A woman has taken to Reddit to explain an odd experience she had, being pregnant and not knowing for almost the entire nine months.
Writing in an 'Am I the A**hole' Reddit thread, the woman opened up about the situation she found herself in and how being pregnant took her by surprise.
She even admitted that people are often in disbelief about her story because of how strange it is, as she didn't know she was expecting until eight-and-a-half months into her pregnancy.
The user initially wrote: “I’ll let you guys start the takeoff, but this is indeed 100 percent true! So many people were in disbelief at my story that I figured I would share. I was 21 when I got pregnant and actually gave birth at 22.”
Advert
While pregnancies can vary massively between people, the woman explained that she didn’t have any of the typical symptoms associated with being pregnant.
She said: “Oh for sure menstrually and hormonally I doubt I'm normal. I've known that for years. But believe it or not while pregnant I had no symptoms and didn't show at all.
“Like there was no big belly, no morning sickness, no crazy eating habits, no aversions, none of that stuff. It was 100 percent unseen and just not there. My son’s dad and I only had sex ONCE without a condom, by the way! We’d used protection other than that.”
While the woman’s story may seem hard to believe, there is a medical term linked to what she experienced.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, it is called a cryptic pregnancy and it is when a woman doesn’t know she's pregnant. This can happen if you have irregular periods, if the person doesn’t know the common signs of pregnancy, or if they get a negative pregnancy test.
The clinic also noted: “It’s even possible not to realize you’re pregnant until labor begins.
“It's most common to realize you're pregnant somewhere between four and 12 weeks of pregnancy. This could be because you have symptoms of pregnancy or because you missed your period.”
For the Reddit user, the only subtle sign she had was missing her period, however she also noted that she has never really had a regular menstrual cycle.
Answering why she didn’t go to see a doctor after not getting a period, the woman replied: “I’ve never had a regular menstrual cycle. Ever. Like I hit puberty waaaaaay earlier than everyone else around me during my younger years. As I grew it never happened consistently ever, and to this day even AFTER aging some and giving birth it still hasn’t. I’ve gone months at a time without a period.”
The Redditor only ended up finding out she was pregnant after a friend suggested taking a pregnancy test when the woman revealed she'd not had a period for months.
She went on to add that the longest time she went without a period was one year.
The woman also explained that while it wasn’t planned and she is no longer in a relationship with the father, they both do their best co-parenting and raising their son.
Gerrard Kaonga