17 y.o. pregnant woman fights to stay on HS Volleyball team

[ThetaDancer]

Originally Posted by carnation

When my oldest was cheering about 10 years ago, her squad was in a competition one night. The next day, one of the girls delivered a full term baby! I had taken a picture of several of the girls cheering at a game the week before and this girl was facing to the side and no way could you tell that she was pregnant!
All the coach could think about for days was how many stunts that the girl had based and other times they'd done things that could have endangered her pregnancy. And then her parents would have been the first ones to blame the coach and sue her.

hijack: how is this possible? I'm also curious because there is a woman at work who announced right before thanksgiving that she is 7.5 months pregnant and would soon be needing a lot of time off for maternity leave. While her late notice is inconvenient work-wise, I am also totally floored because I had no idea she was pregnant. She looks no different that she did 7.5 months ago. I've never seen anything like it and I totally don't get it. /hijack.

[33girl]

One of the girls I was in HS with was wearing skin tight jeans (and still on the majorette squad, although they never did do anything very athletic) when she was like 7-8 months pregnant - she didn't show at all. Oh and the baby was full term, healthy and not underweight. Some people are just freaks of nature I suppose.

[carnation]

I don't know where she was hiding that baby--in my photo, her arms were up and you could even see that her skirt was buttoned! Since I couldn't button anything after the 6th week of any of my pregnancies, I was in shock when my daughter told me that M had had a baby. We also knew a teacher, rumored to be bulimic, who only gained 8 lbs. but had a 9 lb. baby and the baby is now a 6 foot 7 inch college student. I think that his mother was carrying him in her purse.

[UGAalum94]

Georgia actually has state athletic association rules about this:

"1.48 Advisory Notice - Pregnant Students: In response to the increasing number of pregnant students attending member schools, and the continued participation of these students in GHSA activities, the following advisory notice is being offered:

(a) During the first 18 weeks of pregnancy, students, with written consent from a physician, may be allowed to participate in athletic activities except those activities in which a fall or other rapid deceleration is likely to occur.

(b) Pregnant students should not be allowed to participate in any athletic activities after the 18th week of pregnancy. "

It seems like a pretty decent plan although which activities are "likely" to result in "a fall or other rapid deceleration" is probably debatable. Cheerleading stunting, sure. Diving for volleyball, sure. Basketball? Soccer? How frequently does something occur for it to be considered likely? But at least the coach would have the rule for guidance in case you had a kid like the one in the OP.

[ASUADPi]

Originally Posted by ThetaDancer

hijack: how is this possible? I'm also curious because there is a woman at work who announced right before thanksgiving that she is 7.5 months pregnant and would soon be needing a lot of time off for maternity leave. While her late notice is inconvenient work-wise, I am also totally floored because I had no idea she was pregnant. She looks no different that she did 7.5 months ago. I've never seen anything like it and I totally don't get it. /hijack.

You'd be suprised. They are also showing on Discovery Health "I didnt' know I was pregnant". There are real women and families out there that didn't know. I'm sure in that cheerleaders case, she knew, but I mention the show because all the women and family members interviewed are like "we totally couldnt' tell she was pregnant", "she didnt' gain any weight". Now, I've tended to notice that most of the women on the show tend to be "heavier" if not considered "overweight", so hence baby weight might not have been easily noticeable in the first place.