I was driving home from work when I suddenly smelled the unmistakable scent of fried chicken. Given that there were no fried chicken places within five miles of me, my first thought was, "This is odd." My second thought was, "Oh. I'm pregnant."
I went home that night and, though I hadn't even missed a period yet, I took a pregnancy test. It was positive, but I wasn't surprised — my nose had already convinced me.
Although it doesn't feel official until you see a positive pregnancy, a lot of women I know can pinpoint the exact moment they knew they were pregnant — no pee stick required. From psychics to sore boobs, click through the slideshow for 13 more funny and surprising ways women have figured out that they had a bun in the oven.
Image via iStock.com/PeopleImages
From the Mouth of Babes
"I was snuggling with my son one night and he put his head in my lap and then said, 'I think you have a baby in there.' I laughed and told him that I didn't. We'd been trying for years to give him a sibling but had given up, neither of which he knew about. The next few days he kept insisting there was a baby in my tummy and finally it started to freak me out a little, so I took a test. Turns out I was 10 weeks along. I had NO IDEA." — P.N.
Excuse Me
"I was leading a staff lunch meeting and was standing in front of 35 of my employees when I suddenly — like, in the middle of sentence — caught a whiff of someone's tuna fish sandwich and promptly barfed into the nearest trashcan. My cycles are super irregular so I hadn't noticed that it had been a while since my last period. Took a test that night and was pregnant! When I announced it officially several weeks later, nobody was surprised." — D.F.
Dream On
"My husband and I struggle with infertility and had been trying to have a baby for years when one night I had a dream that I'll never forget. In the dream, I was swimming in the ocean and a baby swam up to me and said 'Hi, Mama.' I woke up and just knew it meant something. I took a test that morning and it was positive! I was beyond thrilled." — H.B.
More from The Stir: 11 Very Early Pregnancy Symptoms That Aren't Just Your Imagination
Super Sniffer
"With my last pregnancy, I went on a girls' trip and everything tasted weird all weekend. And then I was sick my whole ride home. I started to have a small inkling, even though we weren't trying to get pregnant or anything. Then I walked in the door to dinner cooking and the smell nearly made me vomit on the spot. I knew right then that I was pregnant. Bought a test that night and confirmed it and now the twins are 3!" — S.L.
Dirt and Coffee
"Coffee tasted like it had dirt in it and I actually accused my coworker of doing this! I also knew because my small boobs felt like they weighed 80 pounds each. I had no other symptoms and we weren't trying, so I went for a test based on that and found out I was seven weeks along!" — K.L.
Ouch!
"When anyone touched my boobs, I almost screamed in pain. It was my first clue. Both times I've been pregnant I couldn't even roll over in bed without the pain waking me up. And forget about sexy times!" — L.G.
More from The Stir: Quiz: Could You Be Pregnant (No Pee Test Necessary!)
So Angry
"I didn't KNOW-know, but I took the test way early because I was crazy-angry about everything for no reason. It was positive. And I was pregnant with twins." — S.T.
Toaster
"I went to make my usual morning toast and I was convinced I could smell the electricity coming out of the wall. Super smell is always my pregnancy sign." — W.T.
Flat No More
"I had been working out with a trainer for months and was finally at my dream weight and was even starting to feel like I had a six-pack for abs. I was trying on a pair of jeans in my new size when all of the sudden I just thought, 'I shouldn't buy these since my belly is going to get bigger with the baby.' We weren't trying and I had no symptoms — just that random thought. Turned out to totally be right. I was about five weeks along." — C.S.
Chart Said So
"I knew with my son because my [fertility] chart said so — I took a test HOPING I was wrong because we had club seats at the hockey game that night and I am not one to turn down free booze. I was not wrong." — K.W.
Running Thoughts
"I love to run and when I do, I like to let my brain zone out. I was running one night and the thought 'It's a boy!' just popped into my brain. I hadn't suspected I was pregnant but it turned out I was and, yes, it was a boy." — M.J.
The Fortune Teller Says...
"My kid's school had a Halloween carnival thing and there was a lady there doing palm reading as a fund-raiser. I am a scientist so I totally don't believe in that stuff, but I thought it would be fun to do and I wanted to help the fund-raising. So, I paid my $10 and she looked at my palm and said, 'Oh, I see you will have three children,' and I told her that, nope, she was wrong — I only had two children. She gave me a look and said, 'Are you sure about that?'
"At this point I was 42 years old with a 12- and 10-year-old and NO plans for more, so I just laughed it off. But I couldn't shake what she said and a week or so later I took a test. Yep. Baby #3 is on the way." — A.W.
More from The Stir: 25 Pregnancy Beliefs From Around the World
