You here stories about women who are 6, 7, 8 months pregnant and who do not know they are knocked up. I find that mind boggling. I am amazed that anyone can be pregnant and not know. Besides the obviously belly, what about all those other pregnancy ailments?
If I didn't know I was pregnant, I would think there was something Seriously Wrong with me. What about the blocked nose and the nose bleeds? Sensitive gums? The total change in taste? The nausea? The food aversions? The puking? The grumpiness? How can you not know??
I am amazed that some people don't get any of that. It's like I'm allergic to being pregnant. The minute I get knocked up, I collapse into a heap of patheticness. You know how some people glow and become even more beautiful when they are pregnant? Yeah, that's not me.
Not that I'm complaining of course! Oh no, not me. I'm happy happy happy here in the corner. No, that look is not because I am constipated (as well), it is a GRIN. I AM GRINNING, SEE! HAPPY!
I think I will go lie down for a bit.
Oh, I so agree. And if I didn't notice, my husband sure as hell would. ;-)
signed,
right there with ya, 9 weeks in.
Posted by: Melissa | 26 October 2008 at 08:51 PM
Go to sleep and I hope after the third month you will feel fine... and if not, complain. We'll listen to you happily!
Posted by: Lila | 26 October 2008 at 08:57 PM
I've had a fairly symptom free pregnancy. I mean, I am only a month from being done and I've only thrown up seven times total. Plus, I feel pretty good. Of course, I started to show at like eight weeks and I get kicked in the ribs SO hard that if I didn't know I were pregnant, I'd think I had one of those aliens in there.
Posted by: Jen | 26 October 2008 at 08:59 PM
That pregnancy "glow" is a myth!! It was clearly made up by a man! Who, quite obviously, has never, ever been knocked up/Up the duff/ with bun in oven/ with child/expecting/... asshole!
Posted by: kirstyphysio | 26 October 2008 at 09:01 PM
It's possible not to know. My hairdresser was 6 months pregnant and at the doctors as she was unable to lose any weight. He did a test for her just in case and she was very very pregnant. Being a big woman she hadn't had any size change as the baby ate the body fat a bit - if that makes sense. She didn't get any of the horrid pregnancy sicknesses either.
Posted by: Macca | 26 October 2008 at 09:08 PM
I had one of those symptom-free pregnancies. A couple very minor waves of nausea around week 8-9 and then nothing until I felt kicking. Of course, the belly was a big giveaway, but I gained so little weight that I didn't show until 7 months or so.
In some ways, I envy your symptoms. I worried a lot during the first 5 months, until I felt him kicking, because I had no idea what was going on in there.
Posted by: Elizabeth | 26 October 2008 at 09:21 PM
...and then there's the whole "months with no period." Who are these women who don't think anything of it when they skip months of periods after being sexually active and perhaps not using the most effective birth control?? I suppose some of them have always had irregular periods, but still. You'd think they might be curious enough to do a pregnancy test every so often when their period doesn't arrive.
Posted by: Orange | 26 October 2008 at 09:32 PM
I had a dream last week that I found out I was pregnant on a Friday, and I had the baby on the Monday, and for the entire dream I sat shaking my head in disbelief that I, a midwife, couldn't know that I was pregnant! Baby was born full term after a weekend of pregnancy symptoms. Sounds like a plan, no?
Posted by: Jessica | 26 October 2008 at 09:40 PM
man, just being premenstrual turns me into the grinch, so imagine what would happen if i were pregnant. watch out world!
anyway, i'm grinning with you! may all turn out perfectly!
Posted by: sass | 26 October 2008 at 09:58 PM
My cousin didn't know until she was 19 weeks, she was on the pill, had a tummy bug and got pregnant, didnt have any sickness at all, didnt put on any weight, she went to the docs because her period hadn't arrrived for a bit and was told she was 19 weeks pregnant. SO it does happen.
Our sons birthmum also didnt find out until she was quite far along, she went to her docs and was told she was abot 6 months along then went in for a scan only to be told she was actually 8 months pregnant, she had our son 2 weeks later and she is tiny so I dont know where she hid him lol.
Posted by: Chrissy | 26 October 2008 at 10:37 PM
my second pregnancy was a surprise one, and I didnt know until I was gone 2 months. In fact, if I hadnt had to do a test for the GP (being referred for another gynea appointment for more clomid to try and conceive number 2!) I would never have known. I didnt start showing until way past 4 months, had no real symptoms at all - and managed to somehow fall in the middle of a 6 month period with no periods!
