So what happened here?

[Kelly]

Somebody explain this one in rational terms, because I really don't have an explanation.

There is a woman at work whom I believe to be in her early 40's. I do not know her well, and have had few conversations with her beyond work related and how's the weather. I don't know much about her personal life, other than that I think she has been married for several years. I am quite sure that she has no children.

She sits about 15' away from me in an office. She speaks softly, and I don't hear well, so I rarely catch any conversations from that direction. Sometimes her door is closed anyway, and I am often on the phone. I doubt that these things were said outloud in that office anyway. She's not a blabbing type.

One day, I just looked at her, and for some reason, I had this incredibly powerful feeling that she was pregnant. There was nothing in her appearance to give that away. The feeling was so strong that I went to my supervisor, hoping he wouldn't think I was nuts, and I asked him if he knew if this woman was pregrant. He told me no, he didn't think so. I took his word, but still felt that I was right, and that perhaps he just did not know yet.

Well, it turned out that he did know, but that the word was not out officially, so he did not feel comfortable confirming this with me.

A few days later, this woman was in the breakroom alone with me, and she told me that she heard what I had asked and that she was indeed just weeks along in her pregnancy. She was much too early on for anything to be showing, including swelling breasts, which I wouldn't have been looking at anyway!

None of us can figure out how I just looked and her and knew as it wasn't being talked about. I have tried to rationalize it but cannot. Any ideas?

[CFLarsen]

Did she wear a Mona Lisa smile?

[Kelly]

Did she wear a Mona Lisa smile?

Not that I recall. She was wearing a tweed blazer and black slacks. ;)

[Jeff Wagg]

If you had been wrong, would you be telling us? :)

I say that, because as you know, we only have the tendency to remember the hits.

Something about her gave off those signals, and the only mystery here is what is that something. Could be pheremones for all I know.. but I think the most likely explanation is that she's acting a little differently than normal, and you've picked up on it. So you ask yourself "What's up with her?" And for whatever reason, the thing that makes the most sense to you is that she's pregnant.

Intuition? Yes. Paranormal? Doubtful.

[Ririon]

Not that I recall. She was wearing a tweed blazer and black slacks. ;)
Tweed.. Sure sign.:)

But unless you go around thinking people are pragnant all the time, and are wrong most of the time (like German tabloids), how about this:

Say a woman is trying hard to become pregnant and has difficulties. I would not say those are unreasonable assumptions about the woman you describe. Say that woman has just found out that finally, she is pregnant. That is powerful stuff. An empathic person would notice that "there is something different about her today", and a little intuition leads you to the right conclusion. If she is 40, without children and married for several years, what wonderful thing can have happened to her? You know it is nothing work-related.

I am no good at these kinds of things, but I imagine that's about how it goes.

[Soapy Sam]

Kelly- there are two probable answers.
The obvious and therefore unsatisfying one is -pure chance. You might as easily have felt she had cancer and been dead wrong.

Less obvious, and maybe just as wrong is that you DID notice she was pregnant, because there were externally visible signs. Remember that she knew, as did (at least) one other person in the office. Because she knew, she may have been carrying herself a little differently.

I have no doubt that she looked different, whether in body language, position, skin tone or something. I'm sure, because you noticed.
The question is- HOW did you notice? Clearly you have no idea.

What I find important, is that you were not , consciously, studying her.
("I just looked at her, and...") In short , you observed some difference subconsciously and, because your conscious mind was in neutral for that moment, that subconscious process grabbed your conscious attention - and you just knew. I'm pretty sure this is exactly what goes on in good diagnosticians' heads- they just know, because they have learned to let the incredibly subtle data through- just as a good football player running up to kick a penalty just knows he is on the wrong foot ten paces before he kicks the ball; just as a good archer just knows the arrow is headed for the bull before the fletchings clear the riser.

We all do this in some ways and to some extent and we all know we do- only the woo is deluded into thinking it a magic power.

