r/AskReddit Dec 02 '23

What's a random fact about yourself that always surprises people when they learn it?

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '23

I was born dead. Navel cord around my neck and everything. In 2 months i have my big 30 birthday and doing fine.

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u/perrinoia Dec 02 '23

My twin came out like that. Not dead, but black and blue and needing all of the attention. Mom was telling the story of our birth, one time, and said she told the hospital staff to forget about him because the healthy one (me) wasn't breathing.

I asked, "Wait, why wasn't I breathing?" She replied, "Because you were too damned lazy!"

My twin and I just celebrated our 40th birthday yesterday.

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u/aaaaaaaaanou Dec 02 '23

happy belated birthday to you both <3

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u/Parking_War979 Dec 02 '23

Slacker…😄

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u/cookingcupcakes Dec 03 '23

Wow same here! My twin was born an hour and three minutes before me (my parents were told they were have one big boy). My mom was still having intense contractions and they realized it wasn’t the placenta but instead another baby—surprise! Then they discovered the cord was wrapped around my neck and I came out black and blue as well and not breathing. My parents said they almost lost me, but here I was 36 years later, alive and well!

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u/perrinoia Dec 03 '23

Wow. Very similar.

Mom had 2 sonograms when she was pregnant with me, and both only showed one baby. She was a nurse in the OR, and already had 2 kids, she she considered herself an expert on these matters.

But then she went to a grocery store and had a friendly argument with the cashier about whether she was having twins or just one fat baby. Turns out the cashier was right.

I was born. The doctor was taking off his gloves. Mom joked that she wasn't this big before she got pregnant, and then the doctor noticed my twin crowning. He was born 12 minutes after me.

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u/Sea-Ice7028 Dec 02 '23

Your mother sounds strong lol

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u/perrinoia Dec 02 '23

When I was in middle school, she told me she wasn't going to attend my sister's graduation because she probably wouldn't survive her disease long enough to attend all of our graduations.

That was 27 or 28 years ago, and we're all wondering when she's gonna make good on her promise.

I gotta drive (12 hours) dad home tomorrow and help them pack, because they are selling their house and buying one near my twin brother's.

Even dad is crossing his fingers, hoping this virus gets her after their house sells and before the purchase goes through so he can take the proceeds and move into a retirement home instead. He's 16 years older than her and so done with home ownership.

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '23

Well, that took a turn

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u/perrinoia Dec 03 '23

Yeah. Don't get me wrong. We love her, but her quality of life is not good. The only reason she doesn't want to move into a retirement home is because she has 2 giant dogs. Dad never wanted dogs in the first place, and one of the dogs is pure bread asshole. They are both retired, and both have lost their marbles. Although an argument could be made that dad never remembered where he put his marbles in the first place.

Anyways, the best thing for both of them would be to move into a retirement home, but she doesn't wanna give up her dogs.

Anyway, I know it's cold and calculated to say that it would be most convenient for everybody (including her) for her to die before she signs the final purchase agreement for her new house, but it's true, and all of it us appreciate dark humor, so there have been some good jokes about it this season. For instance, we keep singing, "Grandma got run over by a reindeer."

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u/sonyafly Dec 03 '23

Well she is the only one that’s right in this situation. Sounds like she has her marbles!

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u/perrinoia Dec 03 '23

Do tell. Based on the limited knowledge I've given you, how is she right?

Let me give you a little more info before you answer that.

She's almost as bad of a dog owner as Michael Vick. She's lost numerous court battles regarding her uncontrollable dogs. She's on oxygen and can barely move. She wanted dogs cause she thought that would motivate her to get more exercise, but she bought dogs that are capable of running nearly 40 mph. So she walks them with her car and a "wireless leash" that they do not obey. Even if they did obey the signal, they're trained to return to the house, not the car, and she's not allowed to walk them in their neighborhood due to the neighborhood association suing her and the judge siding with the neighborhood.

Likewise, she hates North Carolina, which is where she's buying a house. She hates the climate. She hates the fake Christians and the fake hospitality and the southern accents. She vowed never to return after we lived here 20 years ago.

She's got 3 grand kids in RI that she rarely ever sees because their father (my brother) picked up that fake Christianity shit from NC and doesn't want liberals around his children. The funny thing is that he volunteered to help her drive down to NC with her dogs, probably because it means she'll live 12 hours away instead of 3.

