She was a 42-year-old woman, and rather obese. And her husband, 48, had survived cancer in his youth and had been told he likely wasn’t fertile or had, at best, greatly reduced fertility. The wife had a very irregular period that would often “lag” for several cycles and by her forties, she believed — incorrectly! — that she may have entered menopause already.
When she suddenly suffered excruciating pain in her lower regions, she didn’t think of contractions — she suspected it was appendicitis. Only to be told, in the hospital, that she was in labor. Less than six hours later, she and her husband were the proud parents of a perfectly healthy baby boy. A boy they never knew they’d have, and had not counted on, planned for or expected at this stage in their lives. And yet it happened. A “miracle baby” if ever there was one!
This phenomenon is common enough for it to have a name — cryptic pregnancy. Most emergency room nurses will have encountered it from time to time. It often happens in women with health issues, women who are rather hefty or women who falsely believe they aren’t fertile. That’s why do some women say they didn’t know they were pregnant until they gave birth; because they genuinely didn’t know. It happens.