When a pregnant woman went for her ultrasound, she received the biggest shock of her life. She asked the sonographer if she was having twins, but the latter stepped out of the room, leaving the mom-to-be perplexed. Keep reading to discover what happened next.
Parenthood is an extraordinary journey that changes people’s lives most unexpectedly. The mere thought of having a home echoing with children’s cackles and witnessing your little ones accomplish their milestones is every parent’s dream come true.
However, becoming a parent isn’t always easy, and sometimes, people might have to endure a period of pain and struggle before being able to cradle their bundle of joy. The woman in today’s story experienced something similar before receiving the most life-changing surprise.
A GRAND SURPRISE
Ashley Ness is a part-time hair stylist who lives in Taunton, Massachusetts, with her boyfriend, Val, a small-engine mechanic, her young daughter, Chanel, and Val’s two youngest sons, Isaiah and Zayden. Her boyfriend also has another child in their 20s living outside the home.
They share a three-bedroom apartment and love parenting their children together. In February 2022, just before Valentine’s Day, Ness said she learned she was pregnant. But the biggest surprise came two weeks later when she went for her ultrasound appointment.
SHOCKED AND CONFUSED
“I’m having twins?” asked Ness. “I don’t know, honey,” replied the sonographer before walking out of the room. For some time, the pregnant woman said she sat in the room, wondering what was happening. She recalled:
“I’m now in the room by myself panicking, like, ‘What’s going on? What did she see?'”
Eventually, Ness said the sonographer returned, turned to her, and asked, “Did you tell anybody you were having twins?” When Ness inquired why she was saying so, she added, “Can you just hold off on telling people?”
EXPECTING THE UNEXPECTED
Ness noted that the sonographer started the ultrasound again and exclaimed, “Honey, there’s actually four babies in there.” But they weren’t just four babies. Further tests revealed the four babies were in two placenta sacks, corresponding to two sets of identical twins.
While Ness’s pregnancy might sound incredibly rare and miraculous, a couple from Wichita, Kansas, experienced something similar in 2002.
Dr. Ahmet Baschat, director of the Center for Fetal Therapy and a professor in the Johns Hopkins Medicine Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, who wasn’t associated with Ness’s case, shared that the probability of having two sets of identical twins is 1 in 10 million.
A TRUE BLESSING
After returning, Ness said the sonographer explained she had to briefly leave the room to search online if what she was seeing was actually possible. Meanwhile, the mom-to-be expressed that she had difficulty believing she was pregnant with a rare set of quadruplets. She said:
“I waited to tell people, too, because I just wanted to make sure that the babies were OK because I have had miscarriages in the past and chances are a lot higher [because] I’m high risk now. When I did start telling people was in April, so everyone thought it was an April Fools’ joke.”
Ness stated that after suffering four miscarriages, she had accepted her life as a mother of a young daughter and embraced Val’s kids as her own. She said having twins seemed common because she and Val had twins in their family, but being pregnant with four babies was a huge shock.
DECIDING THE NAMES
While many people were astonished by the news, Ness noted that nobody doubted her ability to handle four babies. The happy mom-to-be shared that everyone in her family was delighted, including her parents and her daughter, Chanel, who had also decided the babies’ names. She revealed:
“I’ve always wanted to keep the whole ‘Ch’ because my parents, all their grandkids besides one is all ‘Ch.’ So I wanted to stay on that whole ‘Ch’ path and we came up with all their names. So it’s Chesley and Chatham are the girls, and then Chance and Cheston are the boys.”
Ness is pregnant with two sets of identical twins, one set of boys and one of girls. She said the combination only occurs once in every 70 million pregnancies.
GETTING SUPPORT FROM HER LOVED ONES
Coupled with the excitement, Ness is aware that adding four more babies to her family will require some adjustment. She mentioned the need for a passenger van and a bigger place to accommodate her family of nine.
To help the new mother, her friends set up a GoFundMe campaign because raising four kids would likely be a costly and challenging task. So far, more than $12,000 have been raised of the $15,000 target amount. Ness’s friend wrote on the GoFundMe page:
“The average cost to raise one child is 17k per year. The average cost for quadruplets is above 68k. These expenses do not include specialized treatments for preemies, which they will be. Ashley cannot return to work as these tiny miracles will need round-the-clock care for most of their first year.”
THE EXCITED MOM-TO-BE
The Taunton resident said she looks forward to meeting the little ones and discovering how “rambunctious” they are. She further added:
“I can’t wait to see how identical they are. Am I going to have a hard time telling them apart? As of right now, I feel like they’re very active inside, so I’m like, ‘Oh, are you going to be rambunctious little nuggets when you come out? Are you gonna give me a run for my money?”
AN AMAZING DAD
Ness stated that she’s due on October 18, 2022, but the doctors told her she’d most likely deliver her babies early because her pregnancy is deemed high risk. “They will have me have them between 30-32 weeks, so that’ll be from Aug. 9 to Aug. 23, in between that,” said Ness.
Luckily, Ness mentioned that her boyfriend, Val, is a fantastic father, and she’s not worried about having to care for the little ones alone. Still, the soon-to-be mother said she planned to get help from her three siblings. She revealed:
“Even if they didn’t want to be part of the team, they’re going to be part of the team. They have no choice.”
ANOTHER RARE BUT BEAUTIFUL SCENARIO
While Ness’s pregnancy might sound incredibly rare and miraculous, a couple from Wichita, Kansas, experienced something similar in 2002. Christina and Pat Tetrick had twins on both sides of their family, but they didn’t expect to hear they were pregnant with two sets of identical twins. Christina recollected:
“I said, well ‘what are you seeing that you’re so quiet?’ And she said, ‘honey, you have four babies in your belly.’ And it was a good thing I was laying down — that was just a shock!”
Like Ness, Christina’s rare set of quadruplets, two sets of identical twins — all boys — was rare but natural. As was expected, the Tetricks were over the moon after hearing the astonishingly pleasant news. Indeed, miracles happen every day, and often, they surprise us when we least expect them.
We hope you enjoyed reading these heartwarming stories. Please share them with people who are going through a challenging phase and could use some motivation to stay hopeful for better times.