The visual system of a human processes 3-7 million bits of information per second. The conscious mind can handle about one millionth of that rate.
The subconscious filters and discards the rest. Sometimes , a significant fact gets through. It's not paranormal. Just amazing.

[Kelly]

I buy that to some extent, Jeff.

But, would intuition in this respect be so strong about a person I barely know? If I barely know her, how would I pick up that she was behaving differently?

I certainly agree that we don't talk about our misses. Reminds me of one of my grandpa's old sayings about gambling.

[Kelly]

Tweed.. Sure sign.:)

Say a woman is trying hard to become pregnant and has difficulties. I would not say those are unreasonable assumptions about the woman you describe. Say that woman has just found out that finally, she is pregnant. That is powerful stuff. An empathic person would notice that "there is something different about her today", and a little intuition leads you to the right conclusion. If she is 40, without children and married for several years, what wonderful thing can have happened to her? You know it is nothing work-related.



Funny you should say this, but I did find out later on that she had been trying to have a child unsuccessfully for years. I had no idea. In fact, I often wondered if she was one of those career first type of women. Yes, perhaps in the back of my mind, this was an option to the latter.

[casebro]

Smell perhaps? From hormones in her urine, or sweat?

My friend the psychologist got his wife pregnant several times. He says he could tell within hours when she was pegnant, via personality changes.

I dunno the name for the phenomenon, but it's knowing something from subliminal signs, without realising what the signs are?

[Kelly]

The visual system of a human processes 3-7 million bits of information per second. The conscious mind can handle about one millionth of that rate.
The subconscious filters and discards the rest. Sometimes , a significant fact gets through. It's not paranormal. Just amazing.

That is amazing!

That's right.....I was not studying her. It was a glance and then BOOM, I knew.

I am sure she was less than 6 weeks pregant at that time. I don't recall my biology, but I'm sure it is possible that a pregnant woman has changes in the skin at that point.

[LibraryLady]

This is off topic, but why was it your responsibility to talk to your supervisor about her pregnancy? Does she work with radioactive materials?

[casebro]

That is amazing!

That's right.....I was not studying her. It was a glance and then BOOM, I knew.

I am sure she was less than 6 weeks pregant at that time. I don't recall my biology, but I'm sure it is possible that a pregnant woman has changes in the skin at that point.

I believe one very early sign is darkeng of the skin around her privates. I assume you didn't see that, but also that there could be less obvious skin circulation changes elsewhere?

The "Intuiition theory" would require you to have been around pregnant women a bit in order to learn the subliminal signs. I've spent most of my life in a man's world, so wouldn't expect to do this. But I assume Kelly has spent most of her life in offices full of women, many of whom became preggers while co-workers.

She may have been keeping it quiet for a reason. My friends wife had all miscarriages- enough of them that he learned the subliminal signs from her.

[Kelly]

This is off topic, but why was it your responsibility to talk to your supervisor about her pregnancy? Does she work with radioactive materials?

My feeling that she was pregnant was so strong that I had to ask someone just to confirm it. It was a curiousity thing, and nothing more. I asked, and was told no, and I said nothing more about it. I also understood that it was really none of my business, which is why I did not pursue it further than asking my supervisor. (We have a fairly relaxed environment, so no one was upset about me asking, nor thought I was out of line.)

There is nothing dangerous in our work environment. It's an office with cubicles.

[StewartP]

Am I the only one that thinks Kelly is actually psychic?
C'mon Kelly, don't fight it, come over to the dark side.

Perhaps you noticed the change in her aura. :)

[jamrat]

I would suspect the hormones or pheromones also. Had you been around pregnant women before?

[Kelly]

Am I the only one that thinks Kelly is actually psychic?
C'mon Kelly, don't fight it, come over to the dark side.

Perhaps you noticed the change in her aura. :)

Supposedly, being psychic runs in the family, specifically with the females on my mother's side. :eye-poppi

[Kelly]

I would suspect the hormones or pheromones also. Had you been around pregnant women before?

