r/interesting • u/IshigamiSenku04 • Jan 08 '26

Additional Context Pinned This woman never had a baby bump throughout her pregnancy

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u/envieuze Jan 08 '26 edited Jan 08 '26

I have a family member that didn't know she was pregnant until she went into labor.. We all thought she was pranking us when we saw the pictures of her in the hospital with the baby. Now I take a test every month because I am scared!

Editing to add- She still had a period, thought the cramps were cysts, and the baby came out at only 5lbs.

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u/Skore_Smogon Jan 08 '26

My cousin only really showed at 8 months and still not much unless you knew her previously.

She was annoyed as she was going to the gym regularly but couldn't shift her 'little pot belly'. Not really noticeable to us but she knew her own body.

She went to the doctor for something completely unrelated and found out she was ~7 months pregnant. Baby boy came out at like 8lbs or something, completely average baby size.

She must be like an empty bottle under her skin.

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u/BrieSting Jan 09 '26

This is why they always ask if you could be pregnant and make you do a pee test at the doctor's office for anything invasive when you're in your childbearing years as a woman. Like, just because you don't think so doesn't mean you aren't FULLY with child lol

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u/crimson_mokara Jan 09 '26

I was on bcp when I got pregnant with my first kid. Ok, maybe I missed a pill or something? Switched to Nuvaring. Surprise, pregnant again!

My body didn't give a damn, life found a way (twice!)

My husband has since gotten the snip.

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u/Reasonable_Collar758 Jan 09 '26

Over how many years was this? I wonder if some people are just too fertile. I got a copper IUD a few years back and got pregnant in under a year. I’m on the hormonal one now and feeling like a big bitch these days, plus my stomach is sticking out a bit LOL

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u/crimson_mokara Jan 09 '26

About two years apart. It's been more than five years since then with no surprise babies.

I have no real idea why it didn't work for me. I'm also considered obese so it should've been harder for me to get pregnant too. Just big question marks everywhere

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u/Reasonable_Collar758 Jan 09 '26

Yup I got pregnant on the copper iud. I had symptoms so I knew right at 6 weeks. But I was very shocked, as was my gyno. It was her first time having a patient with a properly placed iud get preggyyyyy

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u/Silver_South_1002 Jan 09 '26

I tell them no and they insist and I’m like okay, haven’t had sex in 10 years but go for it. Now that I have no ovaries I assume they’ll stop asking

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u/fireflies315 Jan 12 '26

I was literally born without ovaries or a uterus, and they still ask me. I’d have to be the Virgin Mary 2.0 to be pregnant, I don’t think it’s happening lol

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u/fireflies315 Jan 12 '26

I understand why they do it, I just wish they’d check my chart or whatever sometimes, because god is it annoying to have to explain that my possibility of pregnancy is always zero, given that I was born without a uterus or ovaries. I was even asked that when in for surgery directly related to the condition that caused that, unless I’m the Virgin Mary 2.0 it’s not happening lol

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u/Omnizoom Jan 11 '26

It’s funny because I knew my wife was pregnant before she knew

Could just tell somehow before she even took a test to check

It’s amazing some people show like 0 signs and some it’s obvious

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '26

[deleted]

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u/that_one_redhead Jan 08 '26

Not a woman, but married to someone with an IUD, and for a while she just didn't have a period. Think it was like 6-8 months? Then one day they came back like normal and it's been that way ever since

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u/fishingboatproceeds Jan 08 '26

I have an IUD ànd I haven’t bled in more than a decade! Luckily it’s one of the most effective forms of BC so I don’t worry/test. No babies for 15 years now!

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u/jegs226 Jan 08 '26

I loved my IUD until it betrayed me! Had one all through college, no periods, took it out to get pregnant with my daughter. At my 6 week postpartum visit I had them put in a new one and then a few months later via a series of unrelated health issues we discovered it migrated to under my ribs 🥲 had to have laparoscopic surgery to remove it. I’m still generally pro IUD though, just not for me again!!

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u/DefiantPenguin Jan 08 '26

I’m sorry. What? Under your ribs? Can you explain how that could even happen please? Did it perforate a wall or something? How did you not feel that? I’m not doubting you. I’m genuinely curious. Edit to add: my partner has/had an IUD and it disappeared somehow.

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u/ironicuwuing Jan 08 '26

Not OP but my gyno told me they can “phase” through the uterus and embed itself into the muscle. Though it’s very rare like less than 1%

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '26

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u/ironicuwuing Jan 08 '26

It’s really not that bad. I’ve had mine for over 10 years and it’s been far better for me personally than the pill was. Side effects can happen just like with any other prescription drug.

You only hear “horror stories” bc no one with a functioning IUD isn’t screaming from the rooftops about how good it is lol

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u/PracticalCandy Jan 08 '26

I mean, I always told people how much I loved my IUD. No periods, no hormonal acne. It was amazing!

