Mum finds out that she's pregnant just MINUTES before giving birth
"I did not know I was pregnant. I found out I was pregnant 30 minutes before Oliver was born."
23-year-old Ally Opfer woke up on the 21st of December feeling totally normal. She was going about her day as normal when she started experiencing minor cramps and bleeding. Brushing it off as her time of month, Ally took some painkillers and carried on with her day.
The next day she continued to brush off what she later found out were contractions- even helping her father carry a coach up a flight of stairs!
"I had no appetite and just hid in my room in pain," she told Love What Matters. "My mum came home from work and by then, I was crying in pain and knew something wasn't quite right.
"These were way more than menstrual cramps. We tried more pain meds which of course did absolutely nothing. My mum made me dinner and I stood in the kitchen crying and screaming between eat bite I took when a ‘cramp’ would hit. We decided I’d take a pregnancy test just to be sure, and it came back negative."
The 'cramps' gradually became more painful and closer together. Nearly delirious with pain, Ally's mother drove her to the hospital.
"I sat in the passenger seat of my dad’s tiny little Mustang with one hand pressing on the roof of the car and the other on the window just screaming in pain while my mum somehow remained calm and kept driving."
Screaming in the ER room, Ally was quickly seen to by doctors.
"They probably had seen plenty of women in labour and knew what was really going on with me. Obviously, I did not…At this point, I had symptoms of labour but we had told them I took a pregnancy test and it came back negative, and I obviously didn't look pregnant so there was just no way I was pregnant."
Initially thinking that the problem was kidney stones, they took Ally for an ultrasound.
"The doctor said these words to me: ‘Have you ever been pregnant before?’ I of course said ‘no’ very confused. He said, ‘Well, it looks like you’re about 38 weeks pregnant and 10 centimetres dilated. You are in full blown labour and we need to get you upstairs to labour and delivery now!!!’
Understandably the news came as a great shock to Ally and her parents, she was scared, not feeling ready to be a mother.
"I went into shock. I was not ready to have a baby. I couldn't have a baby. My face went white and I started crying and screaming. I. Was. Terrified."
Then Ally realised that she hadn't had any prenatal care, and as a cheerleader she had been "tumbling and doing back handsprings five days ago"
"The nurses said, ‘The baby is completely fine! Everything looks great!’ Unbelievable. It was the best news I had received all night. My baby was just fine."
While the baby was fine, Ally was not. The pain medications she had been giving before realising that she was pregnant that brought her to the verge of a stroke.
"They told me if I had waited any longer to come to the ER, I would have died. I was very sick. A lot sicker than I knew."
Health problems combined with the baby being in breech lead to an emergency C-section. Just 30 minutes after finding out for the first time that she was pregnant.
"He finally started crying and so did we. That’s when it finally hit me that I was actually in labour and I had just given birth. I laid there crying (happy tears) and was in shock listening to my baby’s cry.
"I couldn't see him, but I could hear him. Then we realised they hadn't told us the gender! They said it was a baby boy!"
The news of Ally's surprise delivery spread quickly among friends and family, most were in disbelief but delighted with the new addition.
"My whole family was filled with joy to have this unexpected, magical gift. He’s my parents’ first grandbaby. He’s the most amazing Christmas gift I could ever receive."
The extended family pitched in to try and gather supplies for baby Oliver.
"So many people reached out to me and offered to get Oliver and I all the baby stuff we’d need as we had nothing. I’ll forever be thankful for everything everyone has done for us."
While it has been a massive adjustment to unexpected motherhood, and thanks to the support around her, Ally is taking it all in her stride.
"He’s the happiest little guy and I couldn't do it without everyone’s help."
Talk about a surprise Christmas present!