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A woman was shocked to find out she was having triplets – a bombshell that came seven months into her pregnancy.
Genevieve ‘Genna’ Knox was initially surprised to conceive so easily at 39, but another shock came at her 20-week scan when the ultrasound technician asked her if she was having twins.
Knox said she wasn’t, but looked at the screen and saw there actually were two babies.
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Speaking to Today, she recalled: “I looked up and I could see clear as day that there were two babies.”
She added: “I started having kids later in life, and I didn't know if I'd even be able to have one.
“We were overjoyed."
But the fun didn’t end there.
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Nine weeks later, the fifth-grade teacher decided to get a 4D ultrasound in a non-medical setting, just as a bit of a keepsake for her pregnancy.
She said she started to grow uneasy when the sonographer kept moving the wand across her stomach, taking their time.
“Finally he goes, ‘How far along were you when you found out you were having twins?’,” she explained.
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“And I said, ‘Oh, gosh you’re not going to believe it,’ and then I told him what happened at the 20-week scan."
At this point, the sonographer dropped the news that Knox was actually pregnant with triplets.
"I barely remember anything else about the moment,” she said.
“I was in total shock."
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On 21 March 2019, Knox gave birth to Kaylee, Lily and Cecilia at 33 weeks.
While the sisters had to spent a few weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), they are thankfully now doing well and enjoying life as preschoolers.
Knox said of Cecilia, the ‘hidden triplet’: “She has a very big personality. She is hilarious and we love her to death, but she definitely marches to the beat of her own drum.”
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California-based Dr Sean Daneshmand - director of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, who treated Knox - said the so-called hidden triplet syndrome is not actually as ‘uncommon’ as you might assume.
“When the babies are very small, one baby can hide behind the other,” he said.
“Typically by 26, 27, 28 weeks — the baby that’s been missed will suddenly appear.”
Knox now shares updates about her life as mum to three girls on TikTok under the handle @knoxedoutnumbered, having recently posted her ‘fun pregnancy story’ to her 45,000 followers.
Jess Hardiman