A mother was understandably baffled when she was rushed to hospital for what she thought was kidney stones and ended up giving birth to triplets.
Dannette Glitz, from Sturgis, South Dakota, started feeling pain in her back and sides earlier this month. Having had kidney stones before, she thought she recognised the symptoms and assumed it was the same issue.
She attempted to carry on as normal, however in a post on Facebook Dannette explained before long she ‘was in so much pain all [she] could do was lay in bed’. The mum added it hurt to move and breathe.
The American went to urgent care, believing she needed surgery to break up the kidney stones, however after giving a urine sample to the doctor she learned she was actually pregnant.
The revelation came as a huge shock to Dannette, who had not experienced morning sickness or felt any movement from the babies. The mother and her partner Austin already have two children together but still nothing had tipped her off to the fact she was pregnant once more.
Doctors performed an ultrasound and told the surprised woman there were two babies. They determined the pain she had been feeling to be the result of contractions and so she was rushed to another hospital, where she underwent a c-section.
The surprises weren’t finished, however, as it was only as doctors were performing the surgery that they discovered Dannette was having triplets, rather than twins.
Speaking to KOTA-TV, the mum explained:
It was quiet, we thought they were done.
[Austin’s] over there, kind of like rocking like, thinking of the names and then [the doctor’s] like well we need another blanket and his reaction is like excuse me, put