Woman falls pregnant with second baby while already pregnant

A woman has revealed the moment she was told she was expecting a second child – while already pregnant with her first baby.

A US mum has revealed how she got pregnant while she was already expecting a baby – conceiving her two daughters five days apart.

Odalis and Antonio Martinez, of San Pablo, California, were overjoyed when they found out they were expecting a baby in November 2020, but were then shocked when they were told they were expecting two – and the babies were not twins, The Sun reports.

This incredibly rare phenomenon is known as superfetation and is when a second, new pregnancy occurs during an initial pregnancy – and can occur days or even weeks after the first one.

The mum said it felt like a “miracle” to give birth to daughters Lilo and Imelda Martinez-Atoyac on August 10, 2021.

Odalis and Antonio Martinez were stunned when they found out Odalis had conceived a second baby while already pregnant Picture: Kennedy News

And even though the girls are not twins, they look so alike that Odalis says sometimes she and Antonio confuse them.

She also said explaining superfetation just confuses people, so she usually says they’re twins as it’s easier.

“They’re technically not even identical but everyone thinks that they are. They definitely look a lot alike,” she said.

Lilo and Imelda are now six months old – but they aren’t technically twins. Picture: Kennedy News

“Antonio will have a baby for an hour and be like, ‘Oh Lilo’ this and that and I’m like, ‘You have Imelda,’ and he will be like, ‘What?’ and I’m just there laughing because he was like, ‘Oh my God for a whole hour I thought I had Lilo’.

“I usually don’t get them mixed up anymore, just because I’m with them 24/7 so I feel like I can tell them apart pretty easily, but a lot of people get them mixed up.”

Odalis and Antonio, 31, who currently works as a counsellor, married in early 2020 and dreamt of starting their own family.

Odalis fell pregnant but unfortunately discovered she had miscarried during their 12-week check-up in July 2020.

When the couple were ready to try again a few months later, she fell pregnant that same month.

“I was extremely happy that the pregnancy test was positive and we were on our pregnancy journey again,” she said.

Odalis often tells people her daughters are twins as it’s easier than explaining the rare phenomenon. Picture: Kennedy News

“I felt really lucky. I know a lot of people that have been trying to conceive and just haven’t been able to so that was also a fear of mine but thankfully that wasn’t our case and I fell pregnant really quickly.

“I felt really happy and also scared because of the miscarriage.

“It was pretty terrifying throughout my whole pregnancy not knowing if that was going to be the outcome again.

“Hoping for the best but knowing there’s always a possibility that things might not go as planned.

“The month that we conceived – and before we even knew that I was pregnant with two babies – Antonio and I had gone to the park to work out.

“He was shooting basketballs and said, ‘OK, if I shoot this basket and I make it, you have twins. Just kidding.’

“And he made it and I was like, ‘Haha, very funny.’”

Odalis was thrilled to learn she was having two babies after suffering a miscarriage months earlier. Picture: Kennedy News

Due to the pandemic, Odalis went to her first ultrasound alone.

“The doctor comes in and I’m trying to mentally prepare myself for anything and when she found the first baby and the heartbeat I was crying with so much happiness,” she said.

“And then she started going back and forth and I was wondering why – my mind just went to the worst-case scenario because of the traumatic experience that we had [before].

“That’s when she told me that she had found another baby that also had a heartbeat.

“I was just crying with happiness. I felt like the first baby that we had lost was in the room with me and saying it was going to be OK.

“When you go to the first ultrasound they check everything and around the day that you actually conceived the baby and that’s when she told me that they were conceived five days apart, which I didn’t even know could happen.”

The mum-of-two said her due date was set in the middle – two days after one baby would have been 40 weeks and two days before the other one would have been 40 weeks.

When the babies arrived, Lilo, who was conceived first, was also born first, weighing 3kg. Imelda then followed, weighing 3.2kg.

Odalis said: “I feel like it’s some sort of miracle that I experienced this double pregnancy. Because of our first experience, it made everything during this pregnancy feel so much more special and magical.

“Just how easy I was able to conceive, and knowing that I had two babies, I just felt like there was so much light after such a dark place. It was the best surprise ever.

“It was a really beautiful moment to finally be able to hold them in my arms.

“When I held them and knew that they were OK, I can’t even explain the feeling. I love my family and my husband, but I had just never experienced a love and happiness like that.”

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission