What Woman Thinks is Hernia Turns Out to Be a Miracle Baby

One Michigan woman who thought she had a hernia found out she actually had a baby on the way.(!)

When Linda Ackley went to her doctor because she had some bloating in her abdomen, he sent her to a Michigan hospital for a computerized tomography scan for what he believed was a hernia. But the result of the scan revealed that Linda was, in fact, pregnant. At first she was told that she would deliver in a month’s time, but after a second ultrasound, Linda and her husband were informed that she had carried the baby to full term.

Plus: 15 Birth Stories You Won’t Believe

It might seem entirely implausabile, but more than a year ago, Linda contracted necrotizing fasciitis, a bacterial infection that attacks soft tissue. She spent a week in a coma, with doctors predicting she would not live, and had some of the muscles in her stomach removed. That is how she mistook the baby’s movements for twitching nerves caused by her surgery. And since Linda’s menstrual periods always have been irregular and she had experienced no weight gain, she did not think anything was amiss.

“Some people have nine months to prepare. I had (15) hours,” her husband Mike said.

Plus: Strange But True Pregnancy Tales

The couple, high school sweethearts who had been married for 24 years, believed that they could not have children. But the Ackleys were incredibly happy with the discovery. The hospital ordered an emergency C-section and Linda delivered a healthy baby girl, Kimberly Kay Ackley. Weighing 10 pounds, 1 ounce, Kimberly was a “miracle baby,” according to her parents.

Although the Ackleys were not at all prepared for a baby, they have received gifts and donations from family members and helpful strangers. Clothing Carousel, a consignment shop, donated two bags of clothes for Kimberly. 

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