A woman who had no idea she was pregnant ended up having a baby when she went to the toilet while on holiday in Canada.
Helen and Michael Green, both 45, arrived in Toronto, Canada on May 21 for their ten day road trip with their daughter, Darcy, six — unaware that Helen was nine months pregnant.
When Helen woke up with tummy pains in the middle of the night and went to the bathroom she suddenly felt an “urge to push” and looked down to see a baby.
Helen had experienced a cryptic pregnancy — when a person doesn’t realize they are pregnant until late in the pregnancy or even during labor — she even had a regular period.
But the family are now delighted with their little surprise who they have named Olivia, 11 weeks old.
Helen, who works in financial services, from Bristol, said: “This was such a huge huge shock, and also such a lovely surprise.
“She just came along and it feels like she’s always been with us.
“Everything feels complete now, she has made us all so happy.
“Even the doctors at the hospital were really surprised.
“I had no idea at all that I was pregnant, everything seemed completely normal.
“I worked, exercised, wore the same clothes and ate the same food as usual.”
Michael, who works in financial services, said: “It’s so crazy and still feels surreal.
“It’s been such a bonkers time.
“She’s such a joy!”
Helen, who also has an 18-year-old son Harry, had no symptoms during her pregnancy and had a series of miscarriages after giving birth to Darcy so thought she was perimenopausal.
She said she had “massive bumps” with her first two pregnancies and continued to go to the gym four times a week, whilst unaware she was expecting.
The family had just arrived on their holiday and were all tucked up in their Holiday Inn room by 11 p.m.
Helen woke at 1:45 a.m. with tummy pains and went to the bathroom.
She sat down on the toliet, felt something slip into the toilet and looked down and saw a baby — which she scooped up and cuddled.
Helen said: “I had no idea what was happening, my body just took over.
“After two massive pushes there was a baby so I picked her up out of the loo [toliet] and held her in my arms.”
Michael woke up to hear Olivia, who was born weighing 8lbs 3oz, crying — initially thinking the sound was coming from the next door room — and was shocked when he found his wife in the bathroom with their newborn.
He called 911 and an ambulance, and fire crew were sent to help — arriving within ten minutes — and Helen and Olivia were taken to Mount Sinai hospital to be checked over.
Michael said: “I was in such a daze, we could hardly work out what was going on.
“We didn’t know if the baby was well or whether it was full term. We didn’t even check to see whether it was a boy or a girl – a paramedic told us.
“In the hospital they kept asking me about the pregnancy and I couldn’t answer them, I just kept saying ‘I don’t know’.”
The couple sent messages to friends and family saying, ‘don’t worry but Helen is in hospital’, with a picture of Darcy holding baby Olivia — everyone was shocked and delighted.
They named Olivia after one of the nurses in the hospital.
Mom and baby were discharged the next day, but Olivia had no documents and couldn’t leave Canada — they had to extend their stay while they waited for Olivia’s birth certificate and her passport.
Helen said: “Registering her birth was a nightmare. All we had were discharge papers from hospital.
“There was confusion over whether she was a home birth because she was born in a hotel, or a hospital birth because the placenta was delivered in hospital.
“We had to get signed statements from doctors and paramedics.
“It was very draining and stressful.”
They were finally able to fly home on June 25 and estimate the trip cost them roughly $12,180 extra — $5,413 in hospital fees, over $2,710 on hotels, and about $1,353 on the rental car, flights home, baby equipment and living costs.
But the family say most of their costs will hopefully be covered by their travel insurance.
The family were able to take Olivia up the CN tower at just four days old, watch three baseball games and visited Niagara Falls twice.
Helen said: “Ultimately we got an extended holiday and had a really really special time together.
“It was very hard not knowing how long we would be there, and very stressful on week days chasing the birth certificate and passport, but great at the weekends when all the offices were closed and there was nothing we could do about it.
“Getting your head round having a baby is hard, but it’s something else when you didn’t know you were pregnant.
“Within a few days it just started to feel familiar that I had a baby, and such a joy.”
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