A baby! What!?!?

 It really can happen…it did to me!
(2018)

Cancer is a scary, terrible thing. I was diagnosed when I was 12 years old with a rare form of leukemia. This was about 24 years ago. Back then, the only known cure was to undergo a Bone Marrow Transplant. After several months of testing my family, and then searching on the national bone marrow registry, an unrelated donor was found. Of course there were risks and expected side effects. Of the several possible side effects, infertility was an expected, almost guaranteed, outcome.

I was 12 years old, and had a 3 year old sister who drove me crazy. Having kids was the last thing on my mind. Though, when I got older and got married, wanting to start a family was something that was desired. My husband Jeff and I underwent testing with a fertility specialist who confirmed the diagnosis of infertility on my part. The specialist stated that I had no viable eggs, and to proceed with any attempt to harvest from me would be pointless. Around that same time I had an OBGYN who also noted that she was pretty positive that I was infertile. So my husband and I proceeded with IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) with an egg donor. We did eventually get pregnant, and gave birth to a beautiful baby boy we named Jaxon. I was able to carry the baby, just unable to conceive with my own eggs. Jaxon was born at 25 6/7 weeks. He is our miracle baby. He kept us on our toes for three and a half months in the NICU before coming home. He completed our family.

When Jaxon was a couple years old we realized that we would like to give him a little sibling. So we proceeded with obtaining our Illinois foster care license with intentions of adopting a young child. However, after a couple years on the list waiting for placement, we never received a call. There was one time that we were approached about adopting a very special needs infant. We thought about it, and prayed about it, but in the end realized that it was not a good fit for us. We put this in Gods hands and know he is in control and has a plan for us. We were fine being a family of three, and Jaxon said he was good with being an only child.

Late February early March I started having some mild low back pain, and some here and there lower abdominal pain. Though, again due to treatments as a young child I have a lot of problems with my back. I really did not think much of this since this was a chronic thing I deal with anyways. I was also having some mild “leaking of fluid” I thought was urine. This had been happening for maybe 2 weeks.

On Saturday March 10^th 2018 I started having more intense lower abdominal cramping. It was not regular, just coming and going. I really didn’t think much of it except it was mildly uncomfortable. Was I getting ready to start my menstrual cycle?

Sunday the 11^th continued to bring some lower abdominal cramping and low back pain. After church that day something (GOD) told me to go get a home pregnancy test just to check. Though I had convinced myself that I either had bladder cancer, an abdominal tumor, or was going through early menopause. Since I was having urinary incontinence, and abdominal pain, I was pretty sure something terrible was wrong. I was feeling pretty bad. Though I decided to listen to that voice and go get a home pregnancy test. I also picked up an over the counter yeast infection treatment thinking that I would try that.

When I got home I decided to take the home pregnancy test. Though, I knew it was going to be negative. My husband and Jaxon headed over to Jeff’s family’s house for lunch that day. I did not say anything to anyone about the home test, though Jeff knew I was have some abdominal pain but that was all.

POSITIVE!!! WHAT?!?!?!

The test had to be broken. It was wrong, it just had to be! I decided not to use the yeast infection treatment. I decided to head over to Jeff’s dads house and give Jeff a quick update. When I got to the house I pulled Jeff aside and told him about the test. But made sure to tell him that I was pretty positive that it must be wrong and that I was sure the test itself was broken!! He wanted to go to the hospital right away, but I said “No, let’s have lunch and then Jaxon has Cub Scouts. We will go after that” He agreed, though in protest as he just wanted to know what was going on.

I did end up stopping at the store after lunch to get yet another home pregnancy test. This time I got a name brand more expensive one, as the first one was a cheap off brand one. This second home test also came back positive, though again I was pretty sure it was probably broken. I also convinced myself that it must be a medication I was taking that was giving me a false positive.  

It was not until about 5 pm that night when we arrived to the hospital. When I got there, my blood pressure was elevated and the cramping was a little more intense. They ended up putting me in the waiting room despite me telling them I was having some abdominal cramping and had a positive pregnancy test at home. Though, I made sure to tell staff that the test at home may not have been right.

About two hours went by and I was still in the waiting room. The cramping was now happening more frequently and was more intense yet. I went to the reception desk to ask when I was going to be put in a room as the pain was getting worse. They said I was next and called me back within about 5 minutes.

Once in the room I was told their urine pregnancy test also came back positive. They were going to get the doctor in to do an exam and decide on a plan. We decided to tell Jaxon what was going on, as he thought we were there because “mom had a bad stomach ache” Since we were not really sure what was going on, we did not want to worry him. Jaxon got scared and said that he was worried because he knew everything that I had to go through when he was born. We reassure him that mom was going to be okay and that there might not actually be a baby. Jeff and I thought that maybe I was having a miscarriage or something else was wrong. Jaxon then said “well if it’s not a baby then are you having a monkey?” We laughed a little and then explained to him that was impossible. We just did not really know what was going on. We were still in shock and I still did not believe it!  

The doctor came in and said that they were going to draw some labs and then do a sonogram to see how far along I was. About 10 minutes later a staff person came by with a small portable sonogram machine and asked if the sonogram had been done yet. It had not, so he said he would try to see if he would be able to see anything with his small portable machine. He proceeded to place the sonogram probe on my lower abdomen. Though, he slowly continued to move the probe up further and further on my abdomen. After just a couple minutes he said “well, you have a full grown baby in there. You are at least 20 weeks pregnant” He proceed to point out the spine and the heart!

WHAT IN THE WORLD!?! WHAT WAS GOING ON!?!?!

I was then transferred right away to labor and delivery. They got the monitors all hooked up and we got to hear the heartbeat for the first time. The resident then checked and said the fluid I was leaking was amniotic fluid, and it looked like I was in active labor. It was noted that my bag of water was still intact, just leaking some. They got the big sonogram machine right in and started measuring the baby. It was believed that the baby was at least 27 weeks. It was also noted that I was starting to thin and dilate.

The labor happened so fast they were still starting the IV when the baby was born. They wanted to try to do meds and antibiotics prior, but there was no time. My water broke, and baby was born about 5 minutes later. At 9:42pm we welcomed Bryce Allan into the world weighing in at 2 pounds 9.3 ounces. They took him to the NICU where they got him all checked in and examined. After they were all done, they decided that he was believed to be about 29 weeks gestation.

I had no idea I was even pregnant!

In July of 2017 I decided that I wanted to lose some weight, as I was about 30-35 pounds overweight. I decided to try a low carb diet, as we had some friends that were doing low carb and had huge success. So over the summer and early fall (from about July – December) I started following a low carb diet plan and lost about 30-35 pounds. I felt great!! In to the New Year I continued to eat lower carb and tried to eat healthier. I have been able to maintain my lower weight. About 3-4 weeks before the baby was born I maybe gained about 5-8 pounds, but just contributed it to poor diet choices.

Because of my treatments for cancer when I was young, and being the age that I was, I never have had regular menstrual cycles. There would be times where I would have several months in a row and would have a menstrual cycle. Then there would be times where several months would go by and I would not have a cycle. So the absence of a menstrual cycle was never any sort of “alarm or trigger” that there was anything going on. This was a normal thing for me. I never really kept track of when they did, or didn’t, happen. It happened so irregular, why would I?

I don’t recall a time where I ever really felt movement that I could not explain. Looking back there maybe was once or twice that I felt something, but I dismissed it as indigestion. Anything else that would have been an “alarm” that it was pregnancy, I was able to dismiss as something else. Since I have such a significant medical history, all the normal signs of pregnancy that most recognize, I was able to contribute to one of my other medical issues.

What a HUGE surprise!

We are so blessed and excited! Jaxon is over the moon excited that he has a sibling and gets to be a big brother! We are so in love!! Our family is now complete. Jaxon gets to be a sibling and we are now a family of four!

Before you judge!

So the next time you read a story about a girl who gave birth and did not know she was pregnant, before you pass judgement or believe there is no way, or think she is lying that she did not know.

Know this, there is a way and it happened to me!

UPDATE; 6/3/2020
Bryce is a happy healthy 2 year old. He is walking all over the place and getting into normal 2 year old shenanigans! He loves his big brother Jaxon (who will be 10 in 2 months) - who is also a happy, healthy "pre-teen" as he would say! 
-Bryna