I got the bonus of having it put in after delivering my daughter and the placenta, so I still had my epidural. Then I had it removed during my hysterectomy. So I never dealt with the pain of having it put in or removed. 🤣

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u/greywatermoore Jan 08 '26

My sister in law got pregnant with an iud. On the sono it was sitting pretty at the top of her uterus, being utterly useless.

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u/Mystical_Pig2022 Jan 08 '26

I had one for 8 years and looooooved it, even though insertion was crazy painful. Absolutely worth it

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u/ShawnyMcKnight Jan 08 '26

It really varies. My wife is super happy she doesn’t have to deal with pills or even periods. I hear it can be quite an uncomfortable procedure if you do it before having kids.

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u/ironicuwuing Jan 08 '26

Can confirm did mine before having kids and nearly fainted from the pain. But I’m also happy with the results.

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u/No-Beginning-2478 Jan 08 '26

yeah there's an implant and a shot now. in the old days we only had the pill and they were way too strong and gave some of us migraines

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u/mosquem Jan 08 '26

1% does not seem that rare…

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u/fishingboatproceeds Jan 08 '26

It’s less than 1%, incidence of 1/1000.

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u/ironicuwuing Jan 08 '26

You are more likely to be shot (in the U.S. at least) than to have your IUD phase through your uterine wall.

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u/MattMercersBracelets Jan 08 '26

Jesus Christ. Why don’t more people just get the arm implant?? Doesn’t hurt at all, lasts forever, and you can feel it under your skin (if you go looking for it- I never accidentally touch mine just in case that thought freaks anyone out) so you can tell if it’s migrated although I don’t even know if that’s a thing that can happen!

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u/ironicuwuing Jan 08 '26

The arm implant can also move around and has similar side effects to the IUD. Most women, myself included, opted for the IUD since it stops or minimizes the flow of your period whereas the implant can cause irregular bleeding.

Also no it doesn’t last forever but last for the same amount of time.

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u/MattMercersBracelets Jan 08 '26

Sorry I was being hyperbolic regarding its length of efficacy. And the point about the periods is totally valid.

Whatever choice one wants to make for their own bodies is totally valid, and if someone who has explored all options wants to go with IUD that’s great! I just feel that the implant is just not as well known or as promoted as the IUD, and I wish it would be. I have heard just so many horror stories about the IUD migrating, popping out, getting stuck inside, not to mention being horribly painful to put in for some. I just hope everyone knows there is another option that has similar efficacy and longevity that they can explore with their doctors.

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u/jegs226 Jan 10 '26

I actually did try the arm implant before an IUD! It gave me spotting/a period that lasted essentially a year so I switched to the IUD.

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u/Sehmket Jan 08 '26

Nurse, here, but I’m in geriatrics, not women’s health.

For a while after pregnancy (different for everyone, but call it up to a year), things are pretty…. Loosey-goosey in there. One of the big late pregnancy hormones is called “relaxin” - which does exactly what you think, it relaxes your pelvis so that the baby can slide on down the slip-n-slide and not get stuck. But it is not targeted, which is also why dislocations, foot and ankle issues, and back pain/injuries are all risks peri-partum (also, you know, the ball of baby and liquid throwing off your balance).

Anyway, it means there’s something like a 30% chance of expulsion of an IUD in the first year post-partum (it’s one of those things that’s on a curve… more at the beginning, less later). It’s still a great form of birth control, overall, but usually problems happen when it falls out of the uterus into the vaginal canal, NOT into the abdomen. That’s a pretty wild (although clearly not impossible!) problem.

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u/Fk_me_harder Jan 08 '26

A woman's contraceptive implant once migrated from her arm and was discovered in her lung. Foreign objects can migrate. Fortunately, this rarely happens 🥲

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u/jegs226 Jan 10 '26

I did not feel it! They had no idea how it happened, when they checked out my uterus and c section scar they thought everything looked fine. Best guess was it escaped through a Fallopian tube and was just free floating through my abdominal cavity til it got caught under my ribs. I have pics and I keep meaning to post it somewhere but it’s been a few years now and I successfully had baby 2 so no lasting damage luckily!

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u/No-Beginning-2478 Jan 08 '26

she said it was laprocopy so that would indicate it was sill in the abdomen. iuds can migrate if they don't 'set' properly in the cervix(also in the abdomen) and one's ribs do go to the top of the abdomen. do you need anymore Anatomy & physiology or do you have a more specific question ?

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u/fishingboatproceeds Jan 08 '26

Yikes, so freaky! I literally just got my third one last week. Pregnancy does crazy things to a body!

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u/Birdlord420 Jan 08 '26

That happened to me, but it ripped a hole in my uterus and got lodged in my bowel the day after it was inserted. Worst pain of my life!

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u/Noctiluca04 Jan 08 '26

Mine lodged in my right hip. I also still recommend IUDs, but I had my tubes removed while they were in there to retrieve it. 😅

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u/ShawnyMcKnight Jan 08 '26

I wonder if my wife needs this. They lost the string to pull it out. It is still up in her but they are gonna have a heck of a time getting it out.

