We’ve all heard those stories of women who don’t know they’re pregnant and thought, “no way”.
You’d just know, right? You’d feel the baby in your belly. You’d have a mothers’ instinct. Right?
Wrong. Despite what we all assume, you really can make it through an entire pregnancy unknowingly.
The phenomenon is known as cryptic pregnancy: when a woman doesn’t know that she’s pregnant until the last weeks of gestation, or even until she’s actually giving birth.
Take a moment to consider how terrifying that would be, especially if you’d never given birth before and weren’t familiar with how you’d feel during the experience.
To go from doing your usual daily chores to being at your most vulnerable, with no preparation, must be scary to say the least.
Ashley Miller-Cross knows exactly how this feels after leaving a supermarket shop with far more than groceries.
Let’s get into the nitty-gritty of why Ashley hadn’t realized she was pregnant. It certainly had a lot to do with the fact that she had only just delivered another baby, and didn’t expect to fall pregnant again.
In fact, Ashleigh was only 10 months postpartum when she gave birth to her surprise son, Ezra, in the washroom of the Atlantic superstore in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Considering Ashleigh had no symptoms and gained no weight, she had no reason to suspect another pregnancy.
Little did she know that baby Ezra was going to decide to make his appearance at the least convenient time: during a trip to the store.
Alarm bells were quickly raised when Ashleigh was discovered in labor, and an ambulance was called while the store’s assistant manager, Malcolm Comeau, rushed to assist however he could.
The 911 responders arrived just in time to help Ashleigh deliver her baby boy into the world.
Thankfully, he was healthy, and the pair were rushed to hospital while Ashleigh’s loved ones were informed of the surprising news.
Staff at the superstore were over the moon to hear that Ashleigh was recovering well after her unexpected birth, and she was invited back to the store with her husband and children, where she was given a year’s worth of free diapers.
Since his story was covered by the local press, baby Ezra quickly attracted national attention.
Thanks to the unique location of his birth, he has enjoyed a few perks in his early years, including an adorable free grocery-themed photoshoot inside a grocery basket.
But even after time goes by, no one will ever be able to top this kid’s birth story. After all, not too many people can say they first entered the world inside a supermarket restroom!
It must be tough to be thrown into the responsibility of looking after another newborn so quickly.
But for the second-time parents, all that matters is that Ezra is happy and healthy – and the extra kindness they’ve received from the local community is just an added bonus.
Ashleigh said:
“Ezra has become a little local celebrity. That specific superstore loves when Ezra goes in to visit, and I’ll always be grateful to the amazing staff who helped me the day he was born.”
Hopefully, the experience hasn’t boosted his ego too much!
You can hear more of the heartwarming story of Ashleigh’s adorable supermarket surprise in the video below!
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