Cant imagine not knowing once the kicks start though ;-)
Really hoping that things start feeling better for you soon. Hopefully all the sickness helps with some of the DBTs x
Posted by: Natt | 26 October 2008 at 11:03 PM
I never threw up once during my pregnancy. I would frequently forget I was knocked up until I got a belly at 21 weeks. All my whining was about the fact that I couldn't get tipsy.
Don't you just hate assholes like me?
Posted by: Amanda | 26 October 2008 at 11:04 PM
My sons friend is a teeny little thing but long waisted. She quit sports and filled out all over. Started to look really good instead of being a bean pole. She had periods every month, even took two pregnancy tests because well there was that chubby belly.
She went to the hospital with severe abdominal pain. Was told by ED to go to L and D, L and D sent her back, said she wasn't in labor.
She delivered a full term baby that was a complete shock to everyone. Her long waist spread the belly out, the kicks were dulled by the placenta being on the outer wall of the uterus. The kicks she did feel she thought were gas and indigestion.
I know! I find it hard to believe too but it happened. One of the US cable networks even did a show about it.
Posted by: Amy | 26 October 2008 at 11:21 PM
http://health.discovery.com/tv/i-didnt-know-i-was-pregnant/about.html
Posted by: Amy | 26 October 2008 at 11:25 PM
A woman i know had some sort of ailment that caused her to get two periods a year and had doctors telling her that she was sterile and would never be able to bear children. At some point, her husband started teasing her that she was getting a little beer belly. Imagine their surprise that her 'beer belly' was actually a 6 month pregnancy! She had no symptoms, and her labor took under an hour, so it's a good thing she went to the doctor for something totally unrelated! (And went on to have two more babies as well.)
Posted by: Meg | 27 October 2008 at 12:00 AM
These stories are a hoot! Wow. The human body and the endless ways in which it taunts us.
Posted by: Eliz | 27 October 2008 at 12:25 AM
I am so so envious of the people who are posting who have no symptoms at all. Or the people who can go 6 or 8 months with nothing. I am 8 weeks and so sick I can barely lift my head off the pillow. And unless you mean by "glow", "flushed and sweaty after vomiting 11 times in a row" I am the exact opposite of a magazine pregnant lady. Bleh.
Posted by: Beth | 27 October 2008 at 01:11 AM
In my former life as a labor and delivery nurse (am now retired), I have delivered at least 2 women who clearly were unaware that they were pregnant. One lady was educated, had been married for 10 years, had never used birth control, hadn't had a period in 2 years and had spent 10 hours sitting in the emergency room waiting to be seen for "back pain"! When she finally got to a bed, her inexperienced nurse thought she had diarrhea, when in fact her water had ruptured and she had meconium. I was working the pelvic beds and was brought into the picture when the doc asked me how to tell if a fetus was greater than 20 weeks gestation, as L&D would not accept the patient if the pt wasn't greater than 2O weeks. I walked into the room to see a woman weighing about 400 pounds complaining loudly about the amount of pain she was having. I asked if I could examine her and when she said yes, I did and determined that there was about a quarter sized area of the head with a lot of hair showing during the contraction. I told the doctor that the hair and the thickness of the bones indicated that the baby was term, we then explained to the patient that she was having a baby and her pain would be gone as soon as she delivered. She looked at her husband, instructed him to get close to the bed, as soon as he did so, she grabbed him by the collar, pulled him to her face and shouted into his bulging eyes "I am not happy about this, we will talk about this later!" We got her to release all 112 pounds of her husband so that he could breath, and he actually was thrilled. We of course referred them both for a social work consult, but I believe after the initial shock they both adjusted and went home with a healthy baby girl.
Posted by: Melissia | 27 October 2008 at 01:26 AM
AH, well.
Until I start contracting uncomfortably in the mid-second trimester, I am one of those women you hate who doesn't feel theleast bit different to usual.
If it makes you feel any better, it all goes downhill in the second half of pregnancy for me so I figure I'm entitled to an easy first tri.
J
Posted by: Geohde | 27 October 2008 at 01:29 AM
That "glow" I had during pregnancy was a fine sheen of sweat as I willed myself not to puke. Again. I nearly wrecked my car a few times as it's very difficult to drive and puke. Don't drive and puke if you can possibly help it...