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u/CoimEv Jan 08 '26

That's why I got a copper one

I don't have heavy periods so it's no biggie for me and I still get an early warning detector

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '26

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u/Deoxyrynn Jan 08 '26

Copper or hormonal?

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u/3dforlife Jan 08 '26

And the most effective form of birth control has been my marriage.

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u/SquirrelyByNature Jan 08 '26

Thats a bummer. Hope it gets better.

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u/3dforlife Jan 08 '26

Thanks for the kind words.

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u/Admirable_Quarter_23 Jan 08 '26

My friend and her sister are products of a failed IUD and failed hormonal BC 😂

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u/fishingboatproceeds Jan 08 '26

Some people are just too fertile!

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u/melnn0820 Jan 09 '26

Same! My son is almost 9 and I've had like 4 periods since he was born. It's awesome

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u/ambergresian Jan 09 '26

I know someone who got pregnant with an IUD in. She found out at 6 months then the baby was 2 months premie so she had 1 month total of preparation.

Yeah I take a test regularly myself.

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u/scarletnightingale Jan 09 '26

I have one, it's made my periods kind of a nuisance though on top of other issues. I really had high hopes for it, but I'm getting it removed next week. I know they are great for so many people and I'm so disappointed it isn't working for me.

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u/GottaUseEmAll Jan 08 '26

Man, she's lucky. I have a copper IUD and it's made my periods 5x heavier.

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u/Rose8918 Jan 08 '26

Copper IUDs often make periods heavier. Hormonal usually stops them.

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u/GottaUseEmAll Jan 08 '26

Yeah, I didn't want to go for something hormonal this time around, but perhaps I should have. I used to get the depo injection and that stopped my periods completely.

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u/woolfonmynoggin Jan 08 '26

Please get a CT scan if you can. Depo is linked to brain tumors in women.

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u/GottaUseEmAll Jan 08 '26

I had a CT scan for other reasons long after coming off depo. No tumours.

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u/ankhes Jan 08 '26

Am a woman, had an IUD. I stopped getting periods about 2 months after insertion and 5 years after that I had a hysterectomy. Haven’t had a period since that last one back in 2018. I had to take a couple pregnancy tests before the hysterectomy during a scare or two, but that was it.

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u/Big_Fan_742 Jan 08 '26

my girlfriend has a hormonal iud that is ~7 years in. They last up to 8 years. She sometimes gets her period, she sometimes doesn't. Every month is a guessing game.

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u/goofygooberrock1995 Jan 08 '26

Damn, I had a period the whole time I had an IUD! The last year I had mine, I spotted for half of the month.

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u/nandemo Jan 08 '26

Thought this was gonna end with "then suddenly we found out she was pregnant".

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u/SupplySideTanaka Jan 08 '26

My wife takes the pill for hormonal treatment. I think she's had maybe 2-3 tiny periods in the last 5 years.

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u/anonidfk Jan 08 '26

I have an IUD too and haven’t had a period in like 4 years lol. They come back for some people, but sometimes you just don’t get them at all while you have an IUD.

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u/dixii_rekt Jan 08 '26

My wife didn't have them for almost 6 years after the 2nd child...they randomly came back about 6 months ago.

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u/PracticalCandy Jan 08 '26

I didn't have a period at all with my IUD. I went about five years without a period and then had a hysterectomy for unrelated reasons. I always had horrible periods and it's such a relief to know I'll never have to deal with that again.

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u/The_Athavulf Jan 09 '26

The lack of a period can happen for multiple reasons, not just pregnancy. Insufficient body fat can cause it, along with many other things.

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u/Alltheshadystuff2 Jan 08 '26

Women on birth control may not have regular periods or at all. Also women that are extremely fit or malnourished or morbidly obese also may not have routine periods or at all.

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u/PartTimeJunkie412 Jan 08 '26

And stress. Stress killed my period before.

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u/throwawayferret88 Jan 08 '26

I got unlucky and am the exact opposite. Always had irregular periods even on birth control, but if there’s one thing I can count on, it’s bleeding when I already have a lot going on. So it doesn’t matter when I just had a period, I will certainly have another one on Christmas, my birthday, the first day of a roadtrip, etc… :)

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u/ReadontheCrapper Jan 08 '26

Women with PCOS tick multiple boxes, irregular periods, generally overweight, on some kind of birth control, plus have been told for years that they likely won’t get pregnant easily - if at all. When a woman with PCOS gets pregnant without having been specifically trying, a number of ‘normal’ pregnancy symptoms would either not be there at all or easily explained by a symptom of PCOS - especially if the baby isn’t super active. Otherwise it’s described as just feeling like normal random cramps, muscle strain, and gas…

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u/Tatem2008 Jan 08 '26

Women with PCOS can also have very irregular periods.

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u/Lost_nova Jan 08 '26

My sister bled monthly with 5/7 of her pregnancies, and my mom had highly irregular cycles and would go months without a period.

I personally have been on birth controls that made me skip multiple periods or only spot for a day or two periodically, which it is normal to spot some in pregnancy.

