We all know that women's bodies can do incredible things, not the least of which is growing an entire human. Some of us can even grow more than one human at a time. We get stretched, poked, and prodded, but ultimately, having that sweet baby or babies makes it all worth it. And even though we can all agree our bodies are amazing, some are just a tad bit more amazing than others.
Sometimes women get pregnant again right after giving birth. It isn't that unusual. Some people want their kids to be super close. Others believe the old wives' tale that you can't get pregnant if you're breastfeeding. We have some brothers 14 months apart who prove that one's not true!
Although having babies close together isn't a phenomeon, one mom in the UK got pregnant so quickly after becoming pregnant with her first baby that she's one of only about 10 reported cases of this type of pregnancy worldwide. It's a wild tale.
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Your daughters are twins, right?
Well, Sophie Small sure thought they were. Small gave birth to two baby girls, Darcy and Holly, in 2020. All along, Small, 30, thought she was having twins. It wasn't until after the girls were born that something seemed unusual
According to a story in the New York Post, Small told Kennedy News that her midwives were baffled when they saw the babies at birth. Darcy weighed 4 lbs. 2 oz., but Holly weighed 6 lbs. 1 oz. Low birthweight isn't uncommon for twins, but a two-pound difference is unusual.
Doctors soon figured out the sweet babies aren't twins at all. Instead, Small is just hyper-fertile. According to the Post, doctors eventually discovered that the babies were actually conceived a month apart. The phenomenon is called superfetation, and it refers to a second pregnancy occurring shortly after a previous one.
How rare is rare?
"With superfetation, a new pregnancy bypasses your body's natural barriers that prevent a new pregnancy while you're pregnant. These barriers are so effective that it's improbable that superfetation could occur naturally," the Cleveland Clinic reports. "Almost all known cases of superfetation involve assistive reproductive technology (ART)."
There are reportedly only about 10 confirmed superfetation cases worldwide.
Small's pregnancy was 'horrific.'
The super mom told Kennedy News that the pregnancy with her girls was miserable. She was really sick and was hospitalized multiple times.
"I was carrying two babies who were growing at different stages, but we didn't know that," she recalled. "They couldn't work out why I was so sick. I was expecting twins but one was bigger than the other."
The situation was puzzling. "They had their own sacs and placentas, so they could feed when they wanted to," she explained. "But they [doctors] couldn't work out why one twin was bigger than the other."
The significant size differences encouraged doctors to research what was happening with the babies.
Not only were the babies different sizes, but they were also at different developmental stages.
After doctors realized the girls were not twins, they had a better explanation of what was happening. "Darcy was a 32-week baby, and Holly was a 36-week baby," Small told Kennedy News via the Post.
The girls, who aren't twins at all, don't look much alike either, she said.
"Holly has blond hair, big beautiful blue eyes and wants to be a princess or a jockey," the mom explained. "Darcy's hair is a mousey brown hair, she's a tomboy and wants to be a train driver when she's older."
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The superfetation may have caused problems for the girls.
Small explained that Holly has cerebral palsy, but doctors have not determined whether that was due to the unusual pregnancy. Darcy's stomach lining was not fully developed because she was technically a 32-week preemie.
The proud mom said that despite challenges, the girls are thriving and looking forward to the future for the family, which includes a 6-year-old son, Oscar.
"They're very mischievous, fun-loving little girls," the proud mom declared. "They're absolutely thriving. They've started nursery, and they're very confident."
She captioned a recent Facebook post, "I'm the luckiest Mum in the world ❤❤ "
