A couple have defied the odds by having two consecutive twin pregnancies.
Gina Shelton and Olie Lloyd welcomed their twin boys Arlo and Alby into the world – just three years after their girl twins, Niamh and Esme, were born.
The odds of having two sets of twins, one after the other (with no babies in between), is estimated to be around 700,000 to one.
Gina, who is also mum Phoebe, aged six, said: ‘I never thought we would have twins, but when I was pregnant with the girls I was working in a nursery and I was just so tired all the time.
‘Everyone around me was always saying I was going to have twins.
‘In the waiting room at the hospital Olie and I were looking at cars before the scan and Olie kept joking “forget it, we’re going to need a bus!”
‘I think we were crying with happiness and panic when we found out, because at the time we were living in a two bedroom flat and Olie was in the process of building our house.
‘A year later we found out we were having another set of twins – we couldn’t believe it, but neither could our family or even our doctors.
‘It’s crazy, busy and noisy having five kids but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
‘We get through thousands of nappies and we’ve had to buy a seven-seater car but my family are one in a million.”
Neither Gina nor Olie have a history of twins in their family, making the arrivals even more unexpected.
Both sets of twins were born by C-section and were conceived naturally – within just four months of trying, each time.
The pair estimated that they have changed around 5,550 nappies to date.
Gina said: ‘I did worry that Phoebe was going to be pushed out as Niamh and Esme grew up, but actually it has just brought us closer together.
‘While the twins have each other, Phoebe and I will always have each other because we don’t understand their bond.
‘Niamh and Esme will talk to each other and burst into hysterical fits of laughter while Olie and I are stood trying to work out what they’re laughing at.
‘But if one of them gets picked on, the other is the first one by their side defending them.
‘They’re incredibly close and I’m sure the boys will be the same.
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‘Watching them laugh and love each other like that is the most rewarding thing as a mother.
‘Although the odds aren’t that much higher of winning the lottery, I still think we’re luckier to have the family we do.’