She had already delivered twins via C-section — then unexpected feeling revealed third baby hidden in womb
For parents hoping to expand their family, expecting a baby is often a dream come true. Typically, pregnant women undergo medical tests and ultrasounds to monitor the fetus. In the process, many expecting parents learn how many babies they're having. But a pregnant woman in China received a shocking yet delightful surprise at the time of her delivery. Malaysian news outlet Sin Chew Daily News reported that the woman, whose name wasn't disclosed due to privacy reasons, in Shanghai had gone through several rounds of ultrasounds but still never got to know a major detail about her pregnancy, as per MS News.
From ultrasound reports, she came to know that she was expecting twins and there was no sign of a third fetus in her womb. So, when the woman opted to undergo a C-section to deliver her twins, neither she nor the doctors were expecting to discover a surprise third baby in her womb. The woman gave birth to twins and the surgical team operating on her went ahead to sew up the incision. But then, the new mom felt a strange sensation in her womb. She promptly informed the doctors and nurses present in the operating room.
The new mom, who had given birth to a boy and a girl, told the medical staff to wait for a while. Then a nurse exclaimed when she spotted a "fetal movement" through the mom's abdomen. "I felt something moving," the mom told the medical staff, who fell silent. The lead surgeon, Dr. Li, quickly conducted more examinations and was surprised to see the results of it. It turned out, there was an undiscovered third fetus in the pregnant woman's uterus.As the entire surgical team reacted to the miraculous discovery, Dr. Li theorized that the fetus might have been in an "unusual position," making it undetectable during USG sessions.
The surgical team had another important task on their hands. They had to prepare for an additional surgery. Thankfully, after hours of carefully conducted second surgery, the doctors were able to deliver the third baby. Dr. Li could finally suture the incision as the surgical team took a breath of relief. "Three babies. This is really a miracle but also a challenge," Dr. Li said, per the Malaysian news outlet, after he informed the woman's family about their unexpected new addition to the family.
There have been similar cases in the past when ultrasounds could not determine the exact number of fetuses in a mother's womb. A woman named Kimberly Fugate had given birth to identical quadruplets back in 2014. However, her fourth baby was overlooked during ultrasounds. Fugate and her husband Craig, who were expecting only a set of triplets, could not believe the doctor when he made a surprise announcement while assisting Fugate to deliver her babies. "I have more feet," the doctor revealed during the delivery procedure.
Fugate became a mom to rare identical quadruplets at 42 and started sharing her motherhood journey on her Facebook page. Fugate already had an 11-year-old daughter when she welcomed the quadruplets and she felt like the luckiest mom in the world after welcoming her 4 kids. "I was 13 weeks along before I found out I was pregnant and had the babies at 28 weeks and one day. When the babies were born more than two months early, they weighed between 2 and 2½ pounds and were critically ill. They spent more than three months in the NICU and needed to be on ventilators to help them breathe because their lungs were so small," the mom revealed to TODAY.