A MUM was given the shock of her life after she welcomed a baby boy despite having no idea she was pregnant.
Joe, her 34-year-old partner, was out of town so Nicci, 30 had to give birth to the baby by herself with Joel, her ten year-old son.
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The hair stylist had a history of ovarian cysts and endometriosis making her periods light and irregular.
Speaking on TLC’s I Didn’t Know I was Pregnant, Nicci says: “After we had our third child I was put on birth control pills to regulate my periods and also to make sure that I did not get pregnant again.”
But in the summer of 2008, as stay-at-home dad Joe headed off to celebrate 4th July with his friends, Nicci began experiencing mine-numbing cramps.
She says: “It was torture, my worst fear was that I’d have to have some kind of surgery, I didn’t have health insurance so I was afraid of my diagnosis.
“I was just feeling very uncomfortable, I was feeling crampy, pain and my back was still hurting.”
After putting the children to bed, Nicci lay down on her sofa and tried to get rid of the pain. However, the cramps refused to stop her from crawling into her bedroom.
“I shut my bedroom door because I was just trying to be quiet and I didn’t want to wake anybody up,” She said.
Joel, Joel’s young son, heard her cry and quickly rushed to her aid.
Nicci, who was left with no other choice, told her son Joel to call an ambulance as she suffered from severe cramps.
She says: “I actually pushed a little bit and my water broke I really freaked out because then I knew I was in labour.
“I had my hand ready to cradle the baby so I stayed on my knees and I pushed.”
Nicci delivered her baby within minutes. But he was not responding to her.
She recalls: “I was very scared to look down because as I had not felt him during the pregnancy I thought there was no way that he could be alive
“I rubbed his back a little bit and he cried.”
The delivery came as an even bigger shock to Joel, who was instructed by paramedics to help severe the umbilical cord using one of his shoe laces.
“I kept apologising and he said ‘it’s OK but it’s gross’,” Nicci says.
Soon after Nicci gave birth, Nicci received assurances from paramedics that Jack had been delivered safely.
However, there was one person left to tell.
Nicci says: “I was supposed to pick Joe up that morning, he had a cell phone but it was out of minutes I had no way of getting in touch with him.”
Luckily, Nicci was able to get hold of Joe through her dad, and the new dad rushed home to meet his surprise son.
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