Woman Went To The Hospital For Stomach Cramps, Came Out With Twins

I love my best friend. She is literally the most perfect human being and I would change nothing about her. Okay, I take that back–there is one thing I would change. She always thinks she’s pregnant, and as her best friend, I have to deal with listening to her “symptoms,” then googling the “symptoms,” and then using all the energy I have left to convince her she’s not pregnant. I’m always highly confident that she isn’t with child, because I put an alarm on our phones for when it’s time to take our pills, so I know she isn’t being negligent. Remember, friends who prevent together, stay together. I just started to assume she liked the extra attention, but it was getting to be a little too much for me to handle, and it was very taxing on our daily texting conversations. Since there was nothing I could do or say to stop the monthly freak-outs, I took matters into my own hands. I turned to my trusty doctor, WebMD, and diagnosed her with pseudocyesis. According to the internet, this is when you trick yourself into thinking that you have symptoms associated with pregnancy without being actually pregnant. This is also referred to as “phantom pregnancy” or “hysterical pregnancy.”

Meet Shelby Magnani, a normal girl from Ankeny, Iowa, who is attending classes at Des Moines Area Community College for automotive technology. She’s also living my best friend’s nightmare–she went to the hospital with a stomach ache and left with twins. Yeah, you heard me right. Twins. As in two babies.

On Thursday, Shelby wasn’t feeling too hot, and she was experiencing sharp pains in her side. She went to the doctor, and the doctor told her she might be pregnant. I can’t imagine going to the doctor with what I thought was a food baby settling wrong to be told it was a very real baby. The doctor then followed up to tell her that she was six months pregnant and then immediately sent her to the ER.

Once an ultrasound was done, doctors told Shelby that she was having twins. I know, I’m freaking out, too. She was taken in for an emergency C-section. Remember, this is still within hours of when she went to the clinic with what she thought was a severe stomach ache. Her fiancé, James Croskey, was absolutely shocked to hear the news about the two babies and commented, “It’s pretty nuts, still sinking in.”

The whole surprise pregnancy isn’t even the craziest part of this whole story. The twins are monoamniotic twins, which means they share one placenta and one amniotic sac. It is reported that less than one percent of all twins born are monoamniotic. Due to serious complications, they only have a 50 percent survival rate. The fact that Shelby didn’t know she was pregnant and didn’t take proactive actions to offset the complications of a monoamniotic pregnancy makes the babies’ survival something that is so beyond a miracle. Hospital staff said that if Shelby would have known she was pregnant, she would’ve had to go to the doctor at 24 to 26 weeks to make sure her twins were developing properly.

James and Shelby are proud parents, and they are calling their girls “little miracles.” They are looking forward to taking Anna and Ava home from the neonatal intensive care unit in several weeks. Other than some monitoring, the two babies are expected to be okay. The couple is trying to raise money to pay for their daughters’ medical care, and you can donate here.

Look how cute her bow is!