Woman didn't know she was pregnant until she gave birth
Many women find out they're pregnant within the first few weeks. Morning sickness, extreme fatigue and a growing belly are usually fairly unmistakable signs that you should run to grab a pregnancy test. In fact, most people don't even get to the growing baby bump before suspecting pregnancy due to the extreme fluctuation in hormones that makes even mild morning sickness unmistakable.
Of course uncharacteristic mood swings and food cravings also play into the suspicion of pregnancy, even for those around you. But surprisingly, not everyone experiences these tale-tale signs of early pregnancy. Kayleigh Tilley and her partner Nick Jerrom had an unexpected delivery on Christmas day–a baby girl. No, the pair didn't think a Christmas baby was a possibility because they didn't realize a baby even existed.
Tilley is one of those women who didn't know they were pregnant until mere hours before giving birth to a healthy baby. The English couple had met just a year prior and spent their time going on adventures and spending time with friends like any new couple. There was nothing amiss for the pair over the course of nearly nine months.
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The 24-year-old new mom explains to "This Morning" that she didn't physically change nor did she feel sick until a few weeks before her daughter Holly was born.
"It was only two weeks before that I was sort of really unwell," she says before explaining further that she thought it was indigestion. "Yeah, cause we went out for like a couple of drinks as well but I didn't have like a lot to drink so it wasn't enough to make me sort of feel unwell. But after about two or three days it all went so I went back to work as normal and then it was only Christmas Eve that it all started."
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Tilley woke up the night of Christmas Even with extreme stomach pains that resulted in the pair calling an ambulance to take her to a local hospital. It was there that she received the news after doctors had run several tests. The woman was eight months pregnant and primed to give birth any minute now. This life altering news was delivered while Tilley's boyfriend was in the hallway so he had no idea what was going on until he went in the room and saw his girlfriend looking shocked.
"Forty-five minutes later I was like a bit worried and I was like 'can I see Kayleigh, is she alright.' Eventually I went in and saw her, she was quite white, pale and she literally, first words were I'm going...they told me I'm going into labor. I was like how's that...how's that happen," Jerrom tells the co-hosts.
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Tilley is very petite, so it would seem a pregnancy would be difficult to miss but she did not put on any additional weight or have any signs of pregnancy. Her lack of knowledge about her pregnancy made her nervous as she had been out drinking, white water rafting and more throughout the pregnancy. Thankfully, baby Holly was perfectly healthy and what Tilley experienced isn't unheard of.
This type of pregnancy is called a cryptic pregnancy and happens in about every 1 in 250,000 pregnancies. It can occur when someone doesn't get symptoms of pregnancy, have irregular cycles or in some cases continue to have a regular "period" throughout their missed pregnancy. Some people also don't easily recognize pregnancy symptoms and write them off as something else.
While Holly's debut was not something her parents planned for, they all appear to be thrilled that she's here and so are the people in their lives who also got a shock at the baby's arrival.