A new mother who had no idea she was pregnant until she gave birth on the toilet in her parents’ bathroom, has spoken of her shock at the arrival of her new son.
Gaynor Rzepka, 25, gave birth to baby Olly-James on February 16 weighing a healthy 6lbs 5oz.
But she said his arrival came as a complete surprise to her and her family, from Llantwit Major, Wales - adding that she had worked ten hour shifts right up until the birth and had even ran a half marathon half way through her pregnancy.
Gaynor Rzepka of Llantwit Major, South Wales, who gave birth to baby Olly without ever knowing she was pregnant
She said looking back the only inkling that she may have been pregnant was a sudden fondness for Mars bars, and 'putting on a stone around Christmas time.'
Hours before the birth, Miss Rzepka had been at work at the Filco supermarket in Cowbridge and said she felt unwell.
She said her manager asked her if she wanted to go home early but she insisted on carrying on until the end of her ten-hour shift.
That night she woke at about 1am in pain. She said: 'I was having a really sharp pain in the side of my stomach all day and I didn’t know what it was.
'The only way I can describe it is that it was like someone stabbing me in the right hand side of my groin.
'I didn’t think much of it. At about 5am I felt like I needed the toilet but I couldn’t go.
'I had another really sharp pain at about 5.20am and went to the toilet again. I stood up because I didn’t feel right.
'I just pushed and he arrived. I caught him before he went into the toilet.
'I was really shocked.'
She said his arrival came as a complete surprise to her and her family, from Llantwit Major, Wales - adding that she had worked ten hour shifts right up until the birth and had even ran a half marathon half way through her pregnancy
She said looking back the only inkling that she may have been pregnant was a sudden fondness for Mars bars, and 'putting on a stone around Christmas time'
Miss Rzepka said: 'My first words were just repeating: "Oh my God". I didn’t know what else to say. I burst into tears and sat on the floor.'
HOW CAN ANY WOMAN NOT KNOW THEY ARE PREGNANT?
According to studies, the phenomenon of surprise birth is not as rare as one might imagine.
Previously, statistics show that one in 600 mothers-to-be will be unaware they are pregnant until they give birth, or just before.
The situation tends to occur in busy women, those who may already be overweight, and those approaching the menopause.
It tends to happen in menopausal women and younger busy women because they are not expecting to be pregnant and will not be looking for signs
Also, bleeding during pregnancy is common, especially during the first few months when the baby is bedding in, so women can think they are still menstruating.
'My mum said: "It’s a baby"and my dad was saying, "Don’t worry, keep calm".'
Miss Rzepka, who has been working at the deli counter at Filco for nine years, said she had been lifting 25 kilo boxes all the way through the pregnancy, right up until she had the baby.
She added: 'A few days before I had the baby I was lifting up bags of potatoes for the customers.'
Miss Rzepka’s partner Paul, a 29-year-old bar manager who she met just over a year ago at her sister’s hen party, was also none the wiser about her being pregnant.
'I thought, oh no, he will kill me, so I said to my mum to ring him. He was over the moon about it.
Gaynor said: 'I didn’t have any signs, no morning sickness, no pain, no heartburn, nothing at all. I had periods all the way through.
'I didn’t really put on very much weight until Christmas, and I just thought that was a Christmas belly.'
She said she had been 12st until Christmas when she put on another 13Ibs.'
Miss Rzepka had even ran the Cardiff Half Marathon five months into her pregnancy.
New grandmother Tania, 53, who also works at Filco, said: 'I had been up with Gaynor all night. I thought she had grumbling appendix.
'I was sat on the settee watching the Winter Olympics and the next thing I knew she ran up to the toilet.
'When I heard her scream I ran up the stairs, and half way up the stairs I heard the baby scream. I just thought, "Oh my God, that’s a baby".
'I saw the baby and my maternal instinct kicked in. I put my arms out, took the baby and wrapped it in a towel.
'Then helped sit her down and wrap her up. She was quite white as she had gone into shock.'
She said she had 'no inkling at all' that her daughter was pregnant.
Miss Rzepka gave birth in the bathroom at her mother's home in LLantwit Major
She said: 'It was like having two shocks - the first was when he was born in the bathroom. But then when I brought him home from hospital wrapped up in a blanket. I never thought that would happen to me.
'The sense of responsibility and knowing my life would never be the same again scares me much more than Olly-James coming in the night.'
The new mother and her family have been running around buying all the things she needs for her first born child.
But luckily her sister has two little boys - and everything they have grown out of has been passed on.
Her partner Mr Rawcliffe, 29, took a job in Blackpool when she would have been about six months pregnant.
But he is now making plans to move back to South Wales to be with his partner and son.
She said: 'We are hoping to get a family home together as soon as he can move down to be with us.
New grandmother Tania, 53, who also works at Filco, said: 'I had been up with Gaynor all night. I thought she had grumbling appendix'
First responders came within ten minutes of her call and paramedics arrived soon after.
Miss Rzepka was taken to The Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend where she stayed overnight.
She said: 'The doctors reckon that because I was so active throughout the whole pregnancy, that is why I didn’t feel him move.
'When I was awake he was asleep and when I was asleep he was awake.'
SIZE 10 MOTHER DIDN'T KNOW SHE WAS PREGNANT WITH FIRST CHILD
In October, Nadia Watson, 22, of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, woke up suffering from what she thought were period pains but collapsed to the floor and went into labour.
She screamed in agony for more than an hour as she delivered 7lbs 11oz baby Poppy by herself.
She had a rare undiagnosed pregnancy and was unaware she was carrying a child - she gained very little weight and remained a size ten throughout.
She had two retail jobs - at Frankie and Benny's restaurant and Blockbuster video - and would even help her pregnant neighbour carry her shopping.
Asked whether there were any giveaway signs that she had been pregnant, Miss Rzepka said: 'Looking back on it now, I normally hate Mars bars but I’d been eating them the last few months. That was the only thing.'
She said word quickly spread about the new arrival.
'I got text messages saying, ‘Have you had a baby, is it true?’ It saved me having to tell anyone.'
Denise Blackmore, store manager at Cowbridge Filco, said: 'She was due to work a shift the following day. When her mum rang me that morning, I thought it’s not like Gaynor to be ill.
'She doesn’t take sick days, she is very reliable. When her mum told me I was a bit taken aback.
'Obviously we are really pleased for her.
'Because she is such a well-liked girl in Cowbridge, all the customers have been coming in and giving presents for the baby like balloons, blankets, teddy bears, and sending her flowers.'
Ms Rzepka said Olly-James is happy and gaining weight and that she is now taking some well-earned time off work.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2571967/I-went-toilet-gave-BIRTH-little-boy-New-mum-no-idea-pregnant-baby-boy-bathroom-floor.html#ixzz2uwL39gbp
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