An Australian woman who recently gave birth without having any inkling that she was even pregnant has shared her unexpected journey to motherhood.
Ashlee Wilson, a 34-year-old truck driver from Perth, revealed in an interview with news.com.au that the whole experience took her by complete surprise.
"I honestly had no idea I was pregnant. It was a big surprise," she confessed about suddenly giving birth in the early hours of May 6th.
Ashlee did notice a few strange changes in her body leading up to the birth, such as her sudden lack of menstruation and feeling a bit "bloated," but she brushed it off as weight gain and perhaps the onset of perimenopause.
"My ankles would randomly swell, and I felt some movement in my stomach, but I thought it was my body rejecting foods I was eating," she explained.
It's as if her body was trying to drop hints, but she missed the memo.
"I didn't know much about menopause… I also got hot flushes, so my mind was like, 'Oh cool, no more periods, it's just menopause,'" Ashlee said.
Little did she know, a surprise was growing inside her.
SOURCE: Ash Wilson on Facebook
Fast forward to May 5th, the day before Ashlee's life would change forever. She began feeling extremely unwell, so much so that she feared for her life.
Ashlee described the chaotic night: "I started to feel uneasy, and around 5pm I was getting really bad cramps and pain. At 2am the next morning, I thought I was dying. I was screaming from the pain. At 4am, I finally called the ambulance.”
It was then, in the middle of all the chaos, that she received the mind-blowing news that she was moments away from becoming a mother.
"I kept saying there was no way I could be pregnant. Then when they [put] my daughter to my chest, I just thought, 'Oh my God, it's a bloody baby!'"
In the early hours of May 6th, at 5:26 am, Ashlee gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Marley-Rae right in the comfort of her own home.
Coming to terms with the reality of having carried a tiny bubba in her for nine months took some time for Ashlee.
"Processing [her birth] took a lot of time, and it took me a few days to adjust to motherhood. But now it feels so natural,” she said.
Ashlee's story is nothing short of extraordinary. She went from being clueless about her pregnancy to fully embracing being a new mother.
"She has lit up my life… I wouldn't have it any other way.”
Ashlee's unexpected journey is another great reminder that life is full of surprises, and sometimes the most amazing things can happen when we least expect them.
