A pair of sisters did a double take today after doctors revealed they are BOTH pregnant with TWINS – due on the SAME DAY.
Chuffed Nicola Piercewright, 39, and Anita Phillips, 32, never expected to fall pregnant together despite both desperately wanting more children.
But when Anita revealed to her sister she was pregnant she was surprised to hear just a few weeks later that Nicola, known as Nicki, was too.
As the elated pair celebrated their news doctors revealed to Anita she was expecting twins – and was told by her sister, “rather you than me”.
But Nicola was then told she was also pregnant with twins, due on the same day as Anita’s.
Nicola, from Macclesfield, Cheshire, said: “We couldn’t really believe it. We never thought we would fall pregnant at the same time.
“I remember Anita telling me she was having twins, I had just found out I was pregnant too.
“It was a bit of a running joke really, I was standing at the door before my scan and my husband said to me, ‘there has to be more than one in there’.
“I just thought he was calling me fat!
“My sister kept telling me I could be having twins too and I just old her again and again, ‘rather you than me’.
“I didn’t get a scan until a month after Nicola told me, and then they revealed to me that I was having twins too. It was all a bit of a shock.”
Anita, from Stockport, Cheshire, added: “We were both a bit ‘no way’ when we were given our due dates, it just seems so unreal. We thought it was really weird.
“And then to find out I’m having two boys and Nicki two girls, it’s all just very weird.”
Nicola and husband David, 41, had been trying for a baby for 18 months before she finally fell pregnant.
She had conceived her son, Edward, now four, on the first try, but after suffering two miscarriages had begun to lose hope.
Meanwhile Anita knew she would have to use IVF to conceive again after husband Phil, 37, suffered three bouts of testicular cancer and had a double orchidectomy.
The couple also have a son, Noah, two, through the same process.
Anita was first to discover she was pregnant after doctors were immediately successful with the treatment.
They had implanted two embryos, in a hope one would survive, so she was stunned to discover that both were growing into healthy babies.
“After all the treatment we had had there were only two eggs left so asked them to use both because we would rather have had double the chance,” Anita said.
“I had a test three weeks later which confirmed it had worked, and we knew there was quite a high chance we could be having twins.”
Sister Nicola knew she was pregnant seven weeks in and while Anita had her scan to determine if she was definitely having twins, the customer care consultant was reading positive test results.
At Nicola’s 12 week scan doctors also confirmed she too was having twins, and gave her due date as November 11 – the same as Anita’s.
The astounded pair then had the daunting task of telling their mum her grandchildren would treble in size in just eight months.
Anita added: “Mum is loving it, she thinks she’s like a celebrity now, she’s going round telling everyone that she is going from two grandchildren to six in nine months.
“But she has already told us that she will no longer buy us presents, just the grandkids!”
The pair, who are seen by different doctors at two separate hospitals, now constantly cross reference notes to make sure they are getting the best care.
And they say their pregnancies have also bought them closer as sisters, which they plan to pass on to their children.
Nicola said: “It is amazing how different the hospitals all do things. We have been swapping notes with each other along the way.
“It’s definitely bought us closer. We talk to each other a lot more now, we know our children are going to grow up at the same age so that’s really nice.”
Anita said: “We both had the same sort of sickness, we both had the same aches and pains, it was nice to experience that with someone.
“We compare notes at the doctors so it’s nice to know that between us we are catching everything together.
“It’s exciting and it’s nice to go through it with my sister. Our kids will be the same age, so they will hopefully be very close.”
