Full-term baby surprises mom on moving day

VICTORIA, British Columbia, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- A Canadian nurse on Vancouver Island who already had three children has a fourth she says she didn't know she was carrying until labor began on moving day.

Emily Ratcliffe, 25, told the Victoria Times-Colonist she wasn't aware she was at full-term pregnancy while helping her husband carry a heavy mattress into the home they purchased in Crofton.

The licensed practical nurse said she used to find it hard to believe some women aren't aware of their pregnancies, but she's a believer now. She said she's always had an erratic menstrual cycle, which didn't stop in the past nine months and she associated her stubborn extra pounds on working 12-hours shifts and the stress of having three young children, one of whom had a cancerous tumor removed this year.

"Stress works in mysterious ways," Ratcliffe told the newspaper. "That's how (the pregnancy symptoms) totally slipped by."

In another odd twist, the woman they bought the house from is also a nurse and happened to be in the house. She helped deliver a healthy, 7-pound baby girl.

The incident happened Oct. 1 and was first reported Tuesday.