A young mother revealed she found out she was having twins a week before giving birth.
Basetsana Moeketsi, 28, from Johannesburg, South Africa, didn’t even know she was pregnant until more than halfway through her pregnancy, but she received another surprise days before she went into labor.
“I didn’t have any lumps or anything,” she explained. ‘I only started to realize it when I was five months old.
‘I started to feel nauseous and that’s why I went to the doctor. I have a three-year-old son, so I’ve been pregnant before and this was nothing like that.’
However, blood tests showed Basetsana was in her second trimester and the scan showed a single baby.
Basetsana Moeketsi (pictured) found out she was expecting twins a week before giving birth
“There was nothing irregular or signs of pregnancy,” she said.
‘As my pregnancy progressed it still wasn’t noticeable, but once I was eight months old my belly grew dramatically.
“The doctors said the lump probably looked bigger because I’m so short (I’m 4ft 11in), but they wanted to refer me to a specialist in case there was excess fluid in my uterus, just to be careful.
‘The moment the specialist saw me, he said, “You’re pregnant with twins.”
‘I felt overwhelmed. There were mixed emotions about the pregnancy itself and then about the twins. It was surprise after surprise.
“I prepared for a boy and bought boy clothes only to find out they were fraternal twins and the second one was a girl.”
The final scan showed two heads and a week after finding out she was expecting twins, Basetsana was scheduled for a C-section and gave birth to Miracle and Blessing.
Basetsana attended three ultrasound appointments before the specialist scan, but Miracle was hidden behind her brother and was not visible.
Blood tests showed Basetsana was five months pregnant and the scan (pictured) showed a single baby.
The 36-week scan (pictured) shows two babies for the first time, just a week before Basetsana gave birth.
Basetsana (right) holds Blessing while her partner Gabriel (left) holds her twin sister Miracle. Their first daughter, Adorable (center), comes between them.
Basetsana (center) had only bought clothes for a small child but returned from the hospital with twins
The twins’ older sister, Adorable (center), is always “happy to be around them” and enjoys playing with her siblings.
The father of the twins, Gabriel, 30, comes from a family with six sets of twins and 13 children from the same mother.
Basetsana said: “He wasn’t surprised that they were twins, but it was obviously a shock.” I was so happy.’
Miracle and Blessing, now one year old, are fraternal twins, but Basetsana still had trouble telling them apart.
“They looked identical,” he said. “I had to literally label his diapers to tell them apart and remember that he only had boy clothes, which made it worse.”
‘My first daughter, Adorable, is so happy to be around them – they’re like triplets!’
Basetsana added: “I never thought about having three children. I thought I didn’t even want more than one. When you’re a new mother everything becomes so overwhelming.
‘I didn’t even get a chance to wish for more babies, the babies just arrived!
‘Twins are not found in every home. They are a blessing.”
The twins’ father, Gabriel (right), comes from a family with six sets of twins and was equally surprised.
Miracle and Blessing, now one year old, are fraternal twins, but their mother Basetsana still had trouble telling them apart.
The couple said they didn’t try to have more babies, but “the babies just arrived,” in a family photo.
Inspired by her experience, the mother of three wrote and published a book called And When You Pray Tonight.
Basetsana continued; ‘All I can say is that everything happens for a reason. Mentally you think you are not ready but there is a reason they give you twins.
‘It’s just a matter of time until you are convinced that you can handle it and that it brings you a lot of joy.
“There is nothing easy in life, but if there is one thing I will not regret, it is being his mother.”
Basetsana has a combined 467,000 followers on social media and told her story to her followers.
The experience motivated her to write and self-publish a book called And When You Pray Tonight. Each page provides the reader with guidance and inspiration for prayer.
She said: “It started as tweets about my personal prayer and then I framed it as if I was talking to someone else.”
“I was telling people what to pray for, then I turned it into a book and it sold all over the world.”