Mom Wakes up Appearing 6 Months Pregnant and with Odd Symptoms Shortly after Second Child's Birth

A woman from Kent woke up looking pregnant again after giving birth to her daughter. It took years before she received a valid diagnosis and some time before she could settle back into her normal life.

In 2023, Rachel Ingram, 31, revealed how she welcomed her second child, daughter Isla, in October 2012. The teaching assistant from Ashford, Kent, now had two children, a boy and a girl.

However, hours after welcoming her bundle of joy, Ingram woke up and was confronted with quite the anomaly. Having a baby bump was something normal for many pregnant women, but what the mother of two experienced left her in awe.

Her situation was strange and unexpected, and she had to rush to a hospital for assistance. Ingram's condition was initially taken lightly by doctors, with one of them giving her a mediocre solution to her painful problem.

The mother of two felt dismissed by the hospital when she was sent home, and five hours later, she was in pain again with the same issue.

The woman and her husband spent years trying to find a solution for her issue and went through several treatments before landing on something that worked. In the following piece, we look at Ingram's process to help diagnose her problem.

What Problem Did Rachel Wake Up with, and How Did She Deal With It?

Ingram revealed how a build-up of fluid left her looking "six months pregnant" when she woke up after giving birth to Isla. The poor woman was left in "absolute agony" and needed to be rushed to a hospital to diagnose her condition.

The teaching assistant couldn't urinate no matter how much liquids she took in, and when doctors saw her, they said she had two liters of urine in her bladder. Usually, women's bladders can hold 500ml while men's hold 700ml.

Medical professionals were unsure about her diagnosis as they hadn't encountered it before, while one suggested Isla's mother listens to a dripping tap to get her going. Her bladder was emptied, and hospital staff told her she was too young to have bladder problems.

The mother of two felt dismissed by the hospital when she was sent home, and five hours later, she was in pain again with the same issue. This time, they fitted her with a catheter and said they speak to urology and return with feedback, but it could take years for that appointment on the NHS.

However, the poor woman used a catheter for almost three years! In April 2015, she went to a private hospital seeking a diagnosis. Within a couple of weeks, she was told she could not pass water normally, also referred to as urinary retention, as part of what doctors finally determined to be Fowler's syndrome.

However, Ingram feels she has her life back, compared to before when she didn't even want to be around.

Ingram cried after getting her diagnosis, confessing how relieved she was to finally know what was wrong. The following month, she was fitted with a sacral nerve stimulator — a pacemaker device implanted into the body that controls better urination.

However, the device was dislodged when she fell. She underwent surgery again to remove it in March 2019, and the four-hour operation left her fitted with a Mitrofanoff. A tube created from part of the appendix, forming a channel between the bladder and the stomach's skin.

The woman's catheter was made to pass through the Mitrofanoff to help drain urine. Sadly, the first six months of using the new method were awful and left her feeling "poorly," with a blood clot in her leg and several chest infections. She added:

"My body was so weak and run down - I didn't think I would get better."

However, after years of living a miserable and unfulfilling life, Ingram's condition had a silver lining. The teaching assistant was finally able to return to work and even began exercising in public.

What Is Rachel's Life like Now?

By June 2023, Ingram said her life was "complete" and different after the surgery. Isla's mother returned to teaching and even started going to the gym, but admitted that her new way of life isn't entirely problem-free.

However, Ingram feels she has her life back, compared to before, when she didn't even want to be around after giving birth. The mother of two also didn't think her situation was fair on her family but is pleased that they've gotten her back.

Ingram is now using her experience with Fowler's Syndrome to help support other women battling the same condition. The Fowler's Syndrome UK charity's CEO contacted her before the organization was registered, and she joined in hoping to give others the support she never received.

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