Did you know that you can get pregnant even if you're already pregnant? It's something one woman found out in a very chaotic way.
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Deonna Fletcher, a 26-year-old Pennsylvania native, was over the moon when she found out she was pregnant. Fast forward a few weeks later, and she found out she was having a lot more babies than she expected. Fletcher was pregnant with three babies, but they weren't triplets. She was having a set of twins in addition to another baby.
It's a condition called superfetation, and it's only affected 10 women so far. It's so rare that it's a nearly zero chance of happening. But it still did! Fletcher said that she thought she was having a miscarriage when the pain hit her.
She explained in U.S. Sun, "An early scan confirmed the pregnancy was viable. But six weeks later, while working at my job as a hairstylist, I grabbed my stomach in pain." She thought, "I'm having a miscarriage."
She rushed to the hospital with her boyfriend. The doctor gave her some puzzling news.
Woman Becomes Pregnant Twice
"The baby's fine, but there's another sac," he explained. "With two babies in it." Fletcher was unable to process how she could be pregnant twice with three babies.
She wrote, "It meant I'd become pregnant twice in one week, with the first fraternal baby conceived six days before the other two. It was so unusual, the chances of it happening were close to zero. According to the Cleveland Clinic in the USA, a non-profit which specialises in medicine, only 10 people have had it happen in history."
The doctor explained, "You ovulated twice, but at two different times."
Intitially, the doctor suggested terminating the pregnancy. Being pregnant twice can be potentially deadly to both the mother and babies. But Fletcher refused the idea. Doctors placed her own bed rest to try to avoid complications.
She wrote, "In January 2021, at 32 weeks, I was wheeled into theatre for a C-section. As soon as Amani, Amber and Dream were delivered, they were whisked off to the neonatal intensive care (NICU) to be monitored. Hours later, I visited them.
She also added, "Though premature, they were thriving. My milk supply was enough to breastfeed all three girls. One month later, we strapped the triplets into their car seats and took?them home."
