- The tornado had just passed through one of the towns
that we had drove through.
It was pretty intense.
- Hey, y'all welcome back.
I'm Mama Doctor Jones, a board certified OB GYN unmount 4.
And it's everybody's favorite time of the month,
much better than the other time of the month,
where we review a famously entertaining episode
of TLC's "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant"
and ruin it with educational commentary.
This is a really good episode, lots of learning points,
but it's also the first one I think
that is based in extreme weather.
This is season 4, episode 18,
and it's called Baby in a Tornado.
You are going to love this one.
If you're new here and you'd like to subscribe,
we would love to have you, hit that subscribe button,
turn on notifications so you never miss an upload.
Let's jump into the video.
Today's video is sponsored by KiwiCo
and we'll hear more about them in a moment.
(brooding music)
(thunder sound)
[Narrator] On July 25th, 2007.
A violent tornado tears through the Midwest
(electric cable burst) (Ambulance siren)
in the midst of the storm.
Kayla is in an ambulance about to give birth to a baby
and she had no idea she was pregnant.
- I was shocked. I was surprised.
And it was definitely surreal.
- Are they just gonna give away the whole episode right out
the gate, there was not even a buildup to that.
They just told us what was happening.
[Narrator] Nine months earlier.
Kayla thought nothing of missing a period
because she's always had an irregular cycle.
[Kayla] Generally, when I would get my period,
it would be every three months, if not more,
space in between.
[Narrator] Because of her erratic cycle.
Kayla thinks that her chances of getting pregnant are slim,
but she still uses birth control most of the time.
- Irregular cycles certainly lower the chances
of getting pregnant, but if you are sometimes having cycles,
you are sometimes ovulating.
And if you are sometimes using birth control and sometimes
not using birth control around the time of ovulation,
then you are sometimes at risk for pregnancy.
Aside from that, going three months or more without having a
period is definitely not normal,
and this is something that needs to be brought up with your
physician or advanced practice provider.
If it's happening to you, it can,
in some situations lead to overgrowth of the inside of the
uterus and it's something that we need to address.
If your cycles are just further apart, you have, you know,
35 days or 40 days that may be normal still,
but going three months or more between cycles
is definitely not normal.
[Narrator] That winter Kayla and her boyfriend breakup
and her best friend Nikki is right there to support her
and cheer her up.
- Kayla and I have been friends
for about seven or eight years now.
We are inseparable. "well, what's wrong?"
I'm like "what's going on?" And she's like, "I don't know,
something just felt kind of weird."
- I was a little sick. "Excuse me."
I vomited a couple of times, I assumed it was the flu.
- Maybe I should change my typical spiel from
if you're having sex with someone who can get you pregnant
and something changes about your cycle,
take a pregnancy test to if you think you have the flu
and you haven't had a period in the last 30 days,
take a pregnancy test just to be sure.
[Narrator] Kayla starts a new job at a plastics factory
where she regularly eats the free food
from the company lunch room.
- I did like to eat cream cheese muffins
and they gave me heartburn.
I'd never really had heartburn before,
but I never really had a diet of cream cheese muffins either
so I stopped eating the cream cheese muffins.
- Heartburn or Gastroesophageal reflux
is more common in pregnancy.
This has because some of the hormones that are increased in
pregnancy decrease how well the lower esophageal sphincter
works and when you do that,
the acid can get from the stomach into the esophagus more
easily. One of the common triggers for reflux is dairy.
This is a little bit less known, people always tend
to think of spicy foods or eating a lot or fried foods
and those all can be triggers as well,
but dairy can also be a common trigger
and it's something I worn my patients about
if they're struggling with reflux,
but also now she's not having periods, she's feeling sick
and now she's having reflux, which she's never had before.
So,
take a test.
[Narrator] In the spring, Kayla leaves her job due
to a leg injury.
- I stepped in a hole and twisted my ankle.
[Narrator] In a cast she stays home
to allow her leg to heal.
Kayla's mother Robin helps take care of her
and she notices Kayla's eating more than usual.
- So you're telling me this person is having all those
symptoms, injures their leg, goes to the doctor presumably
to get a cast put on it and hasn't had her period in months.
