Surprise Baby Surprises Mom, “I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant”
Ally Opfer, an Ohio high school Cheer coach is used to pain. Learning gymnastics can lead to some scrapes and bruises, not to mention sore muscles, so Ally’s pain tolerance was pretty high.
Late December, just a few days before Christmas, Ally got up ready to face her busy day and felt some cramping. Since she was spotting, she chalked it up to her menstrual cycle and went to a game where she coached the cheerleaders and then followed that up with a five-hour tumbling practice. Throughout the day the discomfort got more intense, but she kept going.
Curled up in the fetal position, rocking her body to find relief, Ally got no sleep that night. The next morning, she told her mom about the cramps and thought she was a wimp. She even helped her father move a sofa from the basement while ignoring what turned out to be painful contractions.
Another sleepless night passed, and the pain only got worse. Ally’s mom even had her take a pregnancy test which came back negative. When the pain was too much to bear, she asked her mom to take her to the hospital.
When she arrived, the ER staff took her straight back. They thought she was in labor, but she kept saying no, she wasn’t pregnant and about the negative test from earlier. They performed tests, treated her for high blood pressure and since the doctor thought it might be kidney stones, they sent her into an ultrasound.
The ultrasound technician cannot disclose what they see, only a doctor can do that, but the look of shock on her face scared Ally.
“Are you pregnant?” she asked.
“NO!” Ally replied.
As they wheeled her back into the ER nearly a dozen medical staff followed, and the tension rose in the room. Ally was pregnant and in labor. On top of that, she was suffering from preeclampsia, and the baby was breech. They needed to do an emergency C-section.
Even while they prepped her, Ally was in denial. It wasn’t until she heard her baby cry that it became real. Her whole family was shocked and surprised, but Oliver David Opfer was the first boy in more than 40 years born into their family.
Friends and family, though shocked at the news, rallied around the new addition and when everyone else was doing last minute Christmas shopping, they were buying baby shower gifts.
From Tumbling practice to operating room took over 48 hours and it is a miracle both mom and baby Oliver survived. Thank God the staff was able to act quickly and Ally is now at home and thriving as she and Oliver adjust to a life together.
