The veritable trauma of hosting a human invader inside your body hasn't gone undocumented. While some women wax lyrical about the joys of pregnancy and childbirth, for the vast majority, morning sickness, stretch-marks and being unable to consume booze and brie for nine months is nothing short of torture.
Sure - it's all a bit more bearable when you think about your impending bundle of joy - but can you imagine going through all of that and not realizing that you are, in fact, expecting? Well, this was the reality for one teenager from Newcastle, England, who only realized that she was pregnant after going into labor.
The then 18-year-old was admitted to hospital after experiencing bleeding and painful stomach cramps. Her daughter, Molly, arrived just two hours later.
Nursery nurse Charlotte Thompson wasn't aware that she was pregnant until going into labor because she simply hadn't shown any symptoms. The then 21-year-old had regular periods and still managed to slip into her size eight dresses.
"My stomach was completely flat, and I'd been having regular periods so it was such a shock when I found out," she explained.
And although this may seem like an incredibly rare - if not, completely unbelievable - story, Charlotte is not the first woman to display zero symptoms whilst pregnant.
Sarah Stage, a fitness fanatic and model wowed her 2.2 million Instagram followers earlier this year after a documenting her second pregnancy in a series of stunning images. The only thing is, she also did not look pregnant!
The image above shows Sarah at 26 weeks pregnant, but she is still boasting an incredibly flat and toned stomach. And the image below shows Sarah at nine months pregnant - and you'd probably be forgiven for not giving your seat up on the subway for the expecting mother:
In the incredible video below, you can see just how active Sarah remained at 9 months pregnant:
Charlotte, who fell pregnant with her ex-boyfriend, said that she only put on three pounds during her pregnancy. And although she noticed that she felt more tired than usual, she chalked this down to her lifestyle:
"I thought it was from going out all the time. I still managed to get into my clothes so I just ignored it.
"I didn't believe that I was actually pregnant until I gave birth. It was scary becoming a first-time mum with no warning. But I wouldn't change Molly for the world, and I feel so lucky"
Back in December 2015, Charlotte awoke in agony at 2:30 am and realized that she was bleeding profusely. "I took some paracetamol and hoped that it would blow over," she said. "Instead, the pain just got worse and I was in agony. An hour later I felt like I was going to be sick so I ran to the toilet and saw that my underwear was full of blood. I had just finished my period so I was really scared. I knew something was seriously wrong and booked a taxi to the hospital."
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Nurses at the Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital were quick to refer the then 18-year-old to a midwife. "I told them that there had to be a mistake," Charlotte asserted. "I'd had no symptoms."
But just 10 minutes later, an ultrasound confirmed that Charlotte was nine months pregnant, and in labor. Charlotte continued, "I panicked that I wasn't prepared and hadn't bought any baby clothes. I was so worried about what my parents would say when they found out that I was having a baby."
At 4:30 am, a nurse phoned the young mother's parents, Lynne and Vincent Thompson, and informed them that their daughter was pregnant. "My parents thought that I was only a few weeks along and having a miscarriage," Charlotte said.
"I burst into tears when they arrived, and told them I had no idea that I was pregnant. They were really supportive and excited about their first grandchild."
Just two hours, Charlotte gave birth to Molly, who is now two-years-old. And her maternal instincts kicked in immediately, "As soon as I held Molly, I loved her so much. She was perfect and we had an instant bond," the 21-year-old continued.
Doctors later explained that Charlotte had had no baby bump because Molly had been tucked up underneath her ribs. "When mom called my work to explain that I'd had a baby, they were gobsmacked as they'd seen me the day before with no baby bump at all."
"It's crazy to think that I'd been carrying a baby all that time," Charlotte concluded. In fact, the picture above shows Charlotte at nine months pregnant.
In fact, Dr.Vanessa Mackay, a leading obstetrician, revealed just how rare cases like Charlotte's are: "Sometimes if the uterus falls back, babies or ovarian cysts live in there and grow to quite a big size before you can feel them in the abdomen."
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Quoting a study, Dr. Mackay revealed that this phenomenon occurs in just one out of every 7,250 pregnancies, but she also revealed that the reasoning behind it can be more emotional than physical: “Whether or not the person genuinely doesn’t know about it remains to be seen. Sometimes people are aware but they go into denial."
So what do you think? Is it better to go through a pregnancy without worrying about the impending childbirth and subsequent parenthood? Or is it better to be aware and, therefore, fully prepared? Let us know in the comments section!