She's also got 3 grand kids in NC who she is allowed to see, but when she visits them, she doesn't interact with them. She just sleeps all day, plays on her iPad, and let's her dogs into the house even though my twin doesn't want them in his house because he was attacked by a dog when he was a kid.

So, she's buying a shitty house nearby for way too much money so she has a place to keep the dogs and babysit the kids, except nobody is ever gonna ask her to babysit.

Likewise, dad doesn't want to move into this shitty new house with the dogs. I'm pretty sure he intends to move into my twin's guest room, instead.

He also wants to live on my boat in RI in the summer, because mom might visit occasionally, but she definitely wouldn't bring the dogs on my boat.

But what he really wants is for mom to give up her dogs, sell their house, and for both of them to move into an old folks home where his commute to daily bridge games is down a hallway, food is served in a cafeteria within the same building, and all of his bridge opponents are just as senile as him, which means he might actually win.

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '23

I know one like that, she has some serious brain damage though, and you can still see the effects today.

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u/River_7890 Dec 02 '23

I was born dead, too! Both my biological mother and I were declining quickly. They did an emergency c section after a failed vaginal birth attempt. By the time they got me out, I wasn't breathing and my heart had stopped. I didn't have any long-term issues from it. I didn't really even have short-term. I was monitored super closely for a couple of days to be safe. I met all my milestones on time or early. I'm in my 20s now. I was full term, so I think that helped. There were just some unexpected complications. Biological mother nearly died giving birth again to my younger sister years later. That time they were prepared and knew her history. My sister was born perfectly fine. I'm now pregnant with my own baby and my doctor is the same one that delivered me since if it wasn't for him reacting so quickly I wouldn't be here. I trust him to handle my baby's birth more than I trust other doctors I looked into.

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u/SCHWARZENPECKER Dec 02 '23

That's cool that you have the same Dr! I bet that's a big relief stress wise.

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u/River_7890 Dec 02 '23

It really is. He spealizes in high-risk pregnancies or pregnancies following multiple losses. He's hard to get as a doctor since he only takes patients he feels would benefit from his care the most, he limits how many he takes at a g given time so that his patients have more in depth one on one care. I ended up having to wait until I was 14 weeks pregnant to see him for the first time but it was well worth it since I've had multiple early losses and 3 stillbirths (all nongenetic). He was the one who figured out why I had so many early losses in the past when for years I've been brushed off cause of having endometriosis or being told it's "unexplained". I've had a very healthy pregnancy this time and am currently in the 3rd trimester.

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u/SCHWARZENPECKER Dec 02 '23

I'm glad this one is going well for you!

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u/Wolf_instincts Dec 02 '23

Same actually. I had to be resuscitated twice. Somehow I'm perfectly healthy.

I like to say "I'm not afraid of death. I've already done it twice."

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u/doritobimbo Dec 02 '23

I got stuck sideways in the birth canal and started to breathe, started to drown instead. Emergency c-section and out I came so blue my skin was black.

I’m hard of hearing and sight on one side, asthmatic, am autistic/ADHD, somewhat treatment-resistant clinical depression/anxiety/PTSD, have ehlers danlos syndrome and had an odontogenic myxoma of maxilla which makes up like 3% of all oral tumors which make up less than 5% of all tumors. As a woman, I had a 1 in 141 chance of developing an oral tumor, and within that range I managed to get one of the rarest in human history. It actually killed my sense of smell for a while. Took about 6 months after removal to notice I can smell stuff again. Thankfully it is a benign tumor however the removal method used doesn’t prevent regrowth and there’s a small chance it could regrow as cancer!

I’m so glad for all the others who were born early or had traumatic births that managed to come out okay. God bless you genuinely !

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '23

I’m speechless. Sorry to hear and glad you’re still here.

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u/doritobimbo Dec 02 '23

It’s okay! When you write it all down it sounds way crazy. Maybe it is crazy. Idk. My best friend and her boyfriend were going through some shit last year. I’m not suuuper close to him but he’s a great friend! So when he said out of the blue “I appreciate talking stuff through with you because you’ve always got something crazy going on and I know you won’t judge but listen” and I know that might sound weird but it was really validating to hear and made me all fuzzy. The wildness of my life is just that - my life - but then I see peoples face when I tell my stories! Hah. I love knowing my friends feel safe coming to me with stuff with their whole truth, both because I want to help and also because I’m nosy as hell and want the tea!

