A 26-year-old mother beat the odds as she naturally conceived and gave birth to identical triplets in a 1 in 200 million birth.
Katie Craw and her partner Rob Ellis from the UK were stunned when a 12-week scan revealed that they were expecting triplets.
While identical twins are relatively common, one in 250 births, identical triplets are much harder to come by, one in 200 million births.
Fortunately, the three boys were born healthy on February 9, 2020, whereas their parents admitted they had to leave their tags on for some in order not to mix them up.
“When I found out I was pregnant with three I thought ‘we can’t afford a big car or a bigger house.’ It was a lot to take in,” Katie said.
“But my nanna said to me things happen for a reason and these are the cards life has dealt you. And now they’re here, I just feel like I’m in a bubble of happiness. They’re absolutely smashing.”
While the couple, who also have a 4-year-old son, was trying for another child so that Jacob would have a sibling, their family doubled overnight as Katie gave birth to triplets Eddie, Tommy, and Joshua.
As the mother also explained, she was only 8 weeks pregnant when she thought she was already weeks ahead due to her large bump.
“I’d started to fit into my old maternity clothes and was getting a bit of a podge so we thought I was a lot further along,” she added.
“Within five seconds of the sonographer having the scanner on my tummy she asked me to take a deep breath in. I thought she was going to tell me some bad news but she just came out with ‘I can see three heartbeats.’”
According to the mum, absorbing all the info in such a short time wasn’t an easy job. “We were taken to a side room. I was crying and Rob was as white as a sheet,” she added.
While the pregnancy continued without major problems until the 26th week, doctors then discovered that one of the triplets appeared to have stopped gaining weight.
After a trip to a specialist on multiple births, doctors confirmed that Katie was indeed expecting identical triplets, something they initially thought to be wrong information provided by the hospital.
At 28 weeks into the pregnancy, the mother started experiencing contractions that the doctors were able to stop.
As 30 weeks, however, the contractions returned and Katie was rushed to the hospital where she underwent an emergency cesarean and gave birth to three healthy boys.
Thanking the hospital staff who took care of her, the 26-year-old said:
“The whole team at the Maelor dealt with it so unbelievably well, I can’t thank them enough.
“I was so scared but it was like a bubble of excitement, people were making jokes, making me smile, the whole team were amazing.”
What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to SHARE this post with your family and friends and follow us on Facebook for more news and stories!
Replaced!