A 'super-fertile' mum fell pregnant while already pregnant because of an incredibly rare phenomenon where she conceived her twins 28 days apart.
Sophie Small and husband Jonathan, 34 - who already have a son named Oscar, six - decided to try for another baby in 2019.
Advert
After the 30-year-old had an idea that she was already pregnant, the couple decided to keep trying just in case.
When they conceived Holly, now two, the couple ended up conceiving baby Darcy a month later in August 2020.
This all happened due to 'superfetation' - a rare event that involves getting pregnant a second time while you're already pregnant.
Advert
Sophie, from Leominster, Herefordshire, said: "Instantly I knew I was pregnant because of headaches but I thought I might not be, so we carried on trying.
"After I conceived Darcy, the sickness was horrific. I was hospitalised eight times in seven weeks and spent 120 hours on a drip.
"I was carrying two babies who were growing at different stages but we didn't know that.
"They couldn't work out why I was so sick. I had a scan at seven weeks and they said it was a bit different.
Advert
"I was expecting twins but one was bigger than the other. They could tell something wasn't right.
"They had their own sacs and placentas so they could feed when they wanted to. They couldn't work out why one twin was bigger than the other.
"When they were born there was a 35 percent growth difference between the two of them, which is massive and they [the staff] realised they'd been conceived four weeks apart.
"Darcy was a 32-week baby and Holly was a 36-week baby. I said it couldn't be right, I'd never heard of it. I didn't know how it happened."
Advert
Sophie added: "They don't even look like sisters, you wouldn't even know. Holly has blonde hair, big beautiful blue eyes and wants to be a princess or a jockey.
"Darcy's hair is a mousey brown hair, she's a tomboy and wants to be a train driver when she's older.
"People think I'm a nutter when I explain. They ask how many minutes apart they are and I say Darcy is two minutes older and four weeks younger, while Holly was born two minutes after but is four weeks older and I just walk away.
Advert
"Some people question whether they are twins."