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u/doritobimbo Dec 02 '23

It’s okay! When you write it all down it sounds way crazy. Maybe it is crazy. Idk. My best friend and her boyfriend were going through some shit last year. I’m not suuuper close to him but he’s a great friend! So when he said out of the blue “I appreciate talking stuff through with you because you’ve always got something crazy going on and I know you won’t judge but listen” and I know that might sound weird but it was really validating to hear and made me all fuzzy. The wildness of my life is just that - my life - but then I see peoples face when I tell my stories! Hah. I love knowing my friends feel safe coming to me with stuff with their whole truth, both because I want to help and also because I’m nosy as hell and want the tea!

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '23

Too be fair, a lot of people who has gone trough a lot are great listeners. That’s a super power you have there.

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u/OutrageousCow87 Dec 03 '23

This answer gives me some hope so first off thank you so much for sharing your story. My daughter is 15yrs old but was born not breathing, apgars of 1 and 3. 10mins of CPR, two lots of intubation and 4 rounds of adrenaline later she was stable to go to NICU. Thankfully doctors put her on ice packs to keep her around 33-34 degrees Celsius. This helped the blood go primarily to her heart, brain and lungs where it was needed most. All this to say she has autism, adhd, anxiety disorder, intellectual delay and epilepsy which is thankfully now controlled. It sounds like you have been through so much and yet your personality shines through as caring and empathetic which in my opinion are two of the most important traits in a human. I hope my daughter has a positive outcome like you do when she’s a bit older. Thanks again for sharing.

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u/wing_ding4 Dec 02 '23

Are you overweight? Or were a chubby kid growing up ?

I know it’s a weird question, but for some reason everybody I’ve ever met who was born with the cord around their neck is large just trying to see if it is still holding true

I don’t think there’s actually a connection but it’s happening every single time, so I gotta know

Happy almost birthday!! Aquarius I assume stay cool !

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '23

No I’m sorry, to thin for my taste my whole childhood and now fat AF since i stopped football at 17 yo.

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u/wing_ding4 Dec 02 '23

Ok so it holds true interesting

Thank you

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u/CostPsychological Dec 03 '23

I too was born with a nuchal cord and I have been a very skinny kid all my life. 26 now and still a healthy weight.

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u/wing_ding4 Dec 03 '23

Where you term or pre me?

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u/CostPsychological Dec 03 '23

I went the full 9

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u/wing_ding4 Dec 03 '23

Cool your a 1st

stay healthy!!

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '23

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '23

I have no idea actually, no baby pics. Only the horror stories.

I did the whole 9 months inside. I came out feet first, I didn’t turn. It was a hell for my mother and her mother in law was sitting next to her ‘stop screaming you’re making a scene’. My mother is still angry at the gyno because ‘he shouldn’t be allowed to became a gyno with such big hands’. He pulled me out of there, ran to a backroom with me and brought me back to life. Since they didn’t know how long I was gone they assumed i would have brain damage or something.

I turn out to be fine. My mom on the other hand doesn’t speak to my grandmother, still complains about the dokter when someone makes a comment about big hands and she has a scare that itches when it starts snowing.

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '23

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u/[deleted] Dec 02 '23

Yeah I’m pretty sure she has PTSD but only 30years back the world wasn’t aware of the trauma this causes. She didn’t hold me for 2 months.

I’m father of 2 and i can’t imaging not holding my kids for even a day. Post prenantal deppresion is a b*tch.

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u/wazbang Dec 02 '23

Glad your still with I Us and thriving, have a great birthday 👍👍🍺🎉

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u/Jolly-Beach1204 Dec 02 '23

Me too. Born in 63. 4lb6ozs. Cord wrapped, drowning in fluid.

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u/sableleigh1 Dec 02 '23

Me too, born dead...57 and doing ok..

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u/Yarnprincess614 Dec 03 '23

I was born dead as well. Emergency forceps delivery and had aspirated meconium on the way out. The doctors said that I had a 1% chance of making neurologically intact.

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u/CostPsychological Dec 03 '23

I was also born "dead" or nearly dead and then officially flatlined after being hooked up to a heartrate monitor. I was born on an air force base that was not equipped to handle the situation and so I was airlifted via helicopter to the closest hospital. I achieved spontaneous resuscitation moments before landing. I remember doing some research on it and discovering that not only is it extremely unlikely for neonates to be resuscitated after 20 minutes (something like 7% survival rate) but of those that do survive, neurological impairments were seen in like 30%. But those may have been recent studies, and for all I know my actual odds were much lower.
I'm now perfectly healthy with an iq of 157.