Posted on 11/08/2005 8:39:37 AM PST by hoosierboy
SOUTH BEND -- Feeling weak and too tired to even finish her dinner, Freedom Cherrone thought she was coming down with the cold or flu the night of Oct. 30, so she tried going to bed a bit early.
Shortly after 10 p.m., the 21-year-old felt like she had to use the bathroom, but before she could make it out of her bedroom, she fell to her knees. She saw a gush of blood and fluid hit the floor. Then she felt a pressure coming from an unmistakable source.
A few moments later, a baby boy was lying on the floor, crying loudly. Freedom wanted to grab him and cover him up, but says she could not move her body. All she could do was yell for her mother.
"I was in shock, kind of in a panic because I didn't really know what to do," Freedom said.
Marilyn, her mother, rushed up the steps and into the room.
"Blood was everywhere," Marilyn said. "She was all hysterical. I said, 'What is wrong?' She says, 'Call 911! I just had a baby and I didn't know I was pregnant!' "
Paramedics arrived, cut the umbilical cord, and rushed the baby and Freedom to Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center.
Not your typical delivery. But this was not your typical pregnancy.
Despite friends and relatives telling her for months that she looked like she might be pregnant, Freedom said she did not know she was with child. Three home pregnancy tests had come up negative. Her physician in March had performed her annual physical examination, and although a pregnancy test was not performed, noticed no sign of pregnancy, she said.
And she had been using birth control -- the patch.
Her belly seemed a bit bigger, but Freedom attributed that to a lack of exercise and poor eating habits while staying home to care for her father, Chris, who was injured in a motorcycle accident earlier this year.
At birth, Johnathan Michael Me'engn Muskiki Cherrone, with a full head of dark hair, weighed in at 9 pounds, 1 ounce, and was 21 inches long. He is in fine health, Freedom said Monday while feeding him a bottle in her parents' South Bend home in the 700 block of North Blaine Avenue.
How could she not know she was pregnant? Wouldn't she have felt such a big baby moving around inside her?
"I felt no kicking," Freedom said. "I thought it was just upset stomach."
What about the other signs of pregnancy, such as tender breasts, mood swings, strange cravings and aversions to certain smells?
Freedom claims to have noticed none of them, unlike when she was pregnant with her first child, Makayla. But even that pregnancy was unusual. Freedom was about to ship off for basic training with the Army when a doctor informed her she was six months pregnant. She was discharged from the military.
Rare but not unheard of
Several local physicians who were interviewed told The Tribune that such cases are rare but not unheard of. Arnold Del Pilar Jr. said the last such case he had, about five years ago, involved a woman who weighed about 450 pounds, so her pregnancy weight gain was not very noticeable.
But at 5 feet 7 inches and weighing about 150 pounds, Freedom is not obese. Nurses have told her she must have been carrying the baby in her back, which is now causing her considerable pain, she said.
Mark Meekhoff, an obstetrician/gynecologist at the South Bend Clinic, said he could not provide statistics, but it seems that he hears of such cases about every other year at South Bend hospitals.
Women, thinking perhaps they have the flu, have come into the emergency room complaining of abdominal pain only to be told they are going into labor.
Meekhoff said women who claim not to realize they are pregnant until after they give birth might be experiencing psychological problems.
"I think people that have tried to look into this ... the psychological component, there's a pretty strong denial aspect to it," Meekhoff said. "It's hard to believe she would not feel the kicking after five months."
Sometimes they are teens who fear telling their parents they are pregnant, so their subconscious tricks them into believing they are not pregnant.
Freedom, who is single, admits she did not feel "ready" to have a second child -- the reason she was on birth control. But she said she had no reason to be in denial because her parents are fully supportive and ready to help raise the boy.
"It's been a week and it's still sinking in," she said.
Pregnancy test too late?
Freedom said she took the home pregnancy tests in June and August. Del Pilar said home tests are highly accurate five to 12 weeks after conception, but are not as precise that late in a pregnancy.
Pilar was not overly surprised by Freedom's story until he was told that she had gone through the childbirth process less than two years ago with Makayla.
"You'd think she'd know the difference" between pregnancy pains and other bodily functions," Del Pilar said.
When encountering such a situation, Del Pilar said an obstetrician/gynecologist should immediately try to rule out three things: whether the mother is mentally impaired, shows evidence of a psychological disorder or is obese.
But none of those apply to Freedom.
Now, she and her parents feel blessed with a healthy newborn. Freedom knows things could easily have turned out worse.
Immaculate conception, too?
Nine months without a period.......Hello, McFly?
That's Einstein there on the right.
They work at it full time. Besides this is obviously Bush's fault.
Oh come on, come on.
I've seen late term pregos (my wife). Those little critters move and twist and churn around in there.
She didn't know? Oh come on!!!
Where's Daddy?
In this case, I agree. Clueless.
But the mother of my dearest friend from childhood was 6 months pregnant with her before she found out. Was still getting her monthly visit and everything.
A friend of mine was on the pill and still getting her periods. Thought she had the flu. Didn't find out she was pregnant until she was at 7 months.
21, single, second child. Stupid.
How about if we just wish them well and keep our unkind remarks to ourselves.
Oh, I forgot. Notice no mention of a hubby.
The state will kick in I guess.
PLOP!
"Mama, I dint know I wuz pregnint!"
Don't need no daddy!
Heh heh heh. Muskiki! Poor kid. That's what happens when you don't have at least four months to mull over names and have people mock them; you don't get a chance to weed out the bad ones.
My father (a retired OB/GYN) has heard of situations like this before. It is pretty rare, though.
"Freedom Cherrone.."
Thats all I needed to read. Unless your running in the 5th at Belmont, "Freedom" is a unacceptable name. JMO.
Imagine if it were just that 'easy' for everyone, lol.
The BC patch might have caused her to keep having periods, but I don't see how she didn't notice the watermelon-sized growth in her abdomen, or the morning sickness...how the f**k does a woman NOT KNOW she's pregnant?????????? I mean sure for the first month or two...but right before delivery?
Stupid people shouldn't reproduce.
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