not necessarily so ... she was a innocent naive young girl this was1960 and I have heard of women having their monthly period all through their pregnancy

my only atonishment was why on earth would she sleep with pete of all people but oh well I guess someone had to do it ... oh no it is starting I am starting to act like these are real people groooaaaan

Not true. A close family member had no idea she was pregnant until she gave birth. Same with a colleague (who already had 3 kids, so presumably knew what pregnancy felt like). Her appetite could have changed with her hormones and she could have attributed her weight to her cravings (for example, the cherry danish she suddenly gets a craving for). This would also account for all over weight gain. It's also true that sometimes (albeit rarely) women can continue menstruating during pregnancy; even if Peggy didn't, she could have assumed the lack of monthlies was an effect of the birth control she was taking (we saw her at the doctor's office, if you'll recall). & on top of all that, the human mind is capable of a great deal of denial, so palpable that we can convince ourselves completely of lies.

So really there are several plausible reasons why she could have an undetected pregnancy. It's not as rare as you might think.

"And because those early pills were so strong, it's amazing that she did get pregnant!"

Truth! Even more reason for her not to realize it. I had forgotten about the early aspects of the Pill. I'm glad things have lightened up a bit over the years.

I bought Season 1, hoping that I would get some of my questions answered by the Commentary.
Sure enough, this young woman who I strongly doubt has never had a baby was explaining how 'natural' the fat clothes fit and how well they hid the pregnancy.
Since they had a waistline, they couldn't have hidden the pregnancy. And those chunky jackets MIGHT have hid it at first, but not in the last stages, not for a baby as big as that one was (who of course was not a new-born).
And the lack of nausea? I've only had 5 babies, so I'm not an expert yet, but there was too much MISSING from that girl's 9 months to make it believable. Why don't they get some consultants who are 1)women over 60, 2)who were career women then and 3) who have had babies?
Sounds like they have some yuppie chicks of about the same mentality as those secretaries.

But...we don't see much of Peggy's life. The focus of the season wasn't her pregnancy, or even her character - we didn't see her in her private life all that much. She could have had nausea, we just wouldn't see it. And when people do get nausea they don't always assume they're pregnant.

And as I said in my last comment, surprise pregnancies *do* happen. There are many explanations.

As for the baby being too big for a new-born...it's a common issue on TV shows. Whether it's harder to get permission to use an actual newborn legally or just the fact that no parents feel comfortable have their day old baby thrown into a tv studio, it just requires a suspension of disbelief on the part of the audience.

I get that a girl not knowing she's pregnant is unlikely, but it's neither impossible nor implausible. Especially considering the circumstances of Peggy's character.

Agree with most of the above re Peggy's pregnancy. Even today with all the info and tests available there are still an astonishing number of women who go into labor unaware they are pregnant. As for morning sickness, I had it for about 5 minutes with my first child, not at all with #2, and my mom never in 10 pregnancies. One of my sisters - at the time a size 2 - barely showed but delivered a nearly 9 pounder.

And I don't know about pregnancy showing from behind but *I* never did. I was walking to visit a relative when I was 7-8 months pregnant when a pickup truck passed me from behind and the driver wolf-whistled at me. It was hilarious to watch his jaw drop to the road when he looked back to see *my* reaction and he saw I stuck out enough in front to park a tray on my belly - OBVIOUSLY pregnant from the front. I cherish the memory of that reaction to this day, 25 years later.

Women not knowing they are pregnant is on the same lines as the person who stays drunk all day and night and refuses to believe they are an alcoholic. They both are in denial and should be riding down that river in Egypt not trying to sell it to those who know better. You are right minorfallandmajorlift....the human mind can believe anything it sets out to believe. We don't have to believe their lie, only they do.

If she was a stupid little thing, I might believe this farce that she didn't know she was pregnant, but she's too savvy not to know or question the changes in her body. And she certainly had a mother who knew, whom she has had conversations with.
I listened to the 2nd set of commentaries on the birth of this huge baby, and there was a lot of controversy among the writers about whether the public was buy this bogus idea, which shows they're not completely writing us off as gullible.
Bottom line, too much goes on in a woman's body during those 9 months for her not to question or wonder.
The state of denial is a wonderful state: too bad our own country is in the same state where our freedoms are concerned, we'll wake up too late as she did. But then abortion was TRULY a back alley affair with many deaths from the coat hanger approach.

I mean...I don't know how many more times to write that this DOES happen to real, "savvy" women (once again, a colleague who had had three children in the past didn't realize until she was 8 months in that she was pregnant with her 4th - and as a high-powered, educated business woman I think she'd take offence to someone in her situation being labeled to as a "stupid little thing"). People deal with pregnancies differently, both physically and emotionally, and it's naiive to think that every woman is that cognizant of what's going on in her body, especially someone like Peggy who believes that if she takes this magic Pill she'll be completely safe from such a situation.
And while I love Peggy dearly, I don't think savvy is the word I'd use to describe her. She's intelligent, but that does does not mean she's particularly shrewd in the ways of sex and birth. She is an innocent, in a time where I'm sure sex ed wasn't as graphic and informative as it is today. As for talking with her mother I'm not so sure she would be as brave as all that to go to her mom and say "I just had sex with a married man, and, I mean, I'm on the pill, but do you think this weight gain could be a pregnancy, or just all the cherry danishes I'm eating?"

Sorry, I just don't believe that women can be pregnant without knowing it. Even if a woman's "monthlies" still show up or don't show up, a kicking baby is your first clue. I have yet to hear of anyone being pregnant for the entire nine months that doesn't ever feel the baby move. Doctors freak out when the baby isn't moving and immediately test you for the baby being still born. I don't feel denial belongs to the stupid, it can belong to anyone regardless of intellegence. Our minds have the power to do amazing things. I''m sure it could have the power to convince us that a baby is not growing inside. People who lie on nails or walk over burning coals - they never feel pain or get burned...mind over body.