I work with more males than females, and have for quite some time. In the past, sure, I had been around pregnant women, but that was many years ago.

There was one other pregnant woman at work that I saw on an occasional basis whom I was friends with. She had her baby a few months before the one the OP is about did.

[Apathia]

Another Suggestion:
Gestures and body language.
Except for some counselors and therapists, most of us don't consciously notice the substantial amount of information that is carried in posture, gesture, and non-verbal clues.

In some cultures, a woman's behavior changes very visibly when she learns a child is on the way. In Japan for instance (where you have pretty much a monoculture), a woman starts behaving more like her own mother and the way expectant mothers are expected to. So it shows to the extent that it's not uncommon at all for a even a co-worker to notice the tell tale signs.

[ChristineR]

I've heard a lot of women say that they knew they were pregnant before there were any "signs." The hormones cause immediate changes to the mood and immediate physical changes like cravings. I also know of at least one case where a mother was trying to hide it from her older children.

"Mom! You're eating peanut butter! You're pregnant again!"

It could be something as simple as subconsciously noticing that she was snacking more, or cutting out coffee, or drinking milk at work. I don't know if it something like this or just a guess.

[GregC]

I told you in another thread Kelly, you're more psychic than the psychics. I can't wait for you to bump JE and Sylvia off television. Can I get tickets for your first filming?

I go with some barely perceptible physical change giving it away. Appearance or odor, maybe. Your brain picked up on it and came up with a match.

If you are going woo on us, hand over the winning power ball numbers.

G

[Kelly]

I told you in another thread Kelly, you're more psychic than the psychics. I can't wait for you to bump JE and Sylvia off television. Can I get tickets for your first filming?

I go with some barely perceptible physical change giving it away. Appearance or odor, maybe. Your brain picked up on it and came up with a match.

If you are going woo on us, hand over the winning power ball numbers.

G

Well, sure Greg. I might even allow you to come backstage. :D

I don't have the winning Powerball numbers. Remember, it doesn't work like that. It's not an on-demand thing. Besides that, my spirit guide, Archie Bunker, said I am to always remain a working stiff.

At this point, I lean to what was said in posts 8 and 10, with some intuition thrown in. :)

[latent aaaack]

A couple questions: How often in the past six months have you gotten a strong feeling comparable to that?

Was there actually anything different about her facial expression that made her look happier or different recently? Was she close enough for you to see her expression or skin tone or was there glare on her from the computer screen or any other obstacles? If she was just sitting there typing away at something under computer glare focused and mostly expressionless as always then I don't see how that suffices as an explanation, unless you did catch her at a pensive moment when she was leaning back from her work and happily dwelling on it.

What strikes me as the weirdest thing about it is the feeling you got. Skin tone being slightly off or her having a small smile on her face might be enough to give an empathic person a small hunch that she's pregnant but you're describing a powerful feeling of knowing that somehow lasted even after you took the really unusual step of asking your supervisor out of the blue to verify a complete guess about this woman who's not even in normally child bearing years. But if it's happened to you before then thats just how you normally process that kind of small scale information - in really extreme ways, and that is what I would bet if I had to place money on it.

[Yahzi]

because there were externally visible signs.
Smell, for instance. [Edit: I see Casebro already covered this]

There are a lot of subtle cues we don't - or can't - see consciously. Like the blind-sight people, who cannot see, but if asked to guess the color of a wall are more accurate than chance. Because some information is filtering through, even if it's not enough to trigger a conscious reaction.

So combine these subtle cues with the effect that makes you forget when they misfire, and viola! Intuition.

[Tamazon]

I was working in a city I had just moved to with people I didn't know very well when I became pregnant. I found out at 6am prior to going to work and even though I had no intentions of telling people I guess my body language gave it away.

Not 5 minutes into my work day and a guy I only knew casually through work asked me if I was pregnant.

