Teen Claims Shock At McDonald's Birth

[Karlita]

Nice one honey.

Teen Claims Shock At McDonald's Birth
Employee Says She Didn't Know She Was Pregnant

POSTED: 2:18 pm CST December 31, 2007


VANCOUVER, Wash. -- A McDonald's employee in Vancouver is a new mom after a fast delivery at the fast-food restaurant.

Danielle Miller, 16, was working at the McDonald's on Gher Road and state Route 500 on Dec. 21 when she suddenly felt ill and ran to the bathroom, reported television station KPTV in Portland, Ore.

A friend and co-worker of Miller's followed her into the restroom and asked her if she was pregnant. Miller said no. But moments later, with the assistance of a 911 dispatcher, the friend helped Miller deliver her baby in the McDonald's restroom.


"I was so shocked. I couldn't talk. I was shaking the whole time. I didn't stop shaking until 3 a.m. the next morning," the new mother said.

Emergency crews transported Miller and her new baby boy Austin to a nearby hospital.

Both mother and baby are recovering well.

[Erin]

Wow. My question is (I know she's 16) but still....how can you not know you're pregnant? Seems suspicious to me but I don't know. I know some people don't show all that much but even if that were the case how could she not have "symptoms" of pregnancy. Did she think she had the flu for months or something? I'm curious.

[happy2bchildfree]

asubmarinerswife said:

Wow. My question is (I know she's 16) but still....how can you not know you're pregnant? Seems suspicious to me but I don't know. I know some people don't show all that much but even if that were the case how could she not have "symptoms" of pregnancy. Did she think she had the flu for months or something? I'm curious.

That was my first thought. It seems impossible. I remember reading somewhere that in these cases, the girl is in such deep denial of her pregnancy (despite the obvious signs) that she refuses to acknowledge that she is pregnant until she actually gives birth and of course then there is no way for her to continue in her denial...

It still seems impossible for me to believe, but I'm just passing on a theory I happened to read about. I wish I had a link but I don't.

[Erin]

That does make sense. I didn't even think of it as maybe being more of an emotional thing or denial, as you say. I wonder what her mom/dad or guardian(s) think of this now that the baby is here.

[Karlita]

I've heard of a case where a woman had just undergone some medical issues and was told to expect quite a bit of weight gain with her new medical treatment. She had been previously told that she would never have children, so the thought of being pregnant never occured to her. That is, until she went to the bathroom and delivered her daughter in the toilet. I think I saw this on TLC sometime, I'm not sure about that, but I know she had really pretty red hair. That makes more sense to me, but I can see a young girl not wanting to acknowledge her pregnancy so much that she totally denies it to herself.

[preraph]

The bigger question is: Where is this girl's parents and why didn't THEY know she was pregnant?

Now, I have seen people conceal pregnancy right in front of me. There was a girl I worked with who rode with me to my and her home state, and it wasn't until on the road there she told me she was going there to have a baby. No one at work knew she was pregnant. She wore big sweaters.

[ana]

My mom, when she was pregnant with me took maternity leave at 8 months. She was a physical ed prof and was on her feet a lot. Anyway, when she went in to fill out the paperwork for the time off, they asked her why she needed it! Duh.....I'm 8 months pregnant. They had no clue. Granted she had only gained 15 lbs by that point, but she's tiny, and it had to have showed!

[susan811]

I must be the only person alive who has real trouble believing these "I had no idea I was pregnant!" stories. How could they not know? I've heard of women who had periods for the entire time, ok, fine. But don't they feel the baby moving? No morning sickness or heartburn? That's aside from the denial of pregnancy, which does happen. Maybe somebody can explain it to me

[preraph]

I think it is either profound stupidity or denial. You know, the strangest things can happen. I remember reading the old Freud studies, and there is even such a thing as hysterical pregnancy, where a person gets pregnant and gets huge and has all the symptoms but isn't really pregnant. AND it can happen to men, wherein it's called sympathetic pregnancy.

[happy2bchildfree]

susan811 said:

I must be the only person alive who has real trouble believing these "I had no idea I was pregnant!" stories.

I also find them hard to believe. Even the extreme denial theory I posted about earlier seems pretty hard to swallow.

[iluvbooks]

Wow. I don't think anything that exciting will happen at any of my local McDonald's anytime soon.

But seriously, how could she NOT know she was pregnant? Well, with Bush wasting federal money on abstinence-only sex ed, anything is possible.

[lys]

I have a hard time believing it as well, and its pretty common here in the States....I mean come on...you have to be a special kind of stupid to not realize SOME kind of sign...missed a few periods, gained some weight....after a while wouldn't one think to themselves, "let me buy an EPT just to make sure".... I guess not....unreal.