Posted by: Shannon M. | 27 October 2008 at 01:40 AM
I'm not sure if that was just a rhetorical question, but for what it's worth:
I have a friend who has PCOS and who at the time she unknowingly got pregnant had only had a period about twice a year. So when she didn't have a period for 5 months, this was nothing unusual. She is very pear-shaped anyway, partly due to the PCOS, and she had been on a diet, so she'd actually been losing weight. She had one of those virtually symptom-free pregnancies. She had broken up with the father, so she hadn't had sex in months. She finally found out at 5 months when she had a blood test to see if she had anemia because she had been so tired. She wasn't even showing over all that pear-shapedness. Since she didn't find out until past the time when abortion was legal in MA, she became a single mom. Her son is now 22. I still laugh at her for being 5 months pregnant and not knowing it.
Posted by: Carol | 27 October 2008 at 02:30 AM
I don't understand it either, I was puking every 20mins! and continued to get all day from hell sickness right up till, and during delivery. And if that wasn't enough, the baby kicked me so hard, he actually seperated my ribs. So ya, I knew I was pregnant.
I did have a friend though, that started new thyroid medication aruond the same time she got pregnant. Didn't think much of the weight gain cause her doc told her she would gain weight with the new meds. Christmas eve, went into the ER with what she "though" was a really bad balder infection, or kidney stones or something. Turned out she was in labour and had a full term baby.
Posted by: Jackie | 27 October 2008 at 03:22 AM
In a small town in California, there is a legend (okay, not really a legend per se) of a woman who was in my brother in law's year in high school. She was in a car accident, and spent some time in the hospital. After this, she had many weird complaints. She felt nauseous, dizzy, didn't have a period, etc. Because of her accident, she attributed all of this to the damage she sustained. She didn't once think to take a pregnancy test. Then her belly started to 'swell'. The doctor (man must have not been particularly smart) DRAINED EXCESS FLUID FROM HER 'stomach'. Ummm... No pregnancy test done. I don't know what the heck the woman thought the movements were from. Anyways, she goes into labour (full term by the way) and goes to the hospital with strange pains to her 'stomach' (which she is still attributing to her accident). The doctor on duty in the hospital takes one look at her (full term pregnancy and looks it) and orders an ultrasound done, where the girl finds out she is 9 months pregnant with a baby girl. She gives birth a few hours later.
Posted by: chantale | 27 October 2008 at 04:33 AM
OMG, I work with a woman who didn't realize she was pregnant until she was 5 months along. She had just switched to the pill that only gives you four periods a year and since she wasn't expecting one, she didn't notice they were missing. She did complain about being sick a lot (but she always is with something) and tired (which she chalked up to too many late nights) and gaining weight which she blamed on her existing thyroid issue. Everyone in the office was wondering because she was really starting to pop. Personally I think she was in total denial, because she had been so adamant about never having children (she is one of ten). Once she realized she was pregnant she was excited about the baby but couldn't handle being pregnant at all and kept working out 2 hours per day to control the weight gain. She ended up going into labor ~6 weeks early but her baby was perfectly healthy with no premie issues, just small (4 pounds). Shortest pregnancy on record, three months from realizing she was knocked up to having the baby.
Posted by: Elise | 27 October 2008 at 05:00 AM
Sorry you are struggling, but the first trimester will end soon and you'll likely get relief.
I hate to admit it I was a glower. I never looked better in my life as when I was pregnant. I call it the 'fountain of youth.' Everytime I get pregnant, I felt wonderful!
I did have some nausea at one point and, quite by accident, I discovered that smelling peppermint helped. I kept a mesh wallet in my purse with some altoids in it and it really helped. I'll also admit that the fact that it worked so well might be indicative that my nausea was not so bad, but thought would mention it anyway.
I hope you feel better soon.
Posted by: Paz | 27 October 2008 at 05:02 AM
the best advice I got when I was pregnant was to buy some dried apples and eat a few dried apple rings at every meal and remember to drink water. The dried apples absorb water and keep you from getting constipated which is a result of your intestinal contents having all the water sucked out of them and getting really hard and dry. You are gaining blood volume and your body keeps all the water it can.
Posted by: 21stCenturyMom | 27 October 2008 at 05:14 AM
happy is good.
now start clapping.
combine.
(and inbetween claps, call sister mel!!)
