Mom Told She's Pregnant, Gives Birth an Hour Later

Katherine Kropas had quite a day this week: On Tuesday morning, she went to the hospital with stomach pains. By midnight, she'd given birth to a 10-pound, 2-ounce baby girl, USA Today reports. "I noticed my ankles were swollen and there was a bit of blood," she says of the only early symptom something was up. "I had no idea I was full-term, though." In fact, the 23-year-old of Weymouth, Mass., hadn't missed a day of catering work in two years and spent the holiday season on her feet working 50-hour weeks, the Patriot-Ledger reports. Rushed into ER, she was first diagnosed as five weeks' pregnant—not a total surprise for her and 40-year-old boyfriend Dan Keefe. An examination at 10:15pm showed she was dilated by 9 centimeters and on the verge of giving birth.

Born by emergency C-section, Ellen Olivia Keefe is healthy and somewhat famous—as is her mom. "It's been an exciting couple of days, but it's tiring," says Kropas. "At this point it might as well be a meet and greet" with people stopping by. She says baby showers and marriage with Keefe (who works at the same catering company) are on the way. So how bizarre is all this? A doctor at Kropas' hospital says similar cases occur there a "couple" of times a year, often because irregular menstruation and body size disguise the pregnancy. Kropas herself used to brush off such stories when they appeared on TV. "You laugh and you say that's ridiculous," her grandmother tells ABC News. "And then it happens to you, and you're like, 'This really does happen.'" (More childbirth stories.)