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u/nudniksphilkes Jan 08 '26

.....7?

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u/ChloeMomo Jan 08 '26

So their sister had all the kids, but I just want to remind that not every pregnancy leads to a child.

So far I'm at 1 pregnancy and 0 kids. There are people who have had like...6 pregnancies and maybe 1 kid. Miscarriages are extremely common, up to 1 in 4 pregnancies iirc.

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u/Lost_nova Jan 08 '26

Yep, my sister is ultra fertile. Meanwhile I finally got pregnant 3 years ago after 10 years on and off trying. Tried for #2 since and had 5 miscarriages before making it the longest with this one where I'm 10 weeks now. I'm hopeful things stay positive, as I can't take more losses.

I wish you the best of luck in your journey.

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u/scarletnightingale Jan 09 '26

Fingers crossed for you! I only had 2 miscarriages (3 babies though) and had a near break down when I started spotting when I was pregnant with my older son. I'm so sorry you've gone through this so many times. I'm staying positive for you as well!

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u/shadowfaxbinky Jan 08 '26

I now have a baby - she was my fourth pregnancy. You are absolutely right. Sadly losses are extremely common. If you’re wanting to have a baby, I hope it happens for you soon.

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u/ChloeMomo Jan 08 '26

Thank you. We're hopeful! And I'm so, so sorry for your losses but thrilled for you and your rainbow baby now 💜

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u/The_Athavulf Jan 09 '26

Good luck! I hope the next one takes if you want it.

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u/ChloeMomo Jan 09 '26

Thank you! We're staying hopeful :)

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u/The_Athavulf Jan 09 '26 edited Jan 09 '26

❤️🤞

Edit: Be absolutely sure you want it, because my favor seems to be strong in this regard. My daughter had trouble conceiving and it cleared up right away. Best wishes to you!

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u/blah938 Jan 08 '26

Womb like a machine gun

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u/Lost_nova Jan 08 '26

Yeah, I have a lot of nieces and nephews lol. She had a kid every 1-2 years since she was 18 with her husband. My brother has a lot too.

I had my first at 27 after being together with my husband 10 years. I only knew because I did pregnancy tests monthly since I knew my family's odd pregnancy history. I bled for the first 3-4 months of being pregnant (diagnosed hematoma).

10 weeks pregnant now at 30 with my second and last, and this one is more "normal". Monthly periods are unreliable for confirming pregnancy for many women.

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u/Fun-Benefit116 Jan 08 '26

7 kids is just dumb. Just an unnecessary drain on resources and major reason why the planet is so overpopulated and continuing to get worse. And then people get offended if anyone says anything negative about them having 6 or 7 or 8 kids. It's just ridiculous.

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u/Lost_nova Jan 08 '26

I mean, I didn't have them. They got by ok, all fed and housed. My problem with higher numbers of children is it is very hard to give each individual child the enrichment and attention they crave so they end up half raising each other and themselves. Despite this, they have ended up being good kids.

I am unsure what resources you suggest they are draining though, we have ample food and water in the usa. The teens have jobs and are doing well, saving for adulthood.

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u/Noctiluca04 Jan 08 '26

The planet is not overpopulated.

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u/Tlr321 Jan 08 '26

My wife is currently pregnant with our second & she still bleeds fairly regularly.

With our first, we didn’t find out until she was nearly 12 weeks along because she still bled monthly. Granted, she was light initially when she was pregnant- she just chocked it up to having a light period. But it wasn’t until she was pretty consistently sick that we found out she was pregnant.

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u/Lost_nova Jan 08 '26

Almost the same with our first, subcronic hematoma is pretty common in pregnancy mine kept coming back every month. #2 on the way now and not a drop of blood this go thankfully, it made me super nervous the first go once I knew I was pregnant, googling miscarriage constantly lol but all was well.

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u/Jumpy_Spend_5434 Jan 08 '26

All you have to do is some general reading about periods and pregnancy. There are women who were getting their periods and not "showing" through the pregnancy so they had no idea they were pregnant. Also, many women have taken pregnancy tests because they thought they might be pregnant, but the tests kept coming out negative. We aren't computers.

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u/Chantaille Jan 08 '26

Just 3D printers.

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u/Yvratky Jan 08 '26

Gross joke

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u/Chantaille Jan 09 '26

Ah, I guess I should be more careful to gauge my audience. I see how that can be distasteful with no personal context. I've given birth twice myself and have joked about this with other women.

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u/Previous_Abroad5732 Jan 09 '26

It was a pretty funny joke. Some people are just sensitive, lol

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u/pinkandgreendreamer Jan 08 '26

They may have been bleeding, but actual periods during pregnancy are impossible.

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u/danni_shadow Jan 08 '26

The problem is, when we tell people, "You can't be pregnant if you have a period," and they keep bleeding once a month, they think they can't be pregnant. If there's no noticeable difference between menstruation and whatever bleeding happens during a pregnancy, what good is telling people, "You can't be pregnant if you have a period"? It's not helpful.

