Mum-of-three finds out she’s pregnant with another baby – just 20 minutes before giving birth

Karin Fortwangler woke up at 4.30am on 15 March and realised she had a sudden burning pain in her back. A mum-of-three, she thought it felt the same as when she had been in labour with her other children – but she as far as she knew, she wasn’t pregnant.

But just three hours later, she was holding her newborn baby girl in her arms – a huge surprise for everyone. Karin, from Audubon, Pennsylvania, U.S., had signs like missing periods and fatigue but at the time, she’d put it down to things like breastfeeding and being a busy mum.

She’s had some sickness but it came at the same time her kids Charlotte, four, Roger, two, and Caroline, one, had all been sick with a vomiting bug, so she’d never thought she could be having another baby.

Karin explains: 

Labour is a pretty distinct feeling so I was fairly certain it had to be either that or some bizarre form of kidney stones. My husband was getting up to get ready for work (at about 5:15am), so I said to him “You’re going to think I’m crazy, because I think I’m crazy, but I think I may be in labour.

After a little more explanation, her husband Adam called work to tell them he had to take her to hospital. Karin phoned ahead to explain the situation to her hospital and they arrived around 6.15am – and from there, things moved very quickly.

She says:

Almost as soon as they had the ultrasound wand on my belly, the doctor said Yep! There’s a baby in there! They said that they were going to run a few more tests and then see what they could do to stop labour because ideally they would like to get the baby to 36-37 weeks gestation before he/she is born.’ But their baby had other ideas and as soon as the medics left the room, her contractions started getting stronger.

Karin says: 

I have a history of precipitous labours. My longest labour being just over five hours and my shortest being two hours. We were approaching two-and-a-half hours in labour so I was fairly certain there was no stopping this baby from coming, and that he or she was likely coming very soon. Adam called the nurse back as Karin explained that she felt like she need to push. She says: ‘She immediately sent for the doctor to come and check how dilated I was, and I was at 7cm. The nurse leaned out the door of our triage room and said She’s a 7.

We need a delivery room NOW. The nurses said that I should try to breathe through the contraction, and I explained that my body was not giving me the option to not push.

The nurse looked down and said She’s not wrong! There’s the head! With my husband on my one side, and the triage nurse on the other, and about four to six other nurses and doctors in the room, I pushed three times and the doctor said The baby’s out! You did it mama! It’s a girl! Just three hours after waking up with pains and just 20 minutes after the ultrasound confirmed Karin was having a baby, she welcomed Katherine Allison Fortwrangler to the world, weighing 5lb 13oz. Although she carried her for months, Karin says that she’d never even considered being pregnant during that time and any signs were easily explained by other circumstances, especially as her youngest daughter was born just over a year before in January 2019.

She says:

I had probably had morning sickness in August, but my children had also been through a stomach bug around the same time, so I assumed I had the same bug. I was going to the bathroom more frequently, but was also focusing on upping my fluid intake, so that made sense. I was tired frequently, but I have three children and a very busy life! I took a trip to Scotland for my sister’s hen do and I struggled with all the walking, but I figured that it was because it was SO much more walking than I am used to and that I was simply getting out of shape.

I didn’t have a menstrual period, but was still breastfeeding my youngest through January, so that was totally normal. ‘I wasn’t keeping track of my weight, but my clothes were still fitting, though they were a bit tighter towards the end, but nothing crazy, and I figured I was getting bloated because I was sure I was about to start getting my period again since I had just stopped breastfeeding.

Luckily, despite everything Karin and baby Katherine were both well after her surprise speedy birth. She adds: 

We had a lot of doctors in the room because they were worried about the baby being fully developed because she measured so small and because I hadn’t known, so they had no information as to how healthy she was. That was terrifying to think about afterwards.

Because I hadn’t known, I wasn’t taking any vitamins, I had been drinking alcohol, and I hadn’t had any check ups or scans to make sure we were both ok. ‘She was perfectly healthy, in spite of all that. She didn’t even require oxygen or additional time in the hospital.

Although Karin fell in love with her new baby, she admits it was hard to get her head around the fact she had a fourth child.

She says: 

Honestly, I cried when I found out. We had decided that we were done having children, and were only waiting until after my sister’s wedding at the end of March to make appointments to ensure we wouldn’t have any more.