NORTON, Mass. — A Norton woman who gave birth to a baby boy in an Attleboro hospital over the weekend says she had no idea she was pregnant, CBS Boston reported.
Ileana Martinez, 23, went to the emergency room at Sturdy Memorial Hospital with what she thought was a stomach ache and severe cramping Sunday afternoon.
The next six hours would change her life.
“Then the doctor’s like, ‘Oh, you’re 15 weeks pregnant’ and I’m like ‘O.K., 15 weeks that’s do-able, I can manage with that.’ And then another ultrasound technician, after spending 2 hours with me, and then that’s when she was like ‘You’re more than 15, you’re 36,’ and then right when she says 36-to-38 my water just breaks! Little before I knew it. he was on his way,” she told CBS Boston.
The baby, 5-pound, 4-ounce Jaxson St. Pierre, was healthy despite being a total surprise to his mother and having no prenatal care.
“It was overwhelming, it was so many emotions,” she said.
So how did Ileana not know she was pregnant?
“I lived a normal life. I worked full time. There (were) no symptoms, no cravings. I got my period. There couldn’t have been any hints that I was possibly pregnant. I got into a car accident in April, (went) to the emergency room, we did testing and lab work there, CAT scans. I went to my primary care and I got a follow-up for a referral for physical therapy. She did a yearly exam also,” she said.
Baby Jaxson.
Martinez said she only gained about five pounds during the last several months.
“The doctor says it happens more than you expect it to,” she said. The phenomenon even has a name – cryptic pregnancy – and one study suggest it could happen as often as 1 in every 2,500 births.
“I’m still trying to figure out how he was in my stomach. There was no way… He was hiding.”
“When I went there for stomach aches, I didn’t expect to come home with a baby,” she added.
Martinez lives with her sister Madie, 27, and Madie’s 9-year-old daughter.
But since they had no warning about Jaxson’s arrival, they’re looking for donations of baby supplies, from used clothing and toys to fresh diapers and more.