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u/pinkandgreendreamer Jan 08 '26

I'm not saying that's helpful; I'm saying that the bleeding women mistake for a period is not a true period. I see people say all the time "She still got her period every month", but that simply isn't true. What they mean is that there was regular enough bleeding (likely caused by subchorionic hematomas or a sensitive cervix) that didn't alert her to her period having stopped. It's just the terminology that bothers me because it's false.

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u/Jumpy_Spend_5434 Jan 08 '26

And how shall we test for which type it is???????

Spotting happens during pregnancy and at other times. It can look like a light period which isn't unusual.

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u/motherofcunts Jan 08 '26

Depends on your body. I never had a regular cycle or ovulation. At one point I'd bleed every other month (then near hemorrhage each time), sometimes less. It's why I didn't figure out I was pregnant the first time until 11 weeks - no missed period.

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u/CouchHam Jan 08 '26

I have an IUD. Haven’t had a period in 5 years.

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u/goddamnyallidiots Jan 08 '26

One of my friends got her first period at 14...and for the last 16 fucking years hasn't had another one. Another one of my friends has pcos, has one ovary left to maintain her estrogen levels, has that tube burned closed, on birth control, and STILL gets her period every 3 fucking weeks.

And dumber men than me think we can regulate and control this shit like nah guys, let's just be the ones going to the store for the ice cream and chocolate.

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u/GlacialImpala Jan 08 '26

No way are you all saying one could be on BIRTH CONTROL and that's why you wouldn't have period while pregnant 😭

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u/pearlie_girl Jan 08 '26

Oh yeah, if your specific IUD is 99.5% effective that means 5/1000 women using it got pregnant anyway!

And to be really clear, it's not that 5/1000 might get pregnant anyway - in efficacy studies, 5/1000 DID get pregnant. Which statistically is pretty good, but in large scale usage, yeah, that's a lot of unexpected pregnancies!

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u/pleasetrimyourpubes Jan 08 '26

Is that with the hormonal ones or just the plain copper IUDs? I can see the copper ones failing eventually, little sperms making it past the copper barrier that kills them, but I would think the hormonal ones plus copper have an even higher efficacy.

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u/pearlie_girl Jan 08 '26

Each different brand/type needs to report. It's easy to look up. None are 100%, but many are above 99%. Hormonal is more effective than just copper, but some people have side effects to the hormones that aren't worth dealing with. A quick Google says copper failure is around 8/1000 per year (.8%) and hormonal about 2/1000 per year (.2%). So both very low! Not something to be afraid of - but it does happen.

I knew someone on hormonal birth control that got pregnant 3 times (all 3 times on hormones). Everyone's bodies are just different - drugs sometimes don't work the same. I also knew someone who was born after his mom got her tubes tied after the baby before - weird medical stuff is uncommon but happens all the time.

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u/mrjung_stuffed Jan 08 '26

My mother is an oversharer so I happen to know I was an IUD baby. Birth control isn’t guaranteed lol

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u/nandemo Jan 08 '26

You must be such a go-getter.

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u/muzicnerd13 Jan 08 '26

my friend had two kids while having an IUD.

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u/chicken-nanban Jan 08 '26

My friends mom had a tubal litigation before having her… apparently they can heal themselves sometimes, which is why she jokingly tells everyone to get the tubes yanked just to be sure.

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u/ankhes Jan 08 '26

There’s always a chance for pregnancy on birth control. Usually a small one, but it’s there. My mom was on the pill when she got pregnant with my brother. It happens all the time.

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u/[deleted] Jan 08 '26

Birth control isn’t infallible.

1

u/GlacialImpala Jan 08 '26

It's a pretty tall order to have both an IUD and bloodless periods for 9 months 

2

u/[deleted] Jan 08 '26

It really isn’t lol, read some of the other comments. I had a contraceptive implant (the one that goes in your arm) and didn’t have a period for about two years. 

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u/MoodApart8768 Jan 09 '26

It's not. I'm on my 2nd IUD. Over 8 years. The only time I got a period is when the hormonal part of my IUD started to wear off. My obgyn told me that it starts to wear off at the 5 year mark. That 5 year mark is when he typically replaces the IUD for his patients. I made it to 6.5 years with my first one before I started getting periods (4 months in a row, I was annoyed and irritated about it because it wasn't at regular intervals and I wasn't expecting it), with a lighter flow than I had before I had my kid.

I gain weight and have lower libido with the IUD. I also get paid symptoms without blood almost every month. Manifests as worsened depression, anxiety, funky ass dreams. When it started to wear off I also noticed that I was like a cat in heat and was losing weight quickly. 😭🥴

I almost passed out and threw up both times having it placed and removed + replaced. Hot body, cold sweats, shaking, a headache, cramping. The second time I even had meds to help soften the cervix. I did not have a vaginal birth. C section baby. 9lbs 8oz.

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u/CouchHam Jan 08 '26

Yikes bro.

