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I’d gone to KFC for a treat, but I came away with something that definitely wasn’t on the menu! By Sherrie Benham, 27
I grabbed one end of the sofa while my brother grabbed the other, and together we lifted it into the removal van.
‘I could have done that,’ my dad said as he loaded up my chairs.
‘I’ve been lifting things all day, I said. ‘I’m fine.’
I was moving to a new home with my kids Riley, four, and Alfie, who was 18 months old, and Dad and my brother Ben were helping me.
After everything was packed up, I took one last look around our old place and then shut the door and we set off.
At my new home, I set about unpacking before my ex, Jamie, dropped the kids off.
‘Welcome to your new home!’ I told them.
They were so excited, but the move had been tiring. So the next day, Ben and his girlfriend Chloe took us all to KFC for a treat.
I ordered a Fillet Tower Burger Meal with a hash brown, and after helping the children unwrap their food, I tucked into mine.
I was so hungry, I gobbled the burger straight down, but on the drive home, my tummy began to hurt.
Uh oh! I thought.
As soon as we got in, I rushed to the toilet but I didn’t make it in time and I was sick on the floor.
‘What’s wrong, Mummy?’ Riley asked.
‘I’m not feeling very well,’ I replied.
I put it down to the burger I’d eaten and decided to have an early night.
I put the children to bed, then climbed under the duvet.
But my tummy was getting more painful by the minute. I felt like I needed the loo, but couldn’t go.
Next morning, I got up with the children at 6am and tried to make them breakfast, but I was bent over in agony.
Calling my brother, I said: ‘I’m sorry to wake you, but I think that burger has given me food poisoning. I need to go to hospital.’
Within 10 minutes he and Chloe arrived, and Ben took me to the hospital.
Because of COVID-19, I had to go into A&E alone.
‘Take the kids to McDonald’s,’ I said to Ben. ‘They haven’t had any breakfast.’
‘OK,’ he said. ‘But let me know you’re all right.’
When I got to the receptionist, I felt like my legs were going to give way.
‘You’re as white as a ghost!’ she said.
A nurse helped me into a wheelchair and took me to a side room.
‘I’ve got food poisoning,’ I said.
‘Umm… Your tummy is contracting,’ she replied.
I knew what she was driving at and I said: ‘I’m not pregnant if that’s what you’re thinking.’
But she told me: ‘I’m going to ask for a midwife.’
I was convinced it was a waste of time, but when the midwife examined me, she said: ‘You’re in labour.’
I gawped at her.
‘I’ve got a bit chubby,’ I said, ‘but I haven’t had sex for months and I’m on the Pill.’
But she was adamant.
Tears began to spill down my cheeks as I was taken to the maternity ward.
‘I need to speak to my children,’ I said but then I went into shock.
What happened next was a blur, but two hours after arriving at the hospital, a midwife was placing a baby boy in my arms.
‘He’s not mine!’ I said. ‘I don’t want to hold him.’
The midwife explained that he was mine — I just hadn’t realised I was pregnant because my placenta was the wrong way round.
‘But I had terrible morning sickness and heartburn with my boys,’ I said. ‘I’m not his mum.’
It took an hour for the midwife to convince me to hold the baby, and then I took a picture on my phone.
I sent it to Ben with a message: You wanted to know what was wrong with me. This is what was wrong.
He rang me back straightaway.
‘Is this a joke?’ he said.
‘How am I going to cope?’ I replied. ‘I’ve just got rid of all of Alfie’s baby things.’
Then my dad came on the line and said: ‘Don’t worry. We’re going to sort everything out.’
‘Can you tell the boys that Mummy has a baby?’ I asked Ben. ‘And can you call Jamie and tell him the news?’
‘Sure,’ he said. ‘Me and Chloe will look after the children too.’
Later that night, Jamie arrived with the boys.
‘I thought your brother was joking,’ he said. ‘I can’t believe it!’
‘Me either,’ I said.
We decided to name our little boy Leo and, the next day, Jamie collected us and took us back to his place for a few days.
While we’d been in hospital, Dad had got us a Moses basket, a cot and baby essentials. And Jamie’s mum had been out and bought a pushchair.
I was so grateful.
That night, Riley asked: ‘Can I hold my baby brother?’
I sat him on the sofa with a pillow and gently placed Leo on his lap. Riley kissed him on the cheek and Alfie followed suit.
A few days later, back at home in Blandford St Mary, Dorset, Leo snuggled into me.
For the first time, I felt like his Mummy.
‘I love you to bits,’ I said.
Now Leo is five months old and we’ve all settled into our new home really well.
Both Riley and Alfie are obsessed with their baby brother. They refuse to have a bath unless Leo joins them.
When he’s on his playmat, they lie next to him and stroke his cheek, and when he cries, they make him laugh.
Every morning, before he goes to school, Riley kisses Leo and says: ‘I love you.’
It melts my heart.
I really can’t imagine our lives without Leo. But I still can’t get over how I went to KFC for a burger, and ended up coming home with a baby.