Pensacola woman mistakes 37-week pregnancy for bad Chinese food

A Pensacola woman gave new meaning to the term "food baby" over the weekend.

Crystal Gail Amerson, 29, said she woke up around 4 a.m. Sunday with stomach pains that had her running back and forth between the bathroom and bedroom for more than an hour.

"I had Chinese food the night before and I kind of figured maybe I had food poisoning or something like that," Amerson said.

But it turned out there was nothing wrong with the General Tso's chicken Amerson ate the previous night. Unbeknownst to her, she was actually 37 weeks pregnant and was on the verge of giving birth to her second son.

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Amerson called off work at 5 a.m., and an hour later, as the pain worsened, she woke her fiance up because they needed to call an ambulance.

"The stomach pains were just excruciating and I could hardly move," Amerson said. "I think it was about 6:30 (a.m.) when (the ambulance) got there. ... It escalated so quickly that I was having contractions and we figured out kind of what was going on because at first we really didn't know what was going on."

So how was it possible that Amerson didn't realize she was pregnant?

Amerson had already been through one pregnancy but said she was never the type to feel a lot of the symptoms typically aligned with pregnancy, such as morning sickness. She also said she didn't notice much weight gain.

"I gained a little bit of weight, but I think with my first baby I didn't notice either," Amerson said. "I never gained that pregnancy shape, really. And then I wear scrubs to work because I work at a retirement home for Alzheimer's and dementia patients. So I guess the way they fit me as well, it was hard to notice anything or tell anything."

Dr. Julie DeCesare, an obstetrician-gynecologist with Sacred Heart Hospital, said it is possible for a woman to learn of her pregnancy just hours before going into labor, but in her 20 years of practice, she's only witnessed it three times.

"Sometimes a woman doesn't have a normal menstrual cycle so they don't notice when they don't have a period," DeCesare said. "Or they use a method of contraceptive so they think they can't get pregnant, but then that method fails. Or some I've seen are just flat out in denial."

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Amerson was a rare exception to the traditional pregnancy. When it comes to warning signs, DeCesare said it is very unusual for fetal movement to go unnoticed by a pregnant woman, especially one with more than one pregnancy under her belt.

"Usually by 20 weeks you can feel the baby kicking," DeCesare said. "You can feel the baby move about 12-14 weeks in, usually, with a second or third baby. With a first baby it often takes longer."

At 6:59 a.m. Sunday, Oliver James was born in the back of an ambulance, a short way from the home of Amerson and her fiance, Brian Westerfield. Oliver was 18.9 inches and 5.27 pounds.

Amerson said the EMT who helped deliver Oliver had never delivered a baby solo before, so there were a lot of firsts that morning.

As for the Chinese food, Great China on West Nine Mile Road won't be receiving a negative Yelp review. It was a false alarm, Great China, you're good.

Regardless, Amerson said she thinks she'll lay off the Chinese for a while.

"That's what I was telling my mother-in-law, I think I'm traumatized from Chinese food," Amerson said. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to look at it the same way again."

Jake Newby can be reached at jnewby@pnj.com or 850-435-8538.