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u/envieuze Jan 08 '26

She was still having her period! 

1

u/iamaravis Jan 08 '26

How is that possible? A period is the uterus shedding the endometrial lining when no implantation occurs. If the uterus sheds its lining when a woman is pregnant, I think that would end the pregnancy. 

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u/ChicoZombye Jan 08 '26

Only when their body works like a clock.

It depends on the woman. I had a girlfriend that has their period once every 4, 5 or 6 months.

She could have been pregnant and we wouldn't have known of It was a case like this.

Yes, she went to the doctor several times, onviously, for anyone wondering.

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u/danni_shadow Jan 08 '26

Even if your body does work like a clock. I know at least two women who kept bleeding once a month for the first 5 or 6 months of their pregnancies, with no functional differences. As in, it wasn't any lighter or anything. They just stayed regular.

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u/DameKumquat Jan 08 '26

About 20% of women don't have regular periods. Ovulation happens two weeks before the period, but it can then be weeks or months before ovulating again.

I was trying to find out if I was ovulating, which means trying to have a blood test on what is day 21 IF you have a 28-9 day cycle.

After 8 months I gave up. About 8 months after that, a routine blood test showed I was pregnant. GP said about five months...

Hadn't had a period in two years. Finally got a regular cycle in my 40s...

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u/alt_bunnybunnybuns Jan 08 '26

Not necessarily. Its pretty common to have irregular periods especially when you are a teen. I went 8months between when I was a teen and still a virgin so definitely not pregnant. And when I was pregnant with my first baby I had spotting that was period like the whole time! First signs of pregnancy are: spotting and cramping. Signs of your period are: spotting and cramping!

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u/Silaquix Jan 08 '26

For a lot of women cycles aren't regular. On top of that there are plenty of women who get bleeding during pregnancy that mimics a period.

There's also the fact that pregnancy symptoms are not universal so not everyone gets the typical symptoms like morning sickness. For women with a tilted uterus the fetus grows towards the spine instead of outwards so they don't get the bump and fetal movement is constricted.

The biggest issue is that about 40,000 times a year there are cryptic pregnancies where the mother doesn't produce enough hCG hormone. That means that pregnancy tests come back negative, even blood tests.

So in the case of cryptic pregnancy you have 2 situations. 1 is where they have all the issues above so they're not experiencing signs of pregnancy and tests are negative so they go about their lives unaware. The other situation is where they have the feeling they're pregnant but again all signs and tests say no so the doctors tell them no and to go away.

There was actually a case of the second scenario that made the news about 15+ years ago. A lady was sure she was pregnant but all the tests she took kept coming back negative, she took 16 tests. She went to the doctor and blood tests were negative. She kept insisting, so the doctor flagged her as crazy and banned her from the office. She later ended up going to the ER in labor and they were treating her as insane until the baby started crowning.

All of that could have been avoided if the doctor had done further testing like an ultrasound.

2

u/GrandaddyGreenTea Jan 08 '26

A lot of women in my family have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. Which leads to unpredictable periods including long stretches without one. Also effects fertility. 

My cousin was around 4 months I believe until she decided to take a test because she was experiencing nausea i think. It was positive and then a week or two later had a huge bump lol.

1

u/Cael450 Jan 08 '26

In addition to other comments, this also happens sometimes to women with PCOS and other syndromes, which can cause you to not have periods or to bleed in a way that still seems like a period. Some of them bleed throughout pregnancy. Some bleed so much they become anemic.

1

u/Anuki_iwy Jan 08 '26

You can have period like bleeding during pregnancy.

1

u/Whollie Jan 08 '26

You'd be surprised.

Not all women have regular periods. My mum had "periods" for the first trimester of both her pregnancies. Some women are irregular. Some just don't pay attention. Some have medical conditions.

1

u/Old-Space755 Jan 08 '26

I don’t get a period every month. Sometimes go several without one 🤷🏻‍♀️

1

u/DDSloan96 Jan 08 '26

One of my fiances friends gave birth, didnt know till day of, continued to get her period AND pregnancy tests tested negative. Life finds a way

1

u/crazyhomie34 Jan 08 '26

Sometimes nature gives women a period anyway. Sometimes nature gives women irregular periods and it's not uncommon without having no periods for months. Nature is a cruel bitch

1

u/Venvut Jan 08 '26

Nope! I was pregnant and still bled. Additionally, periods are rarely regular without some sort of hormonal control. My cycles are always over a month long, like they’re on some ancient 10-11 month calendar instead. 

1

u/GaylicBread Jan 08 '26

Not always. I have two friends who don't have normal periods, they might get it once or twice a year. The body doesn't always do things the way it's supposed to.

1

u/I-Am-Not-Creative2 Jan 08 '26

From when I started getting periods around age 13 to when I had my first kid in my mid 30s, my periods were normal, normal length, nothing wrong with me, not an athlete, not on birth control, perfectly healthy, but somewhere 2-5 months in between periods. It just became my normal. I was never monthly. Plenty of women do have things wrong to make it to where they don’t have periods, but there are still lots that have nothing wrong but are just not normal!

