Woman has three babies in a year, with firstborn then twins
A woman has become a mum of three in just one year, after having identical twins soon after her first-born daughter.
Emma Geairns, 34, from Poole, Dorset gave birth to her twin boys, Noah and Arthur, just two days after her daughter Harlow's first birthday, in February 2021.
The twins, now nine months old, and Harlow, who's 21 months, arrived after Geairns was told she had a very slim chance of naturally conceiving, due to the way her cervix and uterus are aligned.
The new mum, who works in property development, and her husband Jamie, 32, who live in Poole, Dorset, conceived Harlow after a year of trying.
"We had actually decided to take a break from trying after a year and spend the summer drinking and having fun," she explains.
"It was just after that I found out I was pregnant the first time."
Read more: Mum delivers 'pumpkin baby' weighing a huge 14lb 15oz
After giving birth to Harlow, the couple assumed it would take a while for Emma to get pregnant again, particularly after doctors had explained the potential conception complications.
"But literally the first time we had sex after I gave birth, I was pregnant again," Geairns explains.
Watch: Mum of quadruplets details 'chaotic' mornings including getting up at 3am and going through 40 nappies a day
The mum-of-three was 25 when she was told by doctors that she had a very slim chance of conceiving naturally.
"It was something that came up after a smear test, they said the way my cervix and uterus are aligned made it very unlikely," she says.
"At the time, I took it in my stride and decided to focus on my career, but when I met my husband we decided we wanted to try."
Read more: Premature baby born with intestines outside body defies odds to return home
Geairns says her friends now tell her story to offer hope to others hoping to conceive.
"I'm the woman who was told I probably couldn't have children, and then I had three in a year," she says.
However, the twins pregnancy was not all smooth sailing.
"At first I assumed it was just one baby," she says. "Early on in the pregnancy, I started bleeding, and both myself and the doctors assumed I'd had a miscarriage.
"I went into the doctors to make sure everything had passed and that I was ok.
"But they told me not only did I have one healthy foetus, I had two!"
Read more: New mum loses 7 stone after warning
Geairns says her husband didn't believe her when she first told him.
"Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Jamie wasn't allowed into the doctors with me," she says.
"I was so shocked and overwhelmed that they told me I had twins, when I thought I had lost a baby.
"I came out to the car crying, and he was trying to comfort me, and say we could try again and everything.
"When I told him it was twins, he thought I was joking."
Now parents of three, the couple currently don't have any plans to have any more children.
"It's really manic having three kids under two," Geairns explains.
"It's amazing, but it's hard work.
"We're very blessed to have three healthy children, and I feel so lucky and grateful."
Additional reporting Caters.
