A mom from Colorado welcome with another set of ʀᴀʀᴇ identical twin girls against 10-million-to-one odds. Casey Saunders, 27, thought the ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀ was ᴘᴜʟʟɪɴɢ her leg when she said the mother of twin boys was expecting yet another duo, the odds of which are one in 70,000.
A 27-year-old mother from Colorado, Casey Saunders, was ʙʟᴏᴡɴ ᴀᴡᴀʏ when an ᴜʟᴛʀᴀsᴏᴜɴᴅ revealed that she’s pregnant with another set of identical twins. Life, it turns out, is full of surprises. Anyone who knows Casey Saunders knows she is surrounded by twins. She’s got twin calves on the ranch where she lives and twins inside her home. Her 9-year-old twin boys are identical. ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀs say identical twins happen about once every 250 births. She has another set of twins, too. Her girls are 4 months old and are known as Mᴏɴᴏᴀᴍɴɪᴏᴛɪᴄ Mᴏɴᴏᴄʜᴏʀɪᴏɴɪᴄ or MoMo twins, which happen less than 1 percent of the time with a twin ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ. MoMo twins share a ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇɴᴛᴀ and an ᴀᴍɴɪᴏᴛɪᴄ sᴀᴄ, making this ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ ʜɪɢʜ-ʀɪsᴋ. The twin ғᴇᴛᴜsᴇs ᴄᴏɴɴᴇᴄᴛ to the ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇɴᴛᴀ via their ᴜᴍʙɪʟɪᴄᴀʟ ᴄᴏʀᴅs. Resting together in the same sᴀᴄ ᴘᴜᴛs them at ʀɪsᴋ for ᴄᴏʀᴅ ᴇɴᴛᴀɴɢʟᴇᴍᴇɴᴛ or ᴄᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴍᴘʀᴇssɪᴏɴ.
After spending the final two months of her ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ in the ʜᴏsᴘɪᴛᴀʟ while ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀs monitored the twins, Casey and her partner Eugene Goree welcomed baby girls Maya and Laia on December 1. Four months later Casey has shared her unlikely story. Casey, an optometric technician, had her boys Hayden and Cameron when she was 17 years old, and nine years later she learned she and her partner Eugene were pregnant again. When she went in for her first ᴜʟᴛʀᴀsᴏᴜɴᴅ she had the excited boys in tow. She said :” On the way to the ᴜʟᴛʀᴀsᴏᴜɴᴅ they were arguing over who was going to get to hold ‘the baby’ first. I thought the sᴏɴᴏɢʀᴀᴘʜᴇʀ was trying to tease me when she said there were two ʜᴇᴀʀᴛʙᴇᴀᴛs because she knew I had my twin boys with me.The technician saw the monitor and told I ‘You should go buy a Powerball ticket when you’re done here.’ I was sʜᴏᴄᴋᴇᴅ. I called Eugene and said ‘ You’re not going to believe this’. He was surprised but really excited from the beginning.”
Because her ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ was a ʜɪɢʜ ʀɪsᴋ one, Casey was ʜᴏsᴘɪᴛᴀʟɪᴢᴇᴅ during the last two months of her ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ so ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀs could monitor the babies for any ᴘᴏᴛᴇɴᴛɪᴀʟ ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴs. She said:” It was ɴᴇʀᴠᴇ-ᴡʀᴀᴄᴋɪɴɢ at each ᴜʟᴛʀᴀsᴏᴜɴᴅ not knowing if we had ʟᴏsᴛ them to ᴄᴏʀᴅ entanglement. But each week they were still there growing.” While in the ʜᴏsᴘɪᴛᴀʟ she spent her time knitting and writing in a journal intended for her baby girls. She spoke with her sons via FaceTime because they were only able to visit on the weekends. Casey spent 60 days in the ʜᴏsᴘɪᴛᴀʟ. The girls were delivered at 32 weeks and were able to go home 4 weeks later. The boys have been remarkably gentle with their sisters and are eager to help, except with diaper duty. Casey and Eugene are just happy to have everyone home together. Twins are more work in many ways, but Casey knows that well.
Now, the now-four-month-olds have settled into their home with the help of their older brothers. Casey said:” They are doing excellent. Exceeding all expectations. And the boys absolutely adore them. They still won’t change diapers but they love to hold them and feed them. It’s heartwarming to see.” While raising two babies at once is a challenge, it’s nothing new for Casey. She said: “You fall into a routine after a while and it comes back to you after you’ve done it once.”