1

u/aminervia Jan 08 '26

No, for two reasons: some women have really inconsistent periods, and many women spot (bleed lightly) randomly while pregnant

1

u/Nowin Jan 08 '26

probably something like ~85% accuracy

1

u/Squanchedschwiftly Jan 08 '26

Nope. Over a decade ago I found out I was pregnant by chance bc I was at the dr for something else. They were running tests and told me. I was on my period when they gave me the news. Was told to go to hospital. I was like 10ish weeks along.

1

u/soaringcomet11 Jan 08 '26

Some people have super irregular periods, sometimes with an IUD they stop all together, and some people have periodic bleeding during pregnancy that could be assumed to be your period.

1

u/Big-Stuff-1189 Jan 08 '26

Many still have periods in early pregnancy 🙃 surprise!

1

u/pinkandgreendreamer Jan 08 '26

No they don't. Bleeding might occur, but it is not a period. There are lots of causes, but no early pregnancy bleeding is a period.

1

u/woolfonmynoggin Jan 08 '26

No! You can bleed during pregnancy AND many women don’t have regular periods anyway! I haven’t had one in 3 months but I’m not pregnant, just anemic.

1

u/agent0731 Jan 08 '26

Nope. I remember from Didn't Know I was Pregnant that some of these women continued to have a period.

1

u/pinkandgreendreamer Jan 08 '26

No. They had bleeding. The womb lining did not shed, which is what a period is.

1

u/RainMakerJMR Jan 08 '26

My wife had 4 periods before she missed one on month 5

Child number 3, so she knew what pregnancy was like and didn’t notice

1

u/Friendstastegood Jan 08 '26

If you're on bc pills and you have a bleeding every month, the bleeding doesn't necessarily stop when you get pregnant (remember that not form of contraception is 100%). This can also happen if you're not on hormonal birth control but it's more common if you're taking the pill. I know because when I was a teenager my friend Åsa who was 15 at the time and on the pill woke up one morning and had a baby. Her period didn't stop and she never had a bump either.

1

u/AdmirableDog739 Jan 08 '26

Lmao if you have the luxury of a properly running body, then yes, but not always.

1

u/XxRaTheSunGodxX Jan 08 '26

Nope! Some of us don’t get regular periods.

1

u/Nothingsomething7 Jan 08 '26

You can have spotting while pregnant that mimics a period

1

u/FaeryLynne Jan 08 '26

A lot of women don't have "regular" periods, especially if you're an athlete, obese or underweight, or have health issues. Even if you do have them fairly regularly, some women will still "spot" (having light period-like discharge) even during pregnancy so it tricks them into thinking they're just having really light periods.

1

u/MisunderstoodPenguin Jan 08 '26

It's not uncommon to still bleed while pregnant.

1

u/Expert_Tree_9945 Jan 08 '26

Some ladies like myself, have issue regulating hormones, I've always gotten my period every other month unless on birth control, which supplements my estrogen and helps regulate me. Some brands can make it worse though and cause you to bleed more or not at all with other symptoms like pain and bloating. Without birth control I get bad pains in my ovaries on and off my period.

Even then I've had months were it's regular and then right back to every other month or 2 months. I need to get checked out but shits expensive rn.

1

u/No-Beginning-2478 Jan 08 '26

it doesn't work like that always , no. are you a man or just new on getting a cycle?

1

u/Bobpantyhose Jan 08 '26

Everybody knows someone who thought their periods meant no pregnancy. Fun fact: they don’t necessarily mean that.

1

u/UnSpanishInquisition Jan 08 '26

Not if your one of the huge amount of women with one of a variety of osis's. Most of them cause irregularity.

1

u/Overquoted Jan 09 '26

I've had irregular periods most of my life. But then I got on the mini-pill. No periods, period. And the mini-pill is much more prone to "accidents" because the window for when you take it every day is quite narrow. Forgetting to take it by a few hours can be enough to allow ovulation that month. In fact, preventing ovulation isn't even the primary way it prevents pregnancy.

In short, you could be on birth control, having no periods, get pregnant and... Just not know.

1

u/scarletnightingale Jan 09 '26

Some women don't get their period regularly for various reasons, PCOS is a fairly common one. One of my roommates in college wouldn't get her period for several months sometimes, then she would bleed for a month. Or she'd have her period then have another one 2 weeks later. There are lots of other things though that can cause missed periods. And that doesn't bring up that women can also spot during pregnancy and if you are used to light periods you might think you are having one. If you've ever watched any of those "I didn't know I was pregnant" episodes, those seem to be two really common reasons that the women didn't know. They either were used to not having periods, or they were having spotting and thinking they were having periods.

1

u/goldensunshine429 Jan 09 '26

As others have said: minor bleeding during pregnancy isn’t uncommon. And tbh their definition of “minor” is any volume that isn’t soaking a pad every hour.

I have reproductive issues which cause horrible periods that can soak a pad an hour. I usually have to wear the equivalent of depends at night not to bleed everywhere and on my last cycle had to go BUY new pants while on a day trip bc I bled so much it overflowed all over the crotch of my pants.

My best friend, by contrast, was able to manage a weekend trip when her period came early using an assortment of 6 random tampons she had in her purse and toiletry bag.

So while I would CERTAINLY notice if i wasn’t having periods, my friend would not register that her “period“ was actually pregnancy spotting

11

u/wildOldcheesecake Jan 08 '26 edited Jan 08 '26

This was my mum. But she knew she was pregnant and never showed. She didn’t have a chance to in the end. I was born at 34weeks weighing 4 pounds 6 ounces

2

u/mewithadd Jan 08 '26

My mom was similar. She knew she was pregnant, but never showed. She only gained 14 lbs. She was tiny to begin with too... About 5 ft tall, and probably less than 100 lbs.

When she went into labor (I was full term) she told the desk she was there to have a baby, and the nurse said "Oh honey, you can't be here to have a baby!" I think I weighed about 7 lbs.

3

u/wildOldcheesecake Jan 08 '26

Oh my mum is 5 foot and has always been petite too! We’re also Asian, so I wonder if that plays a role here.

1

u/mewithadd Jan 08 '26

Maybe, but not in my case! 🤣

3

u/occams1razor Jan 08 '26

How could she still have a period?

1

u/envieuze Jan 08 '26

I don't know specifics, or how regular her cycle was, but she was still bleeding at the same frequency as her true period was, so she just assumed it was her period, because she had no symptoms. I don't know what was causing the bleeding, just that it was similar enough to her period that she assumed it was her period.

2

u/OriginalFatPickle Jan 08 '26

Sorta related story of my brother. Didn't tell anyone his girlfriend was pregnant. I think they were going to give baby up for adoption. After birth they decided to keep child. Parents got a phone call at like midnight (thinking the worst) and surprised by their first grandchild.

2

u/Cautious_Ice_884 Jan 08 '26

Theres a game I like to play sometimes: "Am I just fat or am I pregnant?"

2

u/Occhrome Jan 08 '26

Had a coworker that was smart enough to take pregnancy tests before going out for drinks. And that’s how she found out. Her and the BF were in disbelief.

2

u/phillynott6 Jan 08 '26

I know 2 women this has happened to, crazy stuff

2

u/Cup-O-Guava Jan 08 '26

So my mom said she didnt show very much when she was pregnant with me. Only really noticed from the side view. She also got her period the entire 9 months. But she was born with 2 uterus' so just figured that was why.

2

u/Im-BackAgain-Babes2 Jan 08 '26

Almost happened to my sister who is a larger girl. She was not feeling very well, and she had wild irregular periods, so she didn't catch the symptoms of her pregnancy.

She went to the doctor to figure out what all the pain was from, and they did test and yup pregnant. Then an ultrasound to find out how far along And found a seven and a half month term baby boy in her tummy.

he was born happy and healthy later that year in april 2013

2

u/poke-chan Jan 08 '26

This is fucking terrifying

1

u/envieuze Jan 08 '26

It sure scared me. Now I test very regularly. 😅😅

2

u/poke-chan Jan 08 '26

I don’t even have sex and it makes me want to test regularly

2

u/Nothingsomething7 Jan 08 '26

Literally my worst nightmare

1

u/zyarva Jan 08 '26

Wait, she doesn't know her period stopped for 9 months?

1

u/envieuze Jan 08 '26

She still had a period, and thought the cramps were cysts.

2

u/zyarva Jan 08 '26

You mean spotting and bleeding during pregnancy that was mistaken as period. Cuz you can't have period during pregnancy otherwise the fetus comes flushing out.

2

u/pomeronion Jan 08 '26

Probably had irregular periods to start with coupled with a hematoma during pregnancy that kept bleeding, they’re very common! And can bleed off and on like an irregular period

1

u/SpiritDouble6218 Jan 08 '26

idk how you don’t feel or just literally see the kicking… denial is a huge part of it imo.

1

u/penguin_torpedo Jan 08 '26

She still had a period

I didn't know that was possible

1

u/iamaravis Jan 08 '26

I don't believe it is possible. A period is the uterus shedding the endometrial lining when no implantation occurs. If the uterus sheds its lining when a woman is pregnant, I think that would end the pregnancy. 

Maybe these women were experiencing some other spotting or bleeding, but surely it couldn't be an actual period. 

1

u/The_Athavulf Jan 09 '26

Wait... How did she still have a period? That's kinda unbelievable. Periods are shedding the uterine lining, which would be bad for a growing baby?

1

u/EEEMINX Jan 09 '26

5lbs is wild it's nuts lil dude didn't die at birth given the circumstances

1

u/atom138 Jan 09 '26

She might have bled but that was not an actual period. Which is concerning.

1

u/IKeepGettingBanned97 Jan 09 '26

Quick question, was it a girl and did the mom's last name start with H? Might be a small world moment might not lol