We all remember that scene in Friends when Erica, the biological mother of Monica and Chandler’s children gives birth to surprise twins. And now, one new mum has had a near-identical experience that occurred just moments after she welcomed her first daughter, Ada.
Lyndsey Altice, 30, and her husband Wesley, 33, were left speechless after Lyndsey gave birth to a baby girl, only to find a surprise twin followed just two minutes later. The couple, from Wisconsin, can be seen in total shock as the midwife hands them their second baby, despite ultrasound scans revealing just one.
Doctors had no idea Lyndsey was carrying twins, but just 17 minutes after getting into the birthing pool, Ada Maze and Billie June were born. “I was immediately suspicious when Ada came out so small, I had put on double the weight I did with my last birth, so I didn’t understand how she could be so tiny,” said Lyndsey. “When I had my son Django a few years previous, he was 9lbs and I put on less weight with him so it was really odd.
“There are no words to describe what I was thinking when I realised I was about to have another baby right there and then. The next contraction was almost instant, I knew before the nurses started saying what they thought it was, I could feel the baby coming but could not communicate it through the contraction. The nurse thought it was the water sack which she hadn’t seen happen before so we were all a bit confused. Then I felt it happening but I couldn’t get the words out, I knew a second baby was coming and then two minutes later there she was,” she added.
Lyndsey said as soon as her second daughter arrived, the “whole room went crazy”. Husband Wesley was in shock and Lyndsey’s sister started taking pictures. “I had a million thoughts that I couldn’t process because I was completely overwhelmed so I just submitted to the moment, I think my face says it all,” she said. “I must have set a world record for how many times someone can scream ‘oh my god’ in 10 minutes. Now we have settled in we are so happy, I would not change a thing.”
Following the birth, Lyndsey even got a recording of her ultrasound and still couldn’t see a second baby, despite now knowing both were there. “I think because they were just checking fluid levels and not checking for a second baby, all they saw was that Ada had moved a little,” she said. “I’m sure if they were looking for two babies, they would have found two. I even got a recording of the ultrasound and you just can’t see a second baby at all, so even when I look, and know she’s there, I can’t see her. When I went into labor they hooked me up to the baby monitor and there was only a reading of one heartbeat.
“It’s a total blessing in disguise, and the kids themselves are great, my son Django adores them and they all get on so well.” Lyndsey explains that she’s thrilled to have the photos, adding that she’ll show them to the children when they’re a little older.
