Just one hour after 23-year-old Katherine Kropas found out she was pregnant she delivered a healthy baby girl.
Kropas woke up one morning complaining of sharp pains in her stomach. When she went to the South Shore Hospital's emergency room in South Weymouth, Mass. she eventually learned she was pregnant after a series of tests.
"I noticed my ankles were swollen and there was a bit of blood. I had no idea I was full-term, though," Kropas told USA Today.
The doctors initially couldn't figure out what was causing the pain.
"I felt like I was getting stabbed in my lower back," Kropas told USA Today. "I have a high tolerance for pain, but this was like a 9 on a scale of 10."
At around 10:15 p.m. during an examination they realized Kropas was nine centimeters dilated and about to give birth.
"My boyfriend, Dan, asked if he should call my mom," Kropas told USA Today. "'Yeah, you should probably call,' I said."
About an hour after the doctors realized she was pregnant she delivered baby Ellen Olivia Keefe via emergency C-section.
Ellen, who Kropas plans to call Ellie, became famous within a few days.
"It's been an exciting couple of days, but it's tiring. At this point it might as well be a meet and greet," Kropas told USA Today about people stopping by. "People come by saying, we knew each other freshman year of high school, and I'm like, 'OK.'"
Although it's not common for women to not know they are pregnant until delivery, it's also not completely unheard of.
One British study found that about 13 percent of women don't realize they are pregnant until they are past 20 weeks.
Many signs of pregnancy can be explained by other medical issues.
"Fetal movement? It could be gas or indigestion. Morning sickness? A stomach virus. Weight gain? Bad diet and lack of exercise. Obese women may not gain noticeable amounts of weight during pregnancy," reported Slate.
