I was rushed to a Lancashire hospital with suspected appendicitis – but I ended up giving birth to a baby boy
A young Lancashire woman who was rushed to hospital with suspected appendicitis was left stunned when she unexpectedly gave birth to a baby boy.
Megan Isherwood, 26, from Blackburn, had been suffering from severe pain in her right side and vomiting blood when she was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital earlier this month.
Doctors initially feared her appendix had burst and ordered urgent scans, but to their shock, the ultrasound revealed a baby.
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“They saw a little head and a foot,” Megan said. “I was speechless – I couldn’t believe what had just happened.
“I had no bump, no symptoms at all. He just came out of nowhere.
“I wouldn’t change anything for it, other than I wish Jaxson had let me know he was around before he was born. He is a miracle.”
‘They told me congratulations – it’s a boy’
Megan, who works as a bar manager, had taken a pregnancy test just days earlier which was negative.
On September 9, she woke up at around 4pm feeling unwell and asked her friend, Gabbie Rose, 26, to drop off a bottle of Coke because she thought her blood sugar was low.
Megan said: “When Gabbie arrived, she told me I looked terrible as I was hunched over and that I needed to go to hospital.
“I have a high pain threshold, so she knew something was wrong.”
Paramedics suspected appendicitis due to the pain, high heart rate and nausea.
Megan was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital at around 5.30pm and moved to intensive care.
While waiting to see a doctor, she suddenly began bleeding heavily.
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“Blood gushed out of me and soaked the bed,” she said.
“They rushed me into a room and about 15 doctors crowded around trying to find out what was wrong.”
A CT scan and ultrasound were carried out to rule out pregnancy, but that’s when doctors spotted the baby.
Megan was then blue-lighted to Burnley Hospital which has specialist maternity services.
She said: “On the way there, the paramedic said if I needed to push, to just let them know and push hard.
“As soon as she said that, it was like something clicked and I just needed to push.
“The next thing you know, they told me ‘congratulations, it’s a boy’. I was so shocked and flustered, I couldn’t believe what had just happened.”
A dramatic start for baby Jaxson
Baby Jaxson was born in the back of the ambulance, 33 weeks premature and weighing just 4.6lbs.
Moments after his birth, he turned blue and stopped breathing, but paramedics managed to revive him before reaching the hospital.
Both Megan and Jaxson were diagnosed with sepsis and treated with antibiotics. Just hours later, Megan was able to hold her son for the first time.
“It still didn’t feel real,” she said.
“I struggled to get my head around what had happened — I was thinking to myself, ‘Where have you come from?’”
A few days later, Jaxson stopped breathing again but was revived by doctors.
“He didn’t make himself known before he was born, but he definitely did after almost dying twice,” Megan said.
“He is such a brave boy.”
Jaxson was discharged from hospital on September 25 and is now thriving at home.
Megan believes the baby’s father is a man she is not in a relationship with.
The new mum said the shock of her surprise pregnancy was eased by the kindness of friends, family and neighbours.
‘The community has been amazing’
“The community came together and helped me out with supplies for Jaxson, which was very kind,” she said.
“We have everything we need now. Jaxson is doing absolutely amazing.
“When I told my family, they couldn’t believe it — and neither still can I.”