November 14, 2037
SPOKANE, WA – An unusual story out of the Inland Northwest has surfaced this week after a 50-year-old woman was discovered pregnant during a visit to urgent care for a sprained ankle. While her age makes the pregnancy peculiar, the truly remarkable part of her gestation is its length.
The woman, Krysann Sedberry, has been expecting for the last 20 years.
In 2017, Sedberry and her husband were excited to find that they would welcome their fourth child in November of that year. November came and went, however, and as each month followed, the couple questioned whether or not they were pregnant at all.
“By Christmas, we had talked to every midwife in the state and were told to ‘trust the process’ more times than we could count,” said Gabriel Sedberry, the father of the child. “We decided to see an Obstetrician in February 2018 which set off a domino effect and by March we’d seen all the prominent OBs in the nation and were considering a cesarean.”
The couple decided that they had waited so long already, what would be the harm in allowing labor to begin naturally.
“Babies come when they’re done,” said the mother, now a grandmother to five. “We had our first three without induction. I don’t see why this should be any different.”
During the earlier years of the pregnancy, the Sedberrys report that Krysann seemed like any other mom-to-be.
“My belly grew a little larger than it normally did, but life was pretty much the same as it was before. The text messages asking when the baby would come slowed down after the first few months and by year eight I think I only got one a week!”
When the fetus reached school age, things became a bit more complicated. The family homeschooled, but found teaching through the wall of a uterus to be a challenge. Still, they were intent on letting him choose his own birthday.
“He did take a gap year,” said Krysann, rolling her eyes. “But he starts up at his dad’s alma mater in the Spring – he’s majoring in Time Management. We’re very proud.”
Gonzaga University declined to comment directly but expressed enthusiasm at the first recipient of their Benjamin Button Scholarship.