Couple learn of pregnancy hours before girl’s birth

Joseph Terry got an early Father’s Day present that really was a surprise: His wife had a baby that neither of them knew was coming.

Joseph and his wife, Sarah, had only nine hours to prepare for the arrival of their daughter, born May 22 at Memorial Hospital North.

They got the shocking news Sarah was pregnant around noon that day. They were excited, thinking Sarah was maybe a couple of months along. But by that afternoon, they were checking into the hospital, and their surprise full-term baby was delivered by Caesarean section at 9:22 p.m.

The Terrys, who live in Springs Ranch, readily admit it’s a pretty unbelievable story — that people might think them crazy.

“All the usual questions are, ‘well didn’t you miss a period?’ Well, yes, I missed several, but I’m used to that. I had no cravings. No morning sickness.”

She also didn’t have the obvious pooched-out belly, and she’s not a particularly large person who might disguise a pregnancy. She was really tired, but she attributed that to the rigors of caring for 3-year-old Adrianna, who was adopted.

“When you don’t expect it, you don’t look for symptoms,” Sarah Terry said.

The Terrys believed they couldn’t have children. Sarah Terry has polycystic ovarian disease, which can cause infertility. Sufferers often have irregular or absent menstrual cycles and typically carry extra weight in the belly and hips.

Not only did friends and family not notice Sarah Terry was pregnant, the fact even escaped a doctor. Sarah Terry had an annual exam in March, and the possibility of pregnancy wasn’t mentioned, she said. She also had a mammogram in April.

But looking back over the past months, she now sees some of the symptoms, such as the fluttering she thought was gas. She did joke a couple of times that maybe she was pregnant, but never for a minute was she serious.

Even when the labor pains started the weekend before she delivered, the couple didn’t suspect a baby.

“Saturday night, I started just feeling really uncomfortable. I had a lot of cramps. Monday night I just had horrible back pains — horrible, horrible back pains,” she said.

On Tuesday, May 22, her husband took her to the doctor, where she had a pregnancy test.

“When we first got the news we thought we’d get some time to prepare,” said Joseph Terry, 31. An ultrasound that quickly followed, though, put the pregnancy at 38 weeks and also showed they were having a girl. The couple was handed a list of obstetricians and started making phone calls.

When Dr. Peter Liehr heard their circumstances, he told them to come right over.

“Given what I was told about her, I said, ‘Look, come on in today. Let’s not waste any time,’” Liehr said.

While in the waiting room, the couple decided on a name: Alicia, which they picked more than seven years ago, before they were married. A nurse also gave them a newparent packet, which included a copy of “What to Expect When you’re Expecting.” Liehr joked with them to look it over.

“We got the book and he said I had a few hours to read it,” Sarah Terry said.

The exam showed the baby was coming. That day.

Liehr, who trained at Parkland Hospital in Dallas and saw plenty of interesting baby cases at the busy county hospital, said this was a first for him in private practice.

“They woke up that morning never thinking they’d have a baby of their own,” he said. “It was so fun for me because you had these people who wanted to be parents so badly to the point they had already adopted a child.”

Liehr did an emergency C-section after seeing the baby’s heart rate had slowed and determining the baby would not tolerate labor.

Sarah Terry was understandably terrified. She worried because she hadn’t had prenatal care. And although she doesn’t drink or smoke, she’d done stuff that pregnant women are warned against: She sat in the hot tub numerous nights while on vacation at Sea World in Texas and rode the coasters — all while seven months pregnant.

Alicia Terry, though, couldn’t be healthier and weighed in at 6 pounds, 12 ounces.

When Joseph Terry made phone calls to friends and family that afternoon and evening, no one believed him.

When they heard “baby,” some — including Joseph Terry’s mom — thought they had been chosen to adopt again. Before Adrianna had joined the family, they had just seven days to prepare.

One close friend left a voicemail saying it was a good joke.

Another of Sarah’s friends from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints thought she misheard Joseph Terry when he called.

Tracey Swenson, who sees Sarah Terry socially almost every week, recalls saying, “Oh my gosh, it can’t be.” Although her friend seemed to have gained a little weight, “I would have never in a million years guessed that.”

Although Sarah Terry refuses to give her age, she isn’t at all shy or embarrassed about telling her story.

Both their girls will have wonderful stories to tell when they are older, she said.

“Sarah and I don’t bring children into our family the conventional way,” added Joseph Terry.

“I’m very grateful,” said Sarah Terry. “We wanted another girl. We got our two girls — our two miracles.”