Posted by: tess | 27 October 2008 at 07:08 AM
i was trying to imagine you getting even a teeny weeny bit knocked up without knowing something was up (altho, to be sure, you did take a LONG time to realise) and it would never happen. you are giving out pregnancy vibes across the freaking internet, ether vibes baby. that is one 'seriously kickarse pain in the said arse really determined to stick' baby . . .
talk about giving other women hope, and joy, and nervous convulsions.
Posted by: Ruth | 27 October 2008 at 07:29 AM
Congrats on being top on the Afrigator Top 45 list :)
I also always wondered about how people can ever say they didn't know they were pregnant for months. The morning sickness gave it away with me....it started almost immediately, was 24 hours a day and lasted virtually the whole pregnancy. Probably why I opted for one only LOL.
Posted by: Jackie | 27 October 2008 at 10:16 AM
Tertia, is part of you a little like, "I can get pregnant naturally? WTF? Why didn't someone tell me this before I spent thousands of dollars and years of my life and untold heartache trying to get pregnant with the assistance of an RE?" Or are you just way too happy to complain about anything?
Posted by: victoria | 27 October 2008 at 01:33 PM
I don't think there is any way I could not know at this point. When I had the huge fibroid on board it was a possibility. It screwed with my periods and my hormones, so I often felt pregnant. It also expanded my uterus. The kicker was I positively knew I couldn't be pregnant because we knew my husband's sperm was no good at all. Soon after I got pregnant with the twins I read in some waiting room magazine about a woman who gave birth on vacation who never knew she was pregnant. She had a fibroid problem, and had totally given up even checking if she was pregnant anymore because she felt pregnant all the time but never was.
I can tell when I get pregnant right away NOW because I start peeing constantly right away. Even with the chemical pregnancy I had last summer I knew I was pregnant, even if it was just a little bit. I hope the Zofran helps.
Posted by: Chickenpig | 27 October 2008 at 03:07 PM
I too am not fond of some pregnancy symptoms. I'm only 6weeks and 5 days, and already the all day queasiness has outstayed its welcome. As for people who don't know they are pregnant. It just boggles the mind.
Posted by: Laura | 27 October 2008 at 03:18 PM
11 weeks and only mild symptoms here. No puking or feeling sick. Blocking nose? Food aversions? I am hungry as hell, slight nausea with empty stomach and tons of heartburn. I am also emotional (not my usual style), bloated, sore boobs and do not like perfumes. I guess if I had not been looking for a child for 7 years and had gone through 9 IVFs, I could miss all that...
My skin is definitely glowing. I have never had such clear skin!! I am so happy about it.
The down side? It is more difficult to believe that you are pregnant at all which is hell. I live for scans.
Posted by: Dana | 27 October 2008 at 03:24 PM
I worked with a woman who, to us, her coworkers, looked obviously pregnant. She was skinny all over except for a rounded belly. But she never said anything about it, so no one ever asked (we're fairly reserved here in the Midwestern US). Anyway, about two months into her employment, she went to the ER with what was thought to be appendicitis. Nope. Had a baby boy that unfortunately was not entirely healthy, but did okay. When she came back to work, I gave in and asked her how this was possible. Apparently she had long ago stopped having her period while on birth control pills, and thought she'd gotten a bit of a stomach bug. She had a highly stressful life, living with her husband in her in-laws' basement while her husband was a student. The baby didn't move very much that she felt, and she thought it was just gas and cramping from stress. She only gained 10 pounds. On top of that, she was in the National Guard and had a physical just a few months prior! Apparently they don't do routine pregnancy tests as part of the physical. She eventually had to quit working because she couldn't find affordable child care and the baby had medical issues. I hope they're doing all right now. She was very nice and not somebody you would think could miss an entire pregnancy.
Posted by: Carrie | 27 October 2008 at 04:06 PM
Well...I would be one of those who had an easy pregnancy; periods had already been irregular there was no nausea, no sore breasts, didn't really show until 6 months or so. I could easily have not known...that is if it weren't for the thousands of dollars we gave to our RE to get me knocked up.
Posted by: sheilah | 27 October 2008 at 04:49 PM
I've read all these comments about people not knowing and it still boggles my mind. As soon as my boobs starting throbbing and aching and outright killing me with pain at the slightest touch I knew. Granted not everyone has the same symptoms, but it just seems so unbelievable to not know.