I has been trying for 2 years and I guess my excitement was very evident.

[Tamarillicent]

Something like this happened to me recently.

I have a coworker who was married last May. In August, I suspected she was pregnant. I didn't ask her about it, but I put the thought at the back of my mind. She told me a little while later that she was pregnant and due in April.
With her, I think what tipped me off was that she was eating a lot more than usual and when she would stop to talk to me, it would usually be about lunch, or this really great place in Chinatown that had Green Tea Ice cream, or some restaurant her and her husband visited, or what she was making for supper. Everyone else figured it out when she kept eating through Ramadan.

[latent aaaack]

I guess it really is that common. It must be a lot easier to tell when a man has just found out though.

[Soapy Sam]

I suspected my friend's wife was pregnant when I dropped in one day with some books - she offered me coffee, but asked if I minded making it myself.

Bingo.

She was about seven weeks.

[Kelly]

A couple questions: How often in the past six months have you gotten a strong feeling comparable to that?

I am quite sure that nothing like this has happened in years.

Was there actually anything different about her facial expression that made her look happier or different recently? Was she close enough for you to see her expression or skin tone or was there glare on her from the computer screen or any other obstacles? If she was just sitting there typing away at something under computer glare focused and mostly expressionless as always then I don't see how that suffices as an explanation, unless you did catch her at a pensive moment when she was leaning back from her work and happily dwelling on it.

I was not close enough to smell her nor to see skin tone. I don't recall that she was looking happier. I believe she was simply looking at her PC and typing. From my vantage point, glare was not a factor.

What strikes me as the weirdest thing about it is the feeling you got. Skin tone being slightly off or her having a small smile on her face might be enough to give an empathic person a small hunch that she's pregnant but you're describing a powerful feeling of knowing that somehow lasted even after you took the really unusual step of asking your supervisor out of the blue to verify a complete guess about this woman who's not even in normally child bearing years. But if it's happened to you before then thats just how you normally process that kind of small scale information - in really extreme ways, and that is what I would bet if I had to place money on it.

That was a risk to ask the sup. No matter whether I was right or wrong, revealing this would make me seem a bit odd to most folks.

[Kelly]

I suspected my friend's wife was pregnant when I dropped in one day with some books - she offered me coffee, but asked if I minded making it myself.

Bingo.

She was about seven weeks.

That was definetely a good clue. I assume she was already having troubles with certain smells at that point.

[case sensitive]

A woman touching her belly softly while looking at it would do it.

[Boo]

I used to teach EMS students that 'gut feelings' and 'instincts' were nothing more then a sub concious mental rolodex. As was mentioned we receive and process more information then we are ever aware of. That stuff gets filed away til the one day 2+2=4. The longer we live and are around others, even though we are not aware of it, we are picking up clues.

I was told as I was growing up that 'psychic abilities' run in my family and can even dredge up several anecdotal stories involving various family members. My hypothesis is more mundane, our brains are simply better at putting together random bits of information.


Boo

[Beth]

I think our brains do process ambient information that's around us all the time in subtle ways we cannot fully articulate. I think that's what Kelly did. I think that's what most people who believe they have have psychic abilities are doing.

I some more theories along these lines, but I won't bore anyone here with them. However, I think the extent of such abilities can be so amazing that the term 'paranormal' isn't a bad description. If it was normal it wouldn't be amazing.

Understanding how this could occur doesn't make it any less amazing. It does, however, go a long way towards explaining the capricious nature of such psi experiences. You can't produce such intuitions on demand, but they are so amazing you can't attribute them to coincidence either. Further, they would work best with people and places that a person is most familiar with. Kelly may not know this woman well, but she sees her almost daily. You would have a familiarity with how she looks and sounds normally and subconciously be able to detect small differences.

[Pyrrho]

Pheromones.

Next.

[exarch]

I doubt you even need pheromones to do what kelly did. And if it was pheromones, how would you be able to distinguish the smell of a pregnant woman from that of a non-pregnant woman? Even subconsciously? Even if you've never smelled a pregnant woman before?

