A woman in Arkansas is pregnant with two babies at the same time...except they aren't twins. ABC News reports:
Doctors successfully located Todd and Julia Grovenburg's growing baby girl Jillian, but then discovered another smaller baby -- what could be Jillian's younger brother -- growing beside her. The Grovenburgs may have conceived their son Hudson a full two-and-a-half weeks after Jillian, according to statements given to KFSM-TV in Ft. Smith-Fayetteville, Ark.
There's even a name for what happened: superfetation, or conceiving while pregnant. Unsurprisingly, it's extraordinarily rare—one doctor said she could only track down 10 reported cases. Granted, there's a big problem—what happens to the younger baby when the older fetus is born?
"It [the second conception] can happen up to 24 days later than the first conception, and then you're putting the second baby at risk for lung development problems," said [OB-GYN Karen Boyle]. However, in the Grovenburg's case, Boyle said the difference of two weeks would not put the younger baby at much of a risk for health problems.
Talk about dodging a bullet—though birthdays in the Grovenburg household should be interesting. Related Content: Discoblog: Girl or Boy? At-Home Test Reveals Baby’s Gender During Pregnancy Discoblog: When Technology Gets Creepy: Giving Birth in Second Life Discoblog: Pregnant Woman Discovers She Has an Extra WombImage: iStockphoto