Posted by: Beachgal | 27 October 2008 at 04:51 PM
OK, not knowing for a couple of months, fine. You could have not being paying attention to your period, or you are irregular. You may even have a nausea free pregnancy. But come on for heaven's sake. When the baby is full term and kicking... are these people farking kidding me? Denial is what it is, or pure, astounding, spectacular stupidity.
And the whole, "well I am on a birth control that stopped my periods", yeah well lady, I have a mirena and I do not get periods either. That's why when something feels amiss, I do actually test myself. As the doctors have suggested.
Posted by: lolismum | 27 October 2008 at 05:06 PM
I had enough symptoms that I'd have thought I was dying if I hadn't realized I was pregnant - so yeah, the whole "What? I'm preggo?" at eight months would never happen to me.
Posted by: wyliekat | 27 October 2008 at 06:49 PM
I'm with Lolismum. Even though I knew I couldn't get pregnant, when my periods were late and I felt like crap, I took a pregnancy test just to be sure. Taking those tests all the frickin' time and knowing that they wouldn't be positive was a real heart breaker, but it was around the holidays at the time, and I wouldn't have drinks without being totally sure. Of course, I had never actually been pregnant so I didn't know what it felt like for real. I think it would be easier to miss a pregnancy if you hadn't been through it all before.
Posted by: Chickenpig | 27 October 2008 at 07:27 PM
Actually, don't you kind of envy people who sail along for weeks and don't realise? Just think of the hours/months of worrying you miss out on. I for one take the test in a frenzy of anticipation at 14 days PC, and then spend a further 9 months of misery feeling appalling and panicking with DBTs (3 miscarriages & 2 high-risk pregnancies later).
LOL - wouldn't it be great to be entirely ignorant and therefore zen??
Posted by: Kate | 27 October 2008 at 07:48 PM
One of my dearest friends had given up on ever having babies and was busily training to climb Mt Rainier here in Washington State. This involved very intensive exercise and 15 mile + hiking trips on weekends. When she didn't have her period for 2 months she didn't even think about it (her work is unbelieveably stressful as well and she was trying to plan her wedding on top of that too). The only thing that even made her think about not having had her period is when I got mine at her house and asked her for something since I hadn't brought anything with me. She said that that made her think back to the fact that she hadn't had her period for a while. The next day she took a test and was shocked to see it turn positive immediately. She went to her GYN and found out she was already 12 weeks along!! She had no symptoms. We all told her she was lucky to have gotten past that first trimester of worry! Heck, that very night I was at her house we were making Lemon Drop Martinis! Hee! Her baby boy is due at the end of January and I'm holding a shower for her at our house in a few weeks! Weeeee!!!
Another friend of mine went to the doctor because she thought she had a mass in her abdomen. Turned out the mass was a pregnancy already 4 months along!
Posted by: Heidi | 27 October 2008 at 08:13 PM
I would rather have major surgery without anesthesia than be pregnant again. Husband had to restrain me from punching a perfect stranger who said (while rubbing my belly which is a whole 'nother level of pissed-offedness) "Oh you are so lucky, I never felt more healthy than when I was pregnant". Bitch.
Posted by: Katy | 27 October 2008 at 08:17 PM
I am grinning for you!
Posted by: tripleblessings | 28 October 2008 at 10:12 PM
I most say that all these comments are rather hurtful and irritate me! I am a well educated, happily married women who dealth with not knowing that I was pregnant until the day I went into labor. I have heard all of the critism and honestly, not one of you have the right to critize someone when you have not had to deal with this situation. I was on the the pill that allows you to have your period only 4 times a year, well when you are busy, on the run with work and finishing up your master's degree, the last thing you concentrate on is when you got your period last. In addition, I experienced, no morning sickness, no breast irritation, I gained 15 pounds which a attributed to being stressed out about life in general, and the only symptom I had was attributed to an ulcer. I delivered a beautiful full term baby boy and my and my husband have never been happier. I just want to say that you should watch what you say because you never know, really know, the situation and what people are going through and thinking!! Thanks!
Posted by: Mackenzie | 29 October 2008 at 11:36 PM
my mates girlfriend found out she was pregnant today, just so happens today was the day she also went into labour, she ave birth to a full term healthy baby girl and idnt know a thing!!!
Posted by: sarahgee23 | 21 November 2008 at 05:08 AM