[tinroofer]

There was a lady at my work who got pg and was high-risk due to a previous miscarriage but when they did the 1st ultrasound it was an enlarged empty sac. She had all the signs, symptoms and was positive on the test. I don't remember what they did to get her body to realize it wasn't pg. Actually....I don't want to know.

[Ninja]

The human mind is very powerfull... we all heard about those yogis who pierce their eyeballs with their toes or get buried alive for six months and emerged unscated I believe that it is possible to convince yourself you're not pregnant, basically brainwashing yourself to ignore all signs that say otherwise. But there are just some red flags that are impossible to ignore... like a screaming baby appearing between your legs. *shudders*

[kentuckykimmie]

i witnessed something at a restaurant last year. ( i couldn't help it as i was seated closeby and the woman talked pretty loudly) she was sitting at a table meant for six people and the chairs on the side she was on had to me removed, except for the one she was in, because of her incredible obesity. i would guess she weighed in excess of 500 pounds, and that's a conservative guess. her mother sat across from her with 2 kids, a toddler in a highchair, and she had an infant in one of those infant slings/hammocks that the restaurants provide. ALL of the kids were fat including the infant. the little infant was so fat that it looked like there were strings tied at her knees and ankles and she could have easily been wearing 12 month old clothing.

she started telling the waitress that this last baby was a "surprise". she said, "as you can see i am a big girl, and i have always had sporadic periods. i was having horrible stomach cramps and thought i was passing a kidney stone. my husband took me to the emergency room and they did an ultrasound and told me i was in labor!". ok, i never want to be that fat as to be in labor and not know it. this one had at least the three kids who were sitting around the table so she HAD given birth in the past, so i guess anything is possible.

as for these hysterical pregnancies, how pathetic that a woman wants a baby so so so much that her body thinks it's pregnant when it isn't. on the few occassions when i have had a scary moment, like i was a day late, i ran straight out to rite aid and got an EPT. i have no understanding AT ALL what this surprise birth must be like and i don't want to know.

[felina34]

Years ago, in a previous job, a co-worker started to talk about her son, mentioning that he was about to look for graduation formal wear. Since she seemed aged no more than 35, everybody wanted to know how old she was to have son that old. She told us she had her son at 17, and that she realized she was pregnant about 3 weeks before term. She kept having periods, lighter than usual, but still visible enough to have to put a pad on, so she did not have the missing periods symptom. She had morning nausea, but she just thought she was sick and did not see a doctor because it did not last long. When the baby started moving, she tought she was having gases (all the mommies that were there protested that it was not at all the same thing, but remember she still had periods and had never been pregnant so she did not know the sensations it creates). She gained weight, but she thought it was because she was eating too much and everybody in her family tended to accumulate fat in the belly area.
So she finally went to the hospital because she was in pain, and they told her she was having contractions and that she was pregnant, and she said without the ultrasound, she would never have believed them. Of course it was too late to abort and to find a family for adoption, so she raised him herself with the help of her parents (who undoubtedly turned out to raise their grandson).
I guess with all those elements united, it's possible to ignore, especially if you still have periods. This really happen to some women; one of my aunts knew she was pregnant only around 4-5 months because she kept having periods and she needs some others symptoms to go and pass a preg test.

[Ninja]

felina34 said:

Years ago, in a previous job, a co-worker started to talk about her son, mentioning that he was about to look for graduation formal wear. Since she seemed aged no more than 35, everybody wanted to know how old she was to have son that old. She told us she had her son at 17, and that she realized she was pregnant about 3 weeks before term. She kept having periods, lighter than usual, but still visible enough to have to put a pad on, so she did not have the missing periods symptom. She had morning nausea, but she just thought she was sick and did not see a doctor because it did not last long. When the baby started moving, she tought she was having gases (all the mommies that were there protested that it was not at all the same thing, but remember she still had periods and had never been pregnant so she did not know the sensations it creates). She gained weight, but she thought it was because she was eating too much and everybody in her family tended to accumulate fat in the belly area.
So she finally went to the hospital because she was in pain, and they told her she was having contractions and that she was pregnant, and she said without the ultrasound, she would never have believed them. Of course it was too late to abort and to find a family for adoption, so she raised him herself with the help of her parents (who undoubtedly turned out to raise their grandson).
I guess with all those elements united, it's possible to ignore, especially if you still have periods. This really happen to some women; one of my aunts knew she was pregnant only around 4-5 months because she kept having periods and she needs some others symptoms to go and pass a preg test.

That's a realy frightening thought. You see you have a period and think you're safe, and then suddenly... suprise!

[felina34]

Yes I agree it's very frightening. My old co-worker said that it took her months to really adapt to the situation and consider the baby as being hers. She says she's been really depressed for a long time.
Of course she agreed that once she knew what was going on, it was hard to believe that she did not notice or thought it was something else, so there was part denial also.