Tawana Musvaburi woke up one morning feeling so tired she couldn’t get out of bed.
The terrified 22-year-old called her mum and told her she felt something wasn’t right. It felt like she was dying.
Her concerned mum told her to go to the hospital to get checked over, a trip that ended in Tawana finding out she was eight months pregnant.
The first-time parent, from Buckingham, England, was shocked to learn the news as she hadn’t experienced any pregnancy symptoms, nor did she have a bump or morning sickness.
‘I was living my life as a normal 20-year-old at the time – going out drinking and partying the whole time, completely unaware that I was pregnant,’ Tawana said.
‘When the nurse told me, I just kept thinking “this can’t be my baby,” and I couldn’t accept it.
‘I didn’t think I wanted to have children, so I was absolutely terrified.’
Tawana was initially due to have an MRI scan to work out where her sudden symptoms had come from, before medical staff asked her if there was any chance she could be pregnant.
Although she said no, the nurse was persistent, and an ultrasound revealed a fully-formed foetus. The then-20-year-old was only a few weeks away from becoming a parent.
This is known as a cryptic pregnancy, which happens when a person doesn’t realise they’re expecting until a late trimester or as they go into labour.
Despite her surprise, she told her family and friends she was only a few weeks away from becoming a parent. Then, on February 27, 2023, Tawana gave birth to her baby girl, River, exactly four weeks and four days after she found out she was pregnant.
‘After two weeks of the news of my pregnancy settling in my mind, it was like my body just started to catch up which helped me accept it too,’ she said.
‘It was such a horrible and stressful time because there was so much to sort out in such a short space of time. Babies aren’t cheap either.’
Although Tawana found motherhood ‘overwhelming’ at first, and struggled to adapt to the change, having River to care for helped.
‘One day I woke up and got into the swing of things, and I was figuring out our new life day by day,’ she added.
‘Now, we are doing perfectly. She’s so bubbly and sassy. She’s talking a lot and I am loving being a mum.’
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