Remember that TLC show, I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant? If you somehow didn’t hear about it was still on air a few years back, you seriously missed out on some mind-boggling television. In each episode, the docuseries followed a mom who had dealt with something that is known as an “undetected pregnancy.” This is when women don’t undergo traditional signs of pregnancy, like growing a belly, suffering morning sickness, or experiencing noticeable weight gain. Because of the lack of symptoms, they literally don’t know they are pregnant until they are GIVING BIRTH!
Crazy, but true. It should be noted that these women aren’t necessarily negligent when it comes to monitoring their health; these types of unusual pregnancies can occur when, for whatever reason, the body just decides not to communicate that pregnancy is occurring.
Take the strange case of 24-year-old Ally Opfer, for example. This Kent State University student had this happen to her just two years ago, when she gave birth to a son 30 minutes after doctors discovered that she was carrying him.
In an interview with PEOPLE, Opfer explains how a pregnancy could go undetected for 9 months. “Everything was normal for me,” Opfer explained. “I never had morning sickness, no unusual tiredness, nothing. I never grew a baby bump or showed or anything. I gained a little bit of weight, mostly in my face, but I didn’t gain a bigger belly. I actually felt normal and great until I went into labor!”
Amazingly, Ally was actually doing back handsprings as a cheerleading coach just 5 DAYS before she went to the emergency room complaining of debilitating menstrual cramps. Upon arrival, doctors immediately knew that what Ally was experiencing was something much more serious than normal “time of the month” pains. But, believe it or not, even the ER doctors didn’t think that she was pregnant at first.
“[The ER doctor] examined my abdomen and found what he called ‘a small mass,’ ” Opfer recalled. “He then sent me back to get an ultrasound of my ‘kidney stones’ to see if I’d require surgery. That’s when the ultrasound technician found my baby. When the doctor came in and told me I was pregnant, I was obviously shocked. I was terrified and overwhelmed. I wasn’t prepared to become a mom, let alone give birth.”
But, give birth she did! Just a half hour after she had gotten the official diagnosis, Ally was rushed into surgery as the baby was in a dangerous breach position. The unexpected event caused the new mom’s blood pressure to shoot through the roof, so she had to spend some time recuperating. Fortunately for her and her baby, who was later named Oliver, she made a full recovery. Even better, all of her loved ones had her back from the start.
“Everyone was so supportive and helpful when I needed help!” Opfer said. “I had family members who offered to help and my mom taught me everything there is to know about babies. I obviously had nothing for Oliver as far as clothes and baby gear, so while I was in the hospital and for the first few months, my family and friends went out and bought me everything I needed, or gave me things they no longer needed.”
How sweet is that! Nowadays, Ally is looking after 2-year-old Oliver and attending school to become an air traffic controller. Quite a fitting career choice, if you ask us–clearly, this young woman is capable of handling plenty of unexpected stress!
Unsurprisingly, her story has also attracted quite a bit of attention over the years. In fact, Dr. Oz recently invited her onto his show to discuss her harrowing undetected pregnancy experience.
Though you would think that the experience would still be a traumatic one for her to look back on, all in all, Opfer is pretty philosophical about the ordeal.
“We all experience pregnancy differently,” she explained. “Some carry differently and show more than others and some have different symptoms than others. I always thought “there’s no way you wouldn’t know you’re pregnant!” when I’ve read these kind of stories or seen them on TV. It’s hard to understand until it actually happens to you, but something everyone should understand is that every pregnancy is different.”
Incredible stuff! We can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this story. Are you surprised that this could happen? Have you ever had an undetected pregnancy? If so, what was your experience like?