PHOTOS MMA fighter Kinberly Novaes discovers she’s six months pregnant weeks after winning match
When preparing for her scheduled Aug. 21 match, MMA champion Kinberly Novaes couldn’t understand why she wasn’t dropping weight. Then she found out she’s nearly six months pregnant–which means she won a match when she was twelve weeks along.
The Brazilian fighter said she now realizes she experienced a number of symptoms besides weight gain, but was too stubborn to see a doctor.
“I’ve been feeling sick for a while, colic, headaches and cramps. I was feeling tired recently, couldn’t even run, and it was really tough for me to cut weight,” she told MMA Fighting. “I realized my belly was hard, so I thought I had some intestine issue. I took laxative and other things, but a guy that does massages for me told me to go to the doctor.”
When the doctor asked Kinberly if she was pregnant, she said she insisted she wasn’t–she just had an intestinal issue. But a blood test revealed the truth.
“I cried a lot, ran out of the hospital, but I realized that was good news. I thought I was sick, but I had a baby instead,” she said.
Fortunately, despite her rigorous training and the match she fought while carrying, Kinberly said her baby boy is perfectly fine. “We did a morphology ultrasound last week and the doctor said I’m 24 weeks pregnant, almost six months, and my baby is healthy and strong.”
Kinberly wasn’t required to get a blood test before her last match, which is something promoter Bruno Barros said he now regrets.
“I didn’t even think about the possibility of a woman fighting while pregnant, going through a camp and dehydrating and everything,” he said. “Thank God everything is fine with the baby.”
The match Kinberly had scheduled for Aug. 21 has been called off.
