Funny thing, though—these women not only didn’t know they were pregnant, but their husbands and/or boyfriends didn’t know either, nor did the medical personal they encountered along the way. In some cases, the woman was in the emergency room about to give birth and the medical professionals didn’t know until they did a pelvic and ultrasound, or even in some cases until the baby popped out, that the woman was pregnant. What’s more, in all these cases, the parents loved the babies once the babies had arrived, and seem to be raising the kids just fine.

First, my wife (who, at the time was my live-in girlfriend, but I will refer to her as my wife going forward) was a larger woman at the time (a size 12 to 14), but not obese. She was also on birth control pills throughout the pregnancy, which contributed to irregular cycles and spotting.

Morning sickness may have been attributed to a cold or bout of the flu going through her workplace at the time.

She carried our daughter more internally, so she did not show as would normally be expected.

What may have been movement was interpretted as gallstones, which she has had trouble with in the past. She did not have insurance at the time, so she did not go to the doctor over any intermittent discomfort.

At about six or seven months into the pregnancy, we had to take my wife to the doctor for an ankle injury. They needed to take an x-ray to make sure that nothing was broken, and the technician asked, I’m sure in part due to the fact that she had already disclosed that she was on birth control pills, “I assume I can check the ‘Not Pregnant’ box?”

Easter was two-and-a-half-weeks prior to our daughter’s birth, and no one in her family noticed. My wife is one of a dozen children, and not the first to be a mother. If nothing else, I can guarantee that a few of my brothers-in-law would have definitely given her the “Do you have a bun in the oven?” grief if she was showing considerably more weight than normal. They were all shocked when they found out that she gave birth just a few weeks later.

We were at a party one-and-a-half weeks prior to our daughter’s birth, and no one noticed anything about my wife’s appearance that made them wonder if she was pregnant. Like my in-laws, they were all very shocked that the woman that they were hanging out with less than two weeks earlier was pregnant.

I know that it seems unbelievable. Hell, you should try living through it. The hardest thing wasn’t adjusting to the beautiful little baby that was now a part of my life; instead, it was the instant change in lifestyle, spending, and the need to get everything that one would normally get over several months in the period of only a couple of days.

It was even harder for my wife. It quickly got to the point that she stopped telling people the story because she got fed up with the, “I can’t believe you didn’t know,” statements or the, “Were you just trying to get him to marry you?” questions. She also began to question her own cycles and any perceived symptoms.

There was one point in our seven years of marriage that followed my daughter’s birth that I asked my wife if she was sure that she wasn’t pregnant. I have never even once considered asking that question again.

Believe it or not, it does happen. Either way, I know that I have the wonderful result of an unknown pregnancy asleep just down the hall from me, curled up with her favorite teddy bear and waiting for one last day of school to be gone before the weekend starts. She is the greatest surprise that I have ever received, and it is just another way that she is the most special little girl in the whole world.

I know most of the girls in my class at school were, by about age 16.

This may blunt their body’s reactions, as well as making them unfamiliar with a normal cycle *and* making them sure that they “can’t possibly be pregnant.”

My second son would be one of these IF I hadn’t come down with a really bad cold and my doctor hadn’t insisted on a pregnancy test before giving me antibiotics.

How could it happen?

Well, my first son I “knew” the day I got pregnant (not that obvious. We’d tried IVF before. This was our last chance) and though my symptoms weren’t particularly bothersome, they were there. Plus the minute he “quickened” he never STOPPED. He moved constantly. Also I carried him very high, so as he grew he pushed on my lungs.

I had him and then four years passed with no other baby, despite us taking NO precautions. (We wanted a large family.)

With my second son

a) I had breakthrough bleeding right on schedule very close to a period for the first seven months. Maybe a little light, but when you’re fairly sure you’re infertile, you don’t think of that.
b)We were MOVING and I spent days till the wee hours loading, carrying, etc. boxes No problems.
c)I lost weight. Actually throughout the pregnancy I lost close to 15 lbs. I still have no idea why. I wasn’t dieting.
d) the only palpable symptom was sleepiness, but we were moving and besides I came down with a cold.
e) there was no movement. None. In fact, after the test and until the ultrasound, I was convinced I would have a still birth. Turns out the kid was born with one eyebrow missing from rubbing on the side of the uterus and not changing positions. He’s just very lazy. (Still is, though getting better. :D)

If my husband hadn’t DRAGGED me to the doctor, because he thought the cold was lasting too long and if the doctor hadn’t demanded I have a pregnancy test (all the while I was laughing and saying “I don’t GET pregnant.”) I would have gone the other almost three months in blissful ignorance.

My clothing size never changed.

The worst part is that if it had happened, I probably would have delivered wherever I happened to be, because the pains were slightly less than bad period cramps and the whole birth took slightly less than an hour. In fact, when I went to the hospital I went to be induced (He was three weeks late) and found I was already in labor. I had no idea.

Oh, and I grew up in a rural community and my grandmother was a midwife. So it’s not like I didn’t know the symptoms. It was just incredibly atypical and I thought I couldn’t have kids without treatment.