■ THE MIRACLE TWINS BORN THREE WEEKS APART
A MUM has conceived twins three weeks apart – becoming one of the few people in the world to fall pregnant while expecting.
Rebecca Roberts, 39, learnt she was pregnant with her daughter, Rosalie, when she was already carrying her son, Noah.
The clothes maker was shocked to find out at her 12-week scan – after her two previous ones only showed one baby.
‘I thought something awful had happened because the sonographer didn’t say anything,’ said Ms Roberts. ‘Then she looked at me and said “did you know you’re expecting twins?”.
‘My heart skipped a beat. She couldn’t get any measurements of the little baby because she was so small so she got me to go out into the car park and jump around to try and get the baby to move a bit.’
Husband Rhys, 43, didn’t believe it ‘until he looked at the pictures’.
The rare phenomenon, superfetation, can happen if an egg is released in ovulation during a pregnancy. ‘I didn’t even know that existed,’ said Ms Roberts. ‘Even my midwife found it baffling.’
She gave birth via C-section on September 17 last year at the Royal United Hospital in Bath. And at 2lb 7oz, Rosalie was around half the weight of her 4lb 10oz twin.
‘It was such a relief,’ said the mum, of Trowbridge, Wiltshire. ‘They were just beautiful, especially Rosalie; she was so small her nappy came up to her armpits.’
After Noah remained in hospital for three-and-a-half weeks and Rosalie for 95 days, the pair were reunited and met sister Summer, 14. ‘It is hard work having twins but having the family together is amazing,’ said Ms Roberts.