A Scottish woman who thought she had a serious back problem was shocked when she discovered she was pregnant during labor, just before giving birth to a 10-pound baby. Ceira Sutherland, 24, from Thurso, Scotland, had her daughter Amelia after rushing to A&E when she felt crippling pain in her back and abdomen. She claims that, six months before giving birth, she had a bleed, saw no changes in her belly throughout the nine months of pregnancy, had no morning sickness and used a condom every time she had sex with her partner.
Ceira says that, during her pregnancy, she went to parties and consumed alcohol because she didn’t know she was pregnant, but, fortunately, Amelia was born healthy and full term. “It was a huge shock,” Amelia told Mirror Online. “My boyfriend Andrew and I weren’t thinking about having kids. I have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and doctors told me from a young age that I would probably have difficulty getting pregnant, so it was a complete surprise. We use condoms in every relationship, so it was an even bigger surprise. Children were something we both wanted, but not so soon.”
- I didn’t know I was pregnant: “I woke up at 2am with a stomachache – then I felt something coming out of me”
- I didn’t know I was pregnant: “I became a mother in 15 minutes”
Two days before Amélia’s arrival, Ceira was working an 11-hour shift at work when she began to feel severe back pain. “At work, I have to carry a lot of boxes and that never bothered me, but that day my back hurt so much that I thought I had a serious back problem,” says Ceira. “I finished my shift and went home to put a hot compress on my back. back, I felt really bad. I took a nap and woke up feeling pain in my ribs and abdomen and decided to go to the emergency room.”
After a quick first consultation, doctors sent Ceira home with painkillers, but she was forced to return to hospital three hours later when the pain intensified. Doctors suspected there might be something wrong with Ceira’s gallbladder – but were confused about the level of pain she was experiencing. After collecting a urine sample, Ceira was informed that she was pregnant. “I didn’t even know they were doing a pregnancy test on my urine sample until the nurse said the result was positive,” says her mother. “I thought it might be a false positive because of my PCOS or that I was only a few weeks pregnant. I was more worried about the pain I was feeling.”
Ceira was informed that the baby was at most 20 weeks old, as she had told the doctors that she had her last period 6 weeks ago. “Looking back it’s so obvious that I was having contractions because it was an intense, sharp pain every five minutes, but I never thought ‘I’m in labor’,” said the mother. After spending the night in hospital, Ceira received the visit from a nurse who went to collect vaginal fluids for an exam, but was shocked to see the baby’s head emerging. “When the nurse went to put the swab in, I heard an ‘ah’,” says Ceira. “I asked ‘is this bad? ?’. She said ‘You’re pregnant, the head is there, you’re in labor’. So it was a mad rush to get me to the birthing unit. There were lots of doctors waiting for me in the room. I thought it would be a tiny baby and I didn’t know if it would be at a gestational age compatible with life. Very quickly, her head came out and the doctors said ‘This is clearly not a 20-week baby’.”
A few hours after discovering she was pregnant, Ceira gave birth to baby Amélia, born at 7pm on November 27th, weighing 4.5 kg. Ceira said: “When she arrived I thought ‘whose baby is this?’” Ceira said. “I think it wasn’t until a week later that I realized this was our baby. Andrew was silent and in shock. He didn’t know what to do or say, but he took it very well. During my pregnancy, I went out drinking with friends several times. I felt very guilty when she was born. When I found out I was definitely pregnant, I thought ‘I drank, now what?’. I was very relieved when they said she was completely healthy.”
Despite having given birth to a full-term baby, Ceira claims she had no idea she was pregnant. “Because of my PCOS, my periods are quite irregular and I had a spot of bleeding six weeks before she was born,” says the mother. I was pregnant and had no morning sickness. There was no noticeable change in my belly, perhaps because I was overweight, and no pain until I went into labor. Being pregnant didn’t cross my mind during the nine months. All doctors They said this is a miracle because they told me it would be difficult to have children because of my PCOS.”
Now mother of an almost one-year-old child, Ceira reflected on her daughter’s ‘crazy’ arrival into the world. “She’s honestly the easiest baby ever,” said the proud mom. “Since she was a week old, she’s been sleeping 12 hours a night. She’s a really happy baby. It’s crazy that a year ago we had no idea that She was about to arrive.”
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