

· By Tiny Hearts Education
I went into labour, but I didn't know I was pregnant
My first pregnancy was easy, so easy in fact, that I didn't even KNOW I was pregnant.

Like I said earlier, the entire day was a blur. After I had given birth, my friend who took me to the hospital was allowed to visit, and he was just as shell shocked as me. I remember swearing him to secrecy. I had not given the hospital permission to call my emergency contacts, because I was terrified to speak to my parents. They moved my baby boy and me into an ambulance to transfer us to the Royal Women's Hospital. I still had not held him at this point. I remember being taken into a private room and wonderful lady named Bree, who was a social worker, came in to speak with me. It was at this point I held my perfect little boy for the first time. Bree asked if the hospital could call my parents, but I still wasn't ready. I ended up messaging a close friend of mine to come and see me in the hospital and to bring me some comfy clothes. All I had with me were the clothes I wore the night before, my phone, purse and a phone charger. When Carla arrived, the first thing she said was "whose baby is that?". To which I remember saying "you won't believe the morning I've had!"
I was gladly letting them perform all the necessary tests on him that they could since we had never been to any maternity check-ups. They checked him out from top to bottom, and the worst thing he had was slight jaundice, which is extremely common.
He came the next morning, and when I met him outside and told him what had happened, he cried and was just as worried as I was. He agreed to come inside and meet the baby, but he knew his parents would not be anywhere near as understanding as mine were as there were cultural factors for him to consider. As predicted, they were furious and put me through many struggles over the next few months. From demanding paternity tests, refusing to sign the birth certificate, offering me "compensation" to make the situation go away and refusing for a long time to pay child support. I was given a choice to offer my baby up for adoption and even had a social worker come and explain to me how it works. After speaking with my parents, who completely encouraged me to keep him (they have always been the best parents and support person a child could ask for), I ended up going home from the hospital a week later and taking home my son who I named Elijah Stephen Thomson.

When I got home, I deleted all forms of social media for over a month and slowly in that time introduced him to close and trusted family and friends. When I did eventually announce what had happened, I was met with a lot of distrust and anger. People were telling me "It's not funny to joke about this" and "How could you not know? That's not possible". It was hard to take, but I had also completely expected it. There was also a lot of love and many more people who were there to support me. Looking back now, I still wouldn't change a thing because I know I am so lucky to have a happy and healthy son. Elijah is now six-years-old and in grade one at school. He is a thriving perfect little boy, and he has a heart of gold. Elijah and his father have a great relationship, and I think we do a great job co-parenting. It took many years and lots of communication to get where we are today, but we all work together to give Elijah the best life possible.


I met Ben when Elijah was six months old, and we are now married and so happy with our little family. We have another little boy called Rylan, who is about to turn two, and we love watching him and Elijah grow up together.