth.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Found out I was pregnant after hubbys vasectomy in February. Pregnant in August 2011.He was given the all "clear" so to speak.Doctor said I was cheating etc and hubby made me have an abortion. Destroyed and hurt!. I made him get a fertility check from another lab after abortion and he still had viable sperm! I knew it. So has to redo vasecotmy.***.This has wrecked my whole being.Where do you go from here, I love all my kids this has left me so heart broken!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Found out I was pregnant after hubbys vasectomy in February. Pregnant in August 2011.He was given the all "clear" so to speak.Doctor said I was cheating etc and hubby made me have an abortion. Destroyed and hurt!. I made him get a fertility check from another lab after abortion and he still had viable sperm! I knew it. So has to redo vasecotmy.***.This has wrecked my whole being.Where do you go from here, I love all my kids this has left me so heart broken!
Don't know how to repair myself after this. A day doesn't go by that I dont think of my unborn child, so unfair.
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

Perhaps you might want to seek some grief counseling. There are organizations and support groups for women in similar circumstances. You can ask your physician for a referral or if you are religious, ask your pastor/priest/rabbi/church leader.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC.

This is why you should always use protection ...even if you have irregular periods or anything. And I dunno, I can pysch myself out pretty badly and convince myself I'm pregnant when there's just no freakin possibly way (protection + no ejaculation).

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment