A MUM got the shock of her life when she gave birth to a surprise baby, despite having her tubes tied years earlier.
Barbara enjoyed being a mother of two and decided to have her tubes sterilized to stop Art and her from having more children.
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But the 46-year-old had no idea that one in 300 women who have their tubes tied go on to conceive years down the line.
Her mother was working in a retail store when suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. It continued to get worse over time, and it became more frequent.
Arriving home, Barbara’s concerned older daughter tended to her mum until her dad Art arrived home.
Things quickly went wrong.
Speaking on TLC’s I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant, Barbara says: “I got up to go to the bathroom and noticed blood in my pants and that’s when I knew something was terribly wrong.”
Art drives his partner to the hospital, and after being seen to by a nurse, the pair are left alone while they await her return.
“Suddenly I felt a tremendous amount of pressure between my legs and in my pelvic area,” She says.
“The pressure was so bad that I truly thought at that point I was dead.
“I ripped my clothes off and got on all fours because something was coming out of me. I honestly thought it could be a tumour unlodging.”
Then it all becomes crystal clear.
“I wasn’t dying,” says Barbara, “I was just going to be a mother again. It was shocking that I was 46 years of age.
“There was not a lot of pushing, he just came out and Art lunges towards him so he wouldn’t fall off the table.
“I hear this cry, I’m sure that my chin hit the floor. Shock, pure shock.”
Barbara and Art had to wait for doctors to examine their infant son after the initial shock.
She says: “I was scared to death that something was wrong with him. I was worried about mental or physical disabilities because I didn’t have prenatal care.
“The nurses came in and told me that he was absolutely healthy. I took a big sigh of relief.”
I hear this cry, I’m sure that my chin hit the floor. Shock, shock.
Barbara
MD and gynecologist Melissa Gryer explains that, while rare, becoming pregnant after sterilisation is not impossible.
She says: “When the tubes are tied the fallopian tubes are disconnected and over time they can heal back together and form a new tube.”
While their son may have come as a shock, Barabara and Art instantly fell in love with their third child, naming him Hunter because he “snuck up on them.”
She says: “I had taken such a precaution not to have any more children, then to have this life sat in my arms was the most amazing feeling I had ever felt.
“It didn’t matter any more if we thought we were too old, I became determined to be the best mom I could be in spite of my fears of not knowing what tomorrow would hold.
“I knew he had to be something special because he was born against all odds, I feel blessed.”
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