I didn't know I was pregnant - until I had a baby
When Claire Durick fell ill at her dad's wedding, she assumed she had food poisoning. But when she was rushed to hospital, the doctor delivered a surprise...
Claire Durick unknowingly flew at nine months pregnant
Even now, sometimes when I look at Carter, I have to pinch myself that I have really had a baby. For until I gave birth to him, having a baby was something I only thought about; something to be planned in the dim and distant future.
Certainly, I never imagined that the stomach pains I had were because I was having a baby - I thought I had food poisoning.
In fact, I'd read stories like mine in magazines and thought, 'How ridiculous. That person must have known they were pregnant' - that is until I experienced it myself. But there I was, 18 months ago, getting on a plane to Oklahoma in the US for my father's wedding, with no idea that I was actually nine months pregnant.
The first sign that something wasn't right was when I woke the day of my father's wedding feeling off colour. I put my thick head down to a hangover.
Horrifyingly, the night before I'd been out for a celebratory dinner with family and friends, and as I hauled myself out of bed, I regretted having one glass too many...
But I managed to get myself ready for the wedding, and as I stood watching my father, David, get married, I was still feeling slightly queasy.
The wedding went off without a hitch, but that night, as everyone was enjoying the party, I felt shattered. I couldn't put my finger on what was wrong with me, but when I woke up the next day with stomach cramps, I decided I must have food poisoning.
I took some painkillers and felt a bit better, so I assumed all was well. The following morning, we all left to make the five-hour drive from Oklahoma to my father's house in New Hampshire on the east coast.
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Sitting in the car, the same terrible cramping pains I'd suffered the day before started up again. As we continued the journey they got worse and I started being sick. The pains were so crippling that I could barely sit still.
We stopped at a hotel for dinner and to stay the night, but as I sat in the restaurant looking at my steak, I realised I just wasn't hungry. My worried family tucked me up in bed and, leaving my stepmum to look after me, my Dad went to buy some medicine from a chemist.
An hour later, though, when I sat down on the loo, I noticed I was bleeding - and everyone went into full panic mode. Something was obviously terribly wrong, and my terrified dad and stepmum rushed me to hospital.
As my father carried me into the waiting room, I was in such agony, I thought I was dying. The receptionist asked me to sit down and wait, but I was in such pain that a nurse came to get me. Stripping off my clothes to put on a gown was like climbing a mountain. Finally, exhausted, I lay on the bed, and a few minutes later a doctor came in to see me.
He prodded my stomach and then gave me an internal examination. After giving me a puzzled look, he disappeared and then returned with my father, whose face was white with shock.
Unbelievably, the doctor had told him I was pregnant. 'No way!' I said. But the doctor looked me in the eye and said, 'You are pregnant... and the baby is due any minute.' At that moment, another contraction took my breath away. 'I'm so sorry,' I heard myself say. 'Don't worry,' said my father. 'It's wonderful! Don't be sorry.'
But my boyfriend, Liam, 25, and I had split up months ago. I'd had no symptoms of pregnancy and, anyway, I'd been using the contraceptive jab. I'd put on about 5lb in the previous couple of months, but I'd had regular periods, no cravings, no sickness, and I'd never felt any baby movements.
I certainly didn't look pregnant. Even the nurse hadn't noticed any 'tum'. But with no time to digest the news, Carter was born. When I heard his cry, I thought, 'My God, it really is a baby.
The doctor proclaimed him 'a healthy baby boy!' weighing 6lb 8oz and laid him on my stomach. My father was beaming but I began to sob. This was a nightmare. I didn't want a baby now; I couldn't look at him, so I asked the nurse to take him away.
I spent the next two days crying. I was 22 and didn't even have my own home - I lived with my mother in West Sussex. I had a good job as an optical assistant, I loved being single and going out, and felt I couldn't cope with a baby.
When the nurses asked me if I wanted to see my son, I refused. I decided I would have him adopted. However, on the third day, my stepmum came to see me with my baby in a little cot with wheels.
'Why don't you hold him?' she coaxed. Without waiting for my answer, she picked him up and placed him in my arms. As I looked down at his beautiful little face, I was suddenly overcome with love - and terrible guilt. How could I think of abandoning him - after all, it wasn't his fault that I didn't know I was pregnant.
In that instant, I knew I would keep him. I felt a huge rush of relief that he was fine health-wise, because I'd gone through the whole nine months living my life as any normal woman would do who wasn't pregnant. Being in an American hospital felt like taking part in an episode of ER - so I decided to call him Carter after one of the doctors in the TV medical drama.
I thought telling my mum that I'd had Carter would be hard, but she was happy to be a grandma; and once Liam got over the shock of becoming a father, he too was thrilled.
Meanwhile, my stunned boss and colleagues understood that I was going to be on maternity leave for a while. Finally, after six weeks of filling in forms to get a passport for Carter, I flew home - leaving my father with a £3,000 medical bill to settle!
Carter is now 17 months old and a joy. Doctors have since told me that women do occasionally experience regular 'periods' throughout their pregnancy, although it is actually bleeding from the placenta. I am also shocked I flew at nine months pregnant.
Mostly, though, it is terrifying to think that, had I known I was pregnant earlier, I might have considered an abortion. Now, looking at my gorgeous little boy, I simply couldn't imagine life without him.
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