'I only found out I was 6 months pregnant after feeling my baby move'
Watch: Woman shocked to find out she was six months pregnant - despite no bump or symptoms
A mum has revealed her shock at discovering she was six months pregnant as she had no bump and had continued to have her period.
Lily Somerton, 21, a support worker, from King's Lynn, Norfolk, had no symptoms to indicate she was expecting and had maintained her size 8 figure.
It was only when she felt her stomach move while lying down, in April earlier this year, that she recognised the feeling from her previous pregnancy and took a test to be sure.
The test was positive, so Lily immediately booked in for a scan to be told she was already 24 weeks into the pregnancy.
Doctors explained she was experiencing a cryptic pregnancy - when a person doesn't know they're expecting a baby.
Lily has been told she may not grow a bump for the remainder of her pregnancy but her baby boy - due in July 2024 - is healthy.
Recalling the surprising moment she felt her baby move for the first time Lily says: "I was lying on the bed and I saw my belly move.
"I did a test and it was positive.
"I went for a scan and they said I was 24 weeks."
Lily describes freezing when she was told the news. "How was I so far along?"
"It was surreal," she continues.
"I still had my periods."
Lily fell pregnant with her first son, now 19 months, unexpectedly when she missed a period.
She gave birth to him in October 2022 weighing 8lbs 10oz.
After splitting from the father of her first child's in 2022, Lily met her current partner, Ashley Davis, 35, in April 2023.
Sadly, Lily lost her dad, Wayne, 51, to throat cancer, in November 2023 - just five days before her 21st birthday.
The mum went out to celebrate her special birthday having no ideas she was already seven days pregnant.
It wasn't until April 2024 - when she was six months into her pregnancy - that Lily discovered she was experiencing a cryptic pregnancy.
"I'd never heard of it," she explains.
"But of course I was keen to know he was OK."
After getting over the shock of finding out she was expecting another baby, Lily is excited to give her son a baby brother.
"It's been the easiest pregnancy," she adds.
"Ashley didn't believe if for ages."
As well as not having any symptoms, Lily says not having a bump also has its advantages.
"I didn’t like having a big bump during my last pregnancy," she explains.
"I felt massive but I wasn't.
"It's not a bad thing not to have a massive bump."
What is a cryptic pregnancy?
Megan Rossiter, birth educator, founder of Birth-ed and expert at The Baby Show says a cryptic pregnancy is when a woman is unaware of her pregnancy for many months, sometimes not even until labour.
While rare, it isn't as uncommon as you might think, affecting up to 1:2500 pregnancies (according to a study published in The BMJ.
Dr Vanessa Mackay, spokesperson for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG), previously told Yahoo UK there are two kinds of unknown pregnancies; a concealed and a denied pregnancy.
"A concealed pregnancy is one in which a woman knows that she is pregnant, but doesn’t tell anyone, while a denied pregnancy is when a woman is unaware of, or unable to accept, the fact that she is pregnant," she said.
How can you be pregnant without a bump?
Although it is unusual to have an entirely flat abdomen in pregnancy, Rossiter says all women ‘carry’ their bumps differently.
"For those with strong abdominal muscles or for some plus size women, a bump may be less noticeable or may be attributed to weight gain or bloating," she explains.
Women who have a long abdomen, may have more space for their uterus to develop upwards rather than outwards which may give the appearance of a ‘smaller bump’.
"The female pelvis and abdomen is well designed to accommodate an enlarging uterus," Meg Wilson, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at London Gynaecology previously told Yahoo UK.
"As the uterus gets bigger with a developing pregnancy, the loops of bowel which fill the abdomen are pushed upwards and out to the sides.”
Your bump could also be influenced by the size of your growing baby. "Some babies may be very small (growth restricted) which means they do not take up much space," Wilson continues.
What about periods?
Some women assume they can’t be pregnant because they continue to have what seem like periods. But it is possible to bleed while pregnant.
"Vaginal bleeding is relatively common during pregnancy," explains Dr Mackay. "In the first few weeks, when the embryo plants itself in the wall of the womb, women may experience light bleeding called spotting, which often happens around the time a period would have been due."
Rossiter says women who don’t usually have regular periods, who are on birth control or in perimenopause may also not notice the change in menstrual cycle as unusual; or some women may continue to experience bleeding of some kind during a cryptic pregnancy.
Bleeding can also be caused by changes in the cervix as a result of pregnancy, or a sign of miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy, however, many women who bleed at this stage go on to have normal and successful pregnancies.
Additional reporting SWNS.
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