It's like "gaydar". Some people are really good at figuring out who's gay and who's not. They're not psychic, they're just really good at picking up some of the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) clues that indicate someone is behaving slightly different from the average straight person.

A couple of months ago, someone informed me that a person we both know was gay, and my immediate response was "but of course!". A bunch of things I had noticed about this person and their behavior suddenly "made perfect sense". I hadn't consciously connected the dots, but when someone else did that for me, things just sort of fell into place. I suppose part of the reason I hadn't made the connection yet was because I'd made a few incorrect assumptions that prevented me from making the "click".

[Amapola]

I agree about subtle body language tipping Kelly off.

Also,I raise animals, and some of my female animals are able to sense the rise in progesterone that means they are pregnant VERY quickly. I had a female llama who "knew" she was pregnant within two days, and in her very long life she was never wrong. I suppose it is possible that she had higher levels of progesterone than other female llamas and could therefore "feel" it better. Maybe some human females are similar, and Kelly was able to notice the difference in this woman, slight though it may have been.

[chillzero]

I had a female llama who "knew" she was pregnant within two days, and in her very long life she was never wrong.

ummmm... how do you know?
???

[Zep]

Kelly, think back a bit. I suspect you had fairly obvious clues that you have simply forgotten.

For example, if your sup knew, it means she (he?) has at least spoken with the lady involved, maybe in her cubicle. So perhaps you overheard stuff in the background one day? Something that was sort of "noise" but not quite? Perhaps while you were on the phone or in another conversation?

And had you been talking about pregnancy as a subject with other people recently? Someone close to you pregnant now? If so, perhaps the topic was roaming around your mind anyway. And since you may had reason to suspect this person was expected or perhaps even trying to get pregnant, some bits clicked together.

[dissonance]

A woman touching her belly softly while looking at it would do it.

Or even just touching her belly more often. One of my friends figured out I was pregnant almost immediately because she noticed me regularly laying my hand on my stomach - I didn't even realize I was doing it!

[Kelly]

These are such interesting answers. I knew it was not something psychic, but I also did not know how in the world I figured it out. (See the OP again) To those persons who see woo in just about everything, this would have been a very woo moment. It's still pretty weird, even with the logical explanations, which make perfect sense to me.

Thanks to all. :)

[Luke T.]

Kelly, I think it is significant that you knew this woman personally. If you were to identify a complete stranger as pregnant who is just six weeks along, that might be more interesting.

I think it likely there was a subconscious cue at work based on your familiarity with her. Even though you weren't close friends, you do work in the same office and co-workers pick up all kinds of cues from each other. Moods, especially! :)

A woman who told me she was pregnant when she was just four weeks along told me she already noticed a difference in her breasts. I won't quote the exact words she used since she was pretty coarse. But she said they were already hurting.

[CFLarsen]

These are such interesting answers. I knew it was not something psychic, but I also did not know how in the world I figured it out. (See the OP again) To those persons who see woo in just about everything, this would have been a very woo moment. It's still pretty weird, even with the logical explanations, which make perfect sense to me.

Thanks to all. :)

Isn't it great to be a skeptic? ;)

[Luke T.]

I imagine finding out she was pregnant after trying for so long was about the happiest news this woman has ever had. Maybe you noticed a change in her disposition for the better, and as a woman with a strong maternal streak yourself, you connected that something that has made a woman really happy is finding out she is going to be a mother.

I don't know. Just my two cents.

[Kelly]

Well hello Luke and Claus! :)

Yes, Luke, I have no doubt after talking to her and learning the rest of the story, that this was indeed a very happy time.

I will be more aware of any overwhelming feelings I get like this in the future. I have no doubt that I have been wrong many times. I just cannot think of any examples.

PS: Luke....you should hear from me soon in other matters.

[CFLarsen]

I asked you a question....

