A mother has recalled the surprising moment she was told she was pregnant with triplets - just four-weeks before she gave birth.
The rare moment has gone viral on social media after Genevieve Knox, who goes by the handle @knoxedoutnumbered on socials, explained, "Our triplets were born at 33 weeks and 2 days, and were 4lbs, 4 lbs 1 oz, and 2 lbs 15 oz. I had only found out 4 weeks prior that we were having triplets, and I was lucky I had even made it that far into the pregnancy."
Her story is so unique it required further explanation and she told Today that the surprising news was given to her during her 20-week pregnancy scan, after the ultrasound technician suddenly went quiet.
"She’s like, 'Wait, you’re having twins?' And I said, 'No, I’m not'," the teacher said. "Then I looked up and I could see clear as day that there were two babies."
But if you're wondering how the extra babies in her womb didn't get picked up sooner, it's because Genevieve previously declined having a NT scan at the end of the first trimester because she was so busy with work, so because she missed this, she remained unaware that she was carrying more than one baby despite being 4.5 months pregnant.
But that wasn't the end of her surprises.
@knoxedoutnumbered ♬ original sound - TheQuiteFranklyShow
Genevieve and her husband, who already has a six-year-old son, opted to have a 4D scan when they were told they were having twins so they see the babies in more detail.
But as she was having the 4D scan, the sonographer kept moving the wand across her belly and asked, "How far along were you when you found out you were having twins?' And I said, 'Oh, gosh you’re not going to believe it,' and then I told him what happened at the 20-week scan."
And then the sonographer told her she was in fact having triplets when she was seven months pregnant.
"I barely remember anything else about the moment. I was in total shock," she laughed.
Just weeks later, Genevieve gave birth to daughters Kaylee, Lily and Cecilia at 33 weeks gestation.
The trio spent a few weeks in neonatal care but are now of pre-school age and are said to be thriving.
But while the other babies came as a surprise, Dr. Sean Daneshmand, a director of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, told Today that hidden triplet syndrome is "not as uncommon as you would think."
He said, "When the babies are very small, one baby can hide behind the other. Typically by 26, 27, 28 weeks – the baby that’s been missed will suddenly appear."
And people have commented on TikTok after seeing the viral post. One wrote, "Oh man I wish we could have seen the reactions finding the 2 extra babies in there 😂"
To which Genevieve replied, "I wish I had footage of it!!!"
Another pointed out the son's reaction, and put, "😂😂 his little face 🥰 well at least you didn’t find out in the delivery room 😳😂😂"
And a third added, "The birthday parties must be insane LMAO😭 this is awesome lol."
According to Tommy's, currently one in every 65 births in the UK are twins, triplets or more, and it's usually possible to find out for certain if you’re having multiple babies at your first ultrasound scan.