Nobody thinks to run a pregnancy test at that point,
I feel like most people just like,
look at the ER from their car
and they have a pregnancy test
run on them. What is this?
Who are these people that aren't running pregnancy tests on
reproductive age people who haven't had periods?
I don't understand.
I feel like I can't keep my patients from getting
a pregnancy test even if they absolutely
don't even need it at all.
Like all of my patients in same-sex relationships or my
patients who have been menopausal for years still end up
with pregnancy tests When they go to the doctor.
- I did notice that she had gained a little weight,
but explained that away by her not working.
[Narrator] By summer, Kayla has recovered from her injury,
but on the night of July 24th,
she gets what she thinks are menstrual cramps realizing she
hasn't been keeping track of her irregular cycle.
She can't remember the last time she had her period.
[Kayla] I was getting a little crampy
but I usually had pretty bad cramps,
so it was not horribly abnormal
and I went to bed.
- If your cycles are irregular,
I would really strongly encourage you to keep track
of them very closely using an app or calendar.
And this is only one of the reasons,
but the other reason is because if you're going more than
three months without periods,
we need to see you in the clinic
so keep track of your cycles regardless,
but especially if they don't come on a regular basis.
[Kayla] And then the next morning when I woke up,
it was really bad. I took a pain reliever
and that did not help my cramps any.
[Narrator] Kayla deals with the pain for hours,
But by afternoon the cramps are getting worse
with her mom at work Kayla is alone in the house.
Terrified, She calls her best friend, Nikki.
As they head for the local clinic. - Good friend.
Kayla's pain is so severe,
that they ignore the ominous weather.
[Nikki] The combination of the wind and the humidity
It usually means we are probably gonna get a tornado.
[Kayla] It was definitely a tornado weather.
- She's the kind of friend you need with you
if you're gonna go into labor during a tornado.
That girl is like, yeah, when it's windy,
it's looks murky outside, weather is a little weird,
it usually means a tornado's coming.
No big deal. We can handle it. (giggles)
I grew up in a place with tornadoes
and I have never been that nonchalant about a tornado.
[Announcer] True or false during pregnancy,
an average woman's uterus expands to 100 times
its normal volume?
Your answer when we return.
- Today's video is sponsored by the wonderful KiwiCo
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Now let's get back to the video.
[Ann] Your answer? False.
The volume increases 1000 times from 4 ml to 4 liters
when full term.
[Narrator] Nikki calls Kayla's mother who was at work
60 miles away and asks her to meet them
at the town's only clinic.
- I'm on my way, I'm leaving right now.
I was in a panic.
(thunder crashes)
[Narrator] Three minutes later,
Kayla and Nikki arrive at the small medical clinic.
- And the doctor came in and saw me pretty quickly.
(groaning)
And he told me that he would have to run a blood test
before he gave me any pain medication.
(screaming)
- Now they want to check and see if she's pregnant
before they give her pain meds. Now?
They didn't check before they casted her leg.( giggles)
- And the doctor came in and said that I was pregnant.
- You are pregnant.
(frequency sound)
- I don't think I said anything to him when he told me,
because I was too shocked.
It had been a while since her and her boyfriend broke up.
So she was thinking, there wasn't a chance.
- Put these on. ( Kayla groans)
[Kayla] And he said,
(laughs) -"This is your baby's heartbeat."
[Dr] Can you hear that? [Kayla] Oh my god.
(laughs) - What is this? it is incredibly difficult for even
the most skilled of people do hear a fetal heartbeat
through a stethoscope,
much less somebody who is in actual labor and severe pain.
I hope they didn't really do that.
- They didn't have a labor and delivery unit
and they didn't know how far along I was
so they had to get me out right away.
[Narrator] In spite of the dangerous weather.
Kayla needs to be transported to the closest hospital,
two hours away, where they can safely deliver the baby.
As the ambulance prepares to leave for the risky drive,
Kayla's mom finally reaches the clinic.
- Two hours is a really long hospital transfer when you're
in labor, even if it's not a tornado,
but that is outrageous, I would be terrified.
[Narrator] Nicki gets in Robin's car to follow the ambulance
and outside the weather has taken a turn for the worse.
Raging winds reaching nearly 60 miles an hour
with a full fledged tornado warning issued
for the entire region in these conditions.
