Rachel O’Donnell had been told she had severe polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), so when she started to experience stomach pains, she assumed it was her gallbladder. Suffice it to say, she was in complete disbelief when the emergency department told her she was in labor.
“I told the nurses they were wrong and they needed to test again, but it turns out they weren’t,” Rachel told Today Extra.
The 43-year-old was so certain that they were wrong, she waited until the very last minute to tell her partner what was happening.
“I needed to confirm this first before anyone made any phone calls and it wasn’t until things got a bit more serious and I was signing paperwork for blood transfusions in case the baby or I didn’t make it during surgery that I said ‘Can we make that phone call now please?”‘ she said.? “People have nine months to prepare for this, we had an hour?!”
She says she hadn’t experienced any of the normal pregnancy symptoms, such as morning sickness or extreme weight gain. Though, in hindsight, her dog may have known.
“He was very protective of my stomach area, my partner wasn’t allowed to put his hand around my waist and the dog would lie on my stomach and my belly all the time,” she said. “I just thought he was being an annoying puppy, but now I think maybe he was telling us something else.”
Born via cesarian (and at just 30 weeks gestation), little Xavier needed to be resuscitated shortly after birth because of a drop in his heart rate. He spent some time in the NICU but is now home with his mom and the family dog. According to mum, the pup refuses to leave the boy’s side.
“He literally is Xavier’s best friend, they are sitting right beside each other as I speak,” she said.
