I have a couple of questions for my book that I can't find the answers to on Google. 1. If there were no access to a pregnancy test, how long might it take before a woman was 100% sure she was pregnant? I know period-like spotting and things can be erratic and last well into pregnancy, so I'm looking for absolute certainty time. 2. How far into a pregnancy could a healthy thirty-year-old run for her life? She doesn't have to be comfortable, just capable. I know some woman jog all the way through pregnancy, but we're talking about a woman who doesn't run for fun or exercise, but stays in shape in other ways, desperately running from a murderous lunatic. Does six months make sense? Is eight possible? I know it's all different every time, so I'm fine with ranged answers. I just need what I write to make sense.
For a second I though you were the same person who just asked about dumpsters, and my mind was racing as to the nature of the story...
1. Once she starts showing she'd be pretty sure. This can be different for some and depends on how many pregnancies she's had. Fit woman, first pregnancy she'd maybe get a little pudge at 12 weeks that most others wouldn't notice. 16 weeks it would be more obviously a little baby bump. 2. Is she fit? Sounds like you've had her locked in a shed for a year, lol. She would hurt herself running like that anyway, regardless of fitness. Hormones make the hips expand which makes the pelvis weaker. Unless she was specifically training through her pregnancy to avoid complications (and sometimes even if she had) then she can't run or she'll experience a lot of pain in the middle of the pelvis that would last a long time. It's not the type of pain you run through. With that in mind, you can get away with it if she's not very pregnant. 4 months maybe. There's some wiggle room to play with because everyone's different. 8 months isnt believable, but six months I would read and not think too much about. She would definitely not be a happy camper because those hip widening hormones start pretty early.
In pregnancy a woman’s rate of breathing increases along with her heart rate and blood volume, which means she is likely to get breathless more quickly. The abdominal organs are also pushed upwards, impacting on the diaphragm, which also contributes to becoming breathless more easily. So if running, she’s less likely to be able to go as far/as fast as a non pregnant person. In later pregnancy a woman’s centre of gravity also changes, increasing the risk of falls if care is not taken. 4 months is probably the maximum in terms of realism to successfully be able to run for her life.
Could she bicycle away from the murderous lunatic? She could theoretically ride a bike at any point in her pregnancy. I don't know if this is helpful.
Unfortunately, no. She's stuck on foot. She's not getting away. Not without killing him. I think I have what I need. It's mostly written at this point anyway. She tries to run and almost immediately tears her round ligament, so tons of pain and no more running. I know that's a possible consequence. Let me know if anyone thinks it doesn't ring true though.
I guess for question two it would depend on the level of her fitness and how comfortable she is to exercise while with child. But you could make that up in whichever creative way you so choose. For question 1. I reckon if she misses her period the first month she may not notice. But by the second and the third month it gets a lot likelier not to! I’d say about 2-3 months. Sometimes it also depends on how well informed she is on the subject because there are those really rare (!) cases where she doesn’t know at all until the moment she gives birth. I’ve heard of one story of a girl who never knows until the moment she’d given birth in the lavatory (guess that sort of thing is a credited short-story of its own merit!). So NORMALLY 2-3 months, perhaps? That’s without a test.
And then there's all those women who don't know they're pregnant until they're in the hospital giving birth. Not sure how that happens, but it's relatively frequently.