Cars are at risk for being blown right off the road.
(ambulance siren)
- There's so much water underneath the tires,
so the ambulance was sliding around in the water.
(thunder crashes)
[Nikki] The skies were really dark gray, turning black,
the tornado had just passed through one of the towns
that we had drove through. It was pretty intense.
[Narrator] With the harrowing weather,
- Yeah sounds like it. I mean, the way you describe it
is not intense your voice doesn't sound like it was intense,
but my words going into my ears sound like
that would be intense.
How did they always so calmly describe these situations
that make me like incredibly anxious.
[Narrator] With the harrowing weather,
the ambulance is forced to drive slowly.
So the typically two-hour drive is going on three hours.
Still miles from the hospital, Kayla goes into active labor.
[Man] Two hours out.
(screaming)
- It was crazy.
The EMT's had never delivered a baby before.
[Woman] How are you feeling?
- They were pretty flustered. [Woman] Try not to push,
try not to push
They kept telling me not to push.
- It is not possible,
When you are actively in the process of delivering a baby
to just not push.
Your body is still going to push no matter
what your brain is trying to tell it to do.
That's an impossible request. In fact, the uterus itself
is contracting and pushing the baby out,
so even if she had like the most incredible control at that
point and time of delivery,
her uterus would still continue contracting and pushing the
baby out. I'm sure they're just terrified
because as she stated they've never delivered a baby.
Now they're on the road to the hospital,
in the pouring rain. There's tornadoes around
and she's actively delivering the first baby for them,
but she's still going to be like push.
[woman] I feel something.
[Kayla] I was worried if we were gonna make it
to the hospital before I was gonna deliver my baby.
- Doesn't sound like it.
[Narrator] As her mother Robin and best friend Nikki follow
behind the ambulance.
Kayla is inside with EMT's that have never delivered a baby
before.
[Kayla] It was extremely, extremely painful.
- Do you think they told her that, like before she delivered
wouldn't that be the last thing that you would want your EMT
team to tell you, by the way,
I know that there's a really good chance this baby
is coming, you know, in the ambulance, tornado,
rain really unsafe road conditions.
I just needed to let you know one thing real quick,
never done this before, so, you know, be patient with me
I'm gonna do my best.
Maybe they should have just kept that to themselves.
[Kayla] Painful. I had never felt anything like that before.
Oh, my god. - Labor
I felt pressure so, I told them I think the baby's coming.
[Woman] She's crowning
your baby's coming out, all right?
I need you to push. - No, no. - She's crowning,
[Woman] She's crowning. - I need you to push.
- I need you to push.
- I love the acting in these, I just, I love them.
That is the right answer by the way,
if she gets to that point,
no matter what you do that baby's coming out.
So you might as well,
let mom actively be involved in the delivery instead of
screaming at her to stop and have her push and get the baby
out so she'll feel better.
[Kayla] The EMT's were worried about delivering
their first baby in an ambulance.
[Woman] Give me a push. (screaming)
- The pain was so bad and I could hear the EMT's talking
about complications, which was scary.
[Narrator] Kayla pushes for just three minutes
and the baby emerges still and quiet.
[Woman] Okay, its out.
- Did her water ever break
because they don't ever discuss her water breaking,
but that baby that just came out definitely is not
in call or wrapped in the amniotic sac so.
[Kayla] It happened very quickly. [Man] What do you need?
(sobbing)
[Kayla] They cut the card and they told me I had a girl,
she did not cry right away. "Isn't she supposed to cry?"
They didn't tell me if she was all right or anything.
- They say the baby comes out still and not crying.
[Narrator] And the baby emerges still and quiet.
- This is always something that kind of drives me bonkers in
these stories. Babies don't always come out screaming,
give them a second, they're a little stunned.
They've come through a very tight squeeze into a very cold
environment and now they have to learn how to breathe.
They usually will perk up and start crying and breathing
and it will be fine.
I hate it when they say things like this in these videos,
because I think it makes my patients more nervous.
They expect the baby to come out
and just immediately scream
and I would say most of the time, that's not the case
some babies take longer than others.
And then at some point it does become concerning
but if a baby doesn't cry immediately when it comes out,
it is not ominous.
[Kayla] I was worried about everything
because I had no prenatal care.
(thunder crashes)
- We do the best we can with the information that we have.
If you've ever watched any of these reaction videos from me,
you know, they almost always say that.
And I almost always say,
you have to give yourself permission,
not to feel guilty about the fact that you didn't know.
Of course we should figure out ways to make sure that this
doesn't happen and decrease that,
which is why I do these videos and talk about points where
maybe we should have considered taking a test or finding
out. But at the end of the day,
you didn't purposefully not get prenatal care.
You didn't know you needed it at the time that you did.
Also, as I say, in a lot of these episodes,
if you happen to be somewhere delivering a baby,
it's always the best option,
once baby is born to put it skin to skin, dry it off,
you can leave the cord connected.
It's never an emergency to cut the cord In fact,
it's probably better if you don't immediately cut the cord,
dry it off, suction the mouth,
try to get it perked up and crying.
But skin to skin is where baby is going to be the warmest
and where it will start to get accustomed to being out in
the real world a little bit quicker.
Now, in this situation they're in an ambulance,
the weather is bad.
I'm sure there were some concerns about can this person who
just had a baby with no anesthesia and didn't know they were
pregnant in the process,
actually safely hold the baby without dropping it.
And I can see that might be more of a concern in this
situation, but just in general,
skin to skin first is always the best option.
(ambulance sirens)
[Narrator] The ambulance finally makes it to the hospital.
[Kayla] As soon as we got to the hospital,
they took her away right away. "Please, please, no no no."
Nobody was telling me anything.
[Woman] Just taking her for some tests
[Kayla] My baby.
[Narrator] While doctors examine the baby,
Kayla is cleared of any complications and is moved to
recovery where she waits for news.
- Can't imagine how terrifying that would be
when you know all of that is happening in horrible weather.
You get to the hospital, they take the baby.
You haven't even seen if it started breathing presumably.
I mean, they didn't mention that after it was born
or breathe at all and certainly at that length of time,
it becomes concerning. And she also has, you know,
these words in the back of her head about not getting
prenatal care.
I'm sure this was terrifying and traumatic and horrible.
- The doctor came in a little while afterwards.
How you doing?
"I'm okay." And told me that everything was fine.
Look at her.
And that she was healthy.
She was 6 pounds, 13 1/2 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long.
She was crying and it was definitely surreal.
It was an amazing moment.
- I think that's the best way I've ever
heard anybody describe this.
I would imagine that would be extremely surreal.
Don't know you're pregnant, severe pain, think you're dying,
call an ambulance, there's a tornado,
The weather is terrible, also the EMT's are like, oh yeah,
by the way we've never done this,
deliver the baby that you didn't even know a few hours ago
was in there, and then it shows up in your hospital room
healthy and everybody's fine.
Surreal would be a very good way to describe that.
I think I would feel like I had just woken up from a dream.
[Narrator] Out in the storm Kayla's mother, Robin,
and best friend Nikki finally make it the last few miles
to the hospital. When they arrive,
they are unaware that Kayla has already delivered a healthy,
full term baby girl.
- We walked in the room and her little bassinet was there
and she was crying.
[Nikki] It was a really big relief when we finally
realized that everything was okay.
[Narrator] Kayla and her new baby Rihanna get an outpouring
of gifts from family and friends.
But the bigger adjustment comes from Kayla herself.
[Kayla] I just got out of school
and I couldn't imagine having a baby to take care of
at 20 years old.
[Robin] So I don't think she had the chance to get the idea
wrapped around her head before she was already a mom.
- Uh-Yeah, I'd say so. (laughs)
I would say she probably didn't.(laughs)
Most of us need more than, you know,
an hour of being in labor.
[Narrator] Today, Rihanna is 3 years old.
She and her mom still live with Kayla's mother,
and Kayla has decided to go back to school.
[Kayla] I like being a mom.
I get to learn something new every day,
and it's just a great experience.
- What a sweet, sweet, wonderful story with a happy ending.
I'm so glad a tornado did not wipe them off the road in the
process of delivering their first baby in an ambulance.
If you're new and you'd like to subscribe,
we would love to have you,
if you want to watch another "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant"
reaction video.
I will link a playlist right over here
and I will see you next Monday.