:)

[Rodney]

I knew it was not something psychic . . .
Clearly there is nothing psychic . . . that's impossible . . . Randi says so . . . and he's never been wrong about anything . . . has he?

[dissonance]

Anecdotally, my boobs started to hurt before I found out I was pregnant, at around 4 weeks. And my pregnancy was a surprise, so it wasn't like I was looking for symptoms like someone who is trying to get pregnant might be.

Interesting that this thread came up - I know a woman who has been desperately trying to get pregnant, and she went to a chiropracter appointment about six months ago and when she walked into the office the chiro proclaimed 'You're pregnant!' and told her she has a 'sixth sense' for pregnancy and is right 80% of the time. My friend got very excited and spent a week and a small fortune taking home pregnancy tests and debating 'is that a line?is THAT a line?'.

She wasn't pregnant and was totally devasted because her hopes were up so high.

That same chiropractor just pulled the same thing on someone else in town who happens to post on Mothering and I realized pretty quickly it was the same chiro. This second woman wasn't pregnant either. I know my first friend never went back to that chiro, so she'll probably continue to spout off about her amazing psychic ability to detect pregnancy.

[Kelly]

Interesting that this thread came up - I know a woman who has been desperately trying to get pregnant, and she went to a chiropracter appointment about six months ago and when she walked into the office the chiro proclaimed 'You're pregnant!' and told her she has a 'sixth sense' for pregnancy and is right 80% of the time. My friend got very excited and spent a week and a small fortune taking home pregnancy tests and debating 'is that a line?is THAT a line?'.


That is awful! I hope they complained to whatever agency governs chiros. :mad:

[Kelly]

I asked you a question....

:)

Oh, Claus, must you? :D

I don't know that I consider myself to be a "true" skeptic. After all, I am not sure that there aren't ghosts or a ancient creature in Loch Ness, etc.

Some of those things just aren't important to me anymore....that may be as close as I come. With the way my life is now, and what I do, I have no time to research. I think that the time I spend in my unpaid profession and the effects of those actions well outweigh any personal benefits I might gain from feeling I know the answers about those things.

[Dogdoctor]

When I was in veterinary school one of my professors could look at a mare from the car and tell with about 90% accuracy if the mare was pregnant. He called it the spring bloom which was a certain appearance or healthy look they had when pregnant. Hormones produced during pregnancy have effects and this might be detectable although you don't consciously recognize this.

[exarch]

That is awful! I hope they complained to whatever agency governs chiros. :mad:

If there is an agency that governs chiros, I have a feeling its main objective is protecting its members from lawsuits and bad press rather than policing it and weeding out the bad ones. After all, if they did that, it wouldn't be long before they had no members left.

[Amapola]

ummmm... how do you know?
???

Sorry not to answer this sooner, Chillzero.

Female llamas will spit at a male that attempts to breed them, when they are pregnant. We call it a "spit test" and expose the female to a male. If she "spits him off" it's a pretty good indication the female is pregnant. The way to know for certain is to pull some blood and send it to the lab to be tested for elevated progesterone levels...... but the behavioural hints are pretty reliable if you are familiar with your stock. In this case, this female was very receptive to a male until she "thought" she was pregnant, whereupon she would hawk a big old luggie at any male that made advances. Everytime she did that, she really was pregnant and produced a beautiful offspring approximately one year later. She never got it wrong, and she was spitting off males two days after being bred.

[RSLancastr]

For example, if your sup knew, it means she (he?) has at least spoken with the lady involved, maybe in her cubicle. So perhaps you overheard stuff in the background one day?Some people treat a woman very differently when the woman is pregnant. Perhaps Kelly simply noticed on some level that the supervisor was behaving differently (more concerned, etc.) to the woman than usual.

Anecdotally, my boobs started to hurt before I found out I was pregnant, at around 4 weeks.They hurt anecdotally? Women are such a mystery... :confused:

I don't know that I consider myself to be a "true" skeptic. After all, I am not sure that there aren't ghosts or a ancient creature in Loch Ness, etc."Sure?" Neither am I, Kelly. But I definitely consider myself a skeptic.

Female llamas will spit at a male that attempts to breed them, when they are pregnant.My ex-wife was the same way. :D

[Kelly]

"Sure?" Neither am I, Kelly. But I definitely consider myself a skeptic.

My ex-wife was the same way. :D

How do you define a skeptic then, Robert?

I burst out laughing on the ex-wife comment. :D

[chillzero]

Sorry not to answer this sooner, Chillzero.

Female llamas will spit at a male that attempts to breed them, when they are pregnant. We call it a "spit test" and expose the female to a male. If she "spits him off" it's a pretty good indication the female is pregnant. The way to know for certain is to pull some blood and send it to the lab to be tested for elevated progesterone levels...... but the behavioural hints are pretty reliable if you are familiar with your stock. In this case, this female was very receptive to a male until she "thought" she was pregnant, whereupon she would hawk a big old luggie at any male that made advances. Everytime she did that, she really was pregnant and produced a beautiful offspring approximately one year later. She never got it wrong, and she was spitting off males two days after being bred.

Ah.... thanks for that. I did wonder if you had some kind of animal telepathy going on. :D

[Beth]

These are such interesting answers. I knew it was not something psychic, but I also did not know how in the world I figured it out. (See the OP again) To those persons who see woo in just about everything, this would have been a very woo moment. It's still pretty weird, even with the logical explanations, which make perfect sense to me.

Thanks to all. :)

In as much as psychic powers exist, I think what you experienced is psychic. That is, I think experiences such as you have described are why many people believe they are psychic.

[RSLancastr]

How do you define a skeptic then, Robert?A skeptic does not have to be "sure" that the Loch Ness Monster does not exist, nor to be "sure" that ghosts do not exist.

If someone was "sure" of those things, they would not be open to evidence to the contrary. And that is not skepticism as I understand it.

For example, I often say that until I see some compelling evidence to the contrary, I do not believe in psychic abilities. I do not say that I am sure that there is no such thing as psychic abilities.

To me, that is the skeptical way. Adopting a provisional stance of doubting a claim until there is compelling evidence to support it. It is not saying that you are sure the claim is false (although, the wilder the claim, the stronger the doubt, and the stronger the compelling evidence would need to be).

Oh, and my ex-wife was (and is) a sweetheart. I just saw a setup for a cheap punchline and used it. :D

[Amapola]

In as much as psychic powers exist, I think what you experienced is psychic. That is, I think experiences such as you have described are why many people believe they are psychic.

I think this is so true...... and Chillzero, I have been told many times that I am psychic and people have asked me why don't I become an animal psychic. (:rolleyes: ) Well...... it's because I am not psychic, I simply understand animal behaviour and through a lot of practice and observation can discern tiny changes in behaviour. I do it on purpose with animals but I think a lot of us do this with other people and are simply not aware of it.

[chillzero]

I think this is so true...... and Chillzero, I have been told many times that I am psychic and people have asked me why don't I become an animal psychic. (:rolleyes: ) Well...... it's because I am not psychic, I simply understand animal behaviour and through a lot of practice and observation can discern tiny changes in behaviour. I do it on purpose with animals but I think a lot of us do this with other people and are simply not aware of it.

I totally agree. My experience (with people) was with tarot reading - which I was really good at. Well, it seems I am brilliant at reading body language and other signals that, like Kelly, aren't immediately obvious. I am also excellent at knowing what our pets want, while my partner and daughter struggle to understand them.

I was probably missing a smiley or something to indicate my attempt at humour in that last post.

Koudos to you for not abusing your knowledge, unlike some others. :D

[malbui]

My pregnancy knowledge story...

A few years back I hadn't spoken to my sister for a while - a lot of voice messages in the intervening time but no conversation. One afternoon I was at work when my mobile rang and, seeing her number, my immediate thought was "she's pregnant". I was right - that was what she was calling me to say - and therefore superpsychic.

Normality has been restored, though, by my failing to have the same feeling for her two subsequent pregnancies. Especially as for the third baby I met her for coffee when she was at twelve weeks and still hadn't noticed before she told me. So no lucrative woo career for me, then :( .

[Starrman]

A few days later, this woman was in the breakroom alone with me, and she told me that she heard what I had asked and that she was indeed just weeks along in her pregnancy. She was much too early on for anything to be showing, including swelling breasts, which I wouldn't have been looking at anyway!



As the husband with a newly pregnant wife - I can tell you that swelling/sore breasts can occur very early in pregnancy. In fact, that was what prompted us to take the test. Of course I am more in-tune with my wife's...

...I've said to much alraedy.

[Skeptic Guy]

Could you have heard her on the phone, subconsciously, and it just came to the forefront when you glanced at her? I sometimes kind of let people talk around me without really paying attention and then catch-up with what I heard a bit later. Maybe this is similar but more subconsciously?

[meg]

Hi Kelly,

I realize I'm a bit late, but thought I'd throw a couple more cents worth into your pile of responses.

There really is a "glow" that some women experience while pregnant. Increased circulation combined with the hormone changes make some women's complexions look a little flushed and have a waxy sheen. Perhaps you did notice that, but didn't recognize it for what it was.

Also, even though it wasn't being "talked about" in the office, I wouldn't be surprised a bit if you did overhear snippets of conversations, just a word here or there, perhaps her on the phone. Not hearing her say "I'm pregnant", of course, but perhaps hearing the words "OB" or "due date" or "sonogram" or "Lamaze" or "trimester" ..something like that. Something that you might not have even noticed consciously, while your brain filed it away for later use. Perhaps overhearing your boss discuss finding a temp "when Jane takes her leave" or something like that, too.

As someone else mentioned, it's really common for a newly pregnant woman to rest her hand on her belly and gaze thoughtfully off, too.

Perhaps she had a magazine or book about pregnancy or babies in her office, that you didn't necessarily notice consciously, but your eyes had seen.

It is possible that you saw and heard all of those things, but didn't actually notice or pay attention, and then all of a sudden you saw her, and the deduction popped to the forefront of your mind.

Just my thoughts,
Meg

[Kelly]

This thread has been so interesting and enlightening! Thank you to all who contributed.

It is possible that I heard a snippet of a conversation. I think that most of what happened points to me having recently wondered if she indeed did not have children and why. (which was a subtle process of elimination going on in the back of my mind) I suspect there may have also been the "glow of pregancy", or some other physical clue. When these factors combined in a concsious way, it was overwhelming.

I'll bet if I tell my mom this story, she's say: "I told you psychic abilities run in the family." (She thinks JE is awesome.....and, yes, I tried my best to explain this to her.) :(

It's easy to see how some people can be misled, even intelligent people. My mom is and Chillzero was.

Meg! Good to see you. Where have you been as of late?

Robert: So a skeptic is one who takes a position of doubt (but yet still remaining open to the possibility) until proof is obtained, or am I not understanding your definition?

[RSLancastr]

Robert: So a skeptic is one who takes a position of doubt (but yet still remaining open to the possibility) until proof is obtained, or am I not understanding your definition?You understood it just fine!

[Boo]

I think this is so true...... and Chillzero, I have been told many times that I am psychic and people have asked me why don't I become an animal psychic. (:rolleyes: ) Well...... it's because I am not psychic, I simply understand animal behaviour and through a lot of practice and observation can discern tiny changes in behaviour. I do it on purpose with animals but I think a lot of us do this with other people and are simply not aware of it.

It's the same with medics. I'ld bet your husband can tell plenty of stories about 'psychic' medics. I had many partners are and ER nurses convinced of my abilities to 'predict' codes.;)



Boo