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When Lindsay, took her baby boy, Daniel, for his six-month check-up, the last thing she expected her GP to tell her was that she was 18 weeks pregnant.
And when he did – she didn’t believe him. How could she not have known?
How could she be nearly half way through already? And most importantly –where was she going to put the new little one?
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Three's a crowd
Lindsay always planned on having two children. After she got married when she was 21, she had Leah (aged 3), and as planned, Daniel (6 months) came two and a half years later.
After her second child, she went onto contraception because as far as she was concerned, she had her girl and her boy, and the shop was closed.
She was diligent about getting her three-month contraceptive injection and had the first one postpartum at the hospital, the second one at the three-month mark when she stopped breastfeeding, the third when Daniel was six months old.
"But clearly it didn’t work," she exclaims, adding that her gynaecologist says he’s never had this happen to any of his patients before, and that Lindsay is going down in his history books.
When he saw her six months after Daniel was born, he assumed she was coming in for a pap smear, and little did he know it was for yet another antenatal scan.
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'A big surprise'
So how did she find out?
"I was at the GP for Daniel’s six month check-up. And even though I was there for Daniel’s check-up and not mine, I happened to mention to him that I had a pain in my abdomen in the mornings and again in the afternoons. He examined me, commented that my womb was big, and verified that there was indeed something growing in my stomach– another baby, that was already 18 weeks along!"
Lindsay was absolutely shocked at the prospect of having another baby when she had one already – not to mention an older child at home. But it wasn’t only the fact that she would soon be mom to three kids that horrified her.
It was the fact that she’d had absolutely no idea that she was pregnant.
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Missing the signs
When you’re on the injection, you are not supposed to get your period. Also, Lindsay didn’t experience morning sickness with her two older ones – so that wasn’t a clue.
She didn’t feel any kicking either as babies only tend to start kicking between 18 and 22 weeks. And although she did notice that her clothes were getting tight, she just thought that she was getting fat (and struggling to lose the baby weight from Daniel).
One thing she was doing a lot of though, was crying, and her family noticed that. Well, that and all the ice cubes that she was craving and eating...
"Even if there were obvious signs, I don’t think I would have noticed them because I’d just had a baby and I was busy and back at work, getting on with things. My mom, however, noticed how overly emotional I’d been, crying all the time, and suspected that I was pregnant– although she says now that she was too afraid tell me!"
Packing nine months of preparation into four
As far as this pregnancy goes, it’s going well says Lindsay who, in a way, has been spared the worry of that first half of pregnancy. Her blood and antenatal tests have come back fine so far and she didn’t have to stress about things many moms-to-be worry about in those early months. She does, however, have to pack nine months of the mental part of pregnancy into four.
"To be honest, I’ve only known about this baby – who has the same due date (July 17 this year) as Daniel had last year (July 17 2012) – for a few weeks and I’m struggling to wrap my head around it and it really hasn’t hit home yet that I’ll have ‘Irish twins’. I’ve warned work (who were just as shocked as I was) that I’m going on maternity leave again, but I haven’t thought about going to hospital and I haven’t prepared anything.
I don’t even know where our new little one will sleep. We live with my parents which is a huge help, but it’s going to be a big juggle, that’s for sure. Daniel will probably have to go to crèche with Leah (who I hope will show him the ropes) when Number Three comes along as I’m not sure my mom-in-law, who is currently looking after Daniel, will be prepared to look after two babies. Personally, I don’t blame her," exclaims Lindsay.
"My husband was also pretty shocked at first, but he’s so hands-on with Daniel that I know that we’ll be fine. We’re also hoping for another boy."
After that, she doesn’t know what she’s going to do contraceptive wise. "I will probably put in a loop, although that is also not 100 percent safe" she says.
"Hopefully, though, we will come up with something better than the contraceptive before!"
Do you have a similar story of surprise pregnancy?
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