Fake pregnancy

So At Your Cervix has a post talking about fake pregnancies and I posted this story...thought I would share here as well.

I had a woman show up for a new OB appointment at my office. She had presented about a week earlier to the hospital claiming she was due and scheduled for a c/s... Ah, ok.... She was told nothing was scheduled. She claimed we were her providers so the hospital calls us - nope never heard of her. She's told she needed to make an appointment with a provider somewhere (she's a huge lady so could easily have passed for term). So anyway, I didn't know at the time this was the same woman. The MA didn't do a pregnancy test - just assumed because of her size she must be pregnant. This was the first time I had encountered this sort of thing in the office so it didn't occur to me that she was not pregnant.

I work her up - history, physical...she tells me she is 41 weeks pregnant, previous c/s x 4! I'm thinking holy sh*t! I try to listen to fetal heart tones as part of the physical...nothing...try to palpate her abdomen...she's so large I can't tell what I am feeling. So, before sending her off to the hospital for further work-up and possible c/s I check a pregnancy test...negative. Hmmm. The patient appears to be shocked, the boyfriend seems worried. I get the ultrasonographer to fit her in for a quick check. A very non-pregnant uterus was found.

The woman is absolutely shocked and crying "where did my baby go" over and over. The boyfriend storms out crying. I tell the woman that I am sorry this wasn't the news she wanted to hear. She starts to ask me why she's not having periods...uh, gee...do you think weighing 400 pounds has anything to do with it?