Newborn surprises mom and Army dad on leave
Categories: Newborns, Just For Moms, Just For Dads, Pregnancy & Birth, In The News
Normita Malmberg's boyfriend was going to surprise her with an engagement ring while he was home on a two-week leave from Iraq. Instead, she surprised him by giving birth to their first child, a baby boy that neither of them knew was coming. Malmberg had gained weight recently and had been experiencing irregular menstrual cycles, but beyond that had no indication that she was pregnant.When Malmberg started experiencing what she thought were bad menstrual cramps, she went to the hospital. There, the pregnancy was discovered and the parents had only hours to adjust to the idea of their new role. Malmberg still got her ring. Her fiancee, Army National Guard Pfc. Mark Novak put a t-shirt on the new baby that read, "Will You Marry My Daddy?"
Having been pregnant and through labor twice, I'm always amazed at these stories. Even if you didn't have obvious pregnancy symptoms, wouldn't you wonder what all the movement was in your abdomen area? It'll make an excellent story for the grand kids, anyway.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Heather 3-24-2008 @ 5:29PM
I always wonder about these kinds of stories also. I also have been throught labor and delivery 2 times and there is NO WAY it could have been mistaken for anything else.
I did hear of a woman once that had just started taking birth control at the time of her conception so she didn't think anything about the weight gain and missing cycles. Also the baby didn't move a lot with the drug...maybe something like that happened?
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Uly 3-24-2008 @ 8:12PM
Sure, if you know you're pregnant or have experienced it before, there's no confusion. But if you don't, and are still getting your period (as it sounds like she was), why would you think you were having a baby?
Maxie 3-24-2008 @ 9:17PM
I had a coworker who *almost* had that happen. She had one child, and they had given up on a second after years of trying. Since she had not been able to conceive again (even through IVF) she assumed her issues were IBS and bloating. Her 7 year old kept saying "there's a baby in there" and she laughed at him...until her doctor told her she was 7 months pregnant. She said she felt like an idiot, but the baby was healthy, and mom got over her embarassment.
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Jenn 3-24-2008 @ 9:35PM
I know of at least two people who had had at least one child previously, and still ended up at the ER in labor (full term) without having known they were pregnant with their "surprise child."
If I had still had periods, even irregular ones, throughout my pregnancy, I don't know if I'd have recognized myself as pregnant. I didn't gain a lot of weight (only 20 pounds), and what weight I did gain wasn't noticeable until very late in the pregnancy. My breasts never changed. I had no morning sickness, no real discomfort. I had about a 3 week period where I was very tired, but not to the point where I couldn't function.
And although the ultrasounds showed a quite active baby, I just didn't feel her moving around a whole lot. Something about the way I am built, combined with the way she was lying, made it so I just didn't feel any of the jabs, kicks, and wiggles. Mostly what I felt could have been chalked up to weird muscle spasms or twitches.
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Jennifer 3-25-2008 @ 10:12AM
I have had two pregnancies and a miscarriage. I still occaisionally feel what could be described as phantom kicking in my belly, so I could see how someone could possibly miss the kicks.
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Jessica 3-25-2008 @ 10:38AM
I always have a hard time believing these stories.....
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heather 3-25-2008 @ 1:17PM
Why would she go to the hospital for menstral cramps?
I did feel fluttering even after I had my son. It actually stated when he was about 6 months old I did check to see if I was pregnant. But I noticed it. How can you not notice something?
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the goddess anna 3-25-2008 @ 2:46PM
I used to get menstrual cramps so bad that I would be rendered immobile for hours. My mom took me to the hospital the first time that happened (it was during the first full year of my cycle), just to make sure nothing else was wrong.
I went nearly 6 months without knowing I was pregnant the first time - I still had a period, I lost weight, and I didn't feel a thing. Two weeks after I found out, my belly popped out (and I finally felt pregnant), but I never felt my daughter kick until around the 8th month. She kicked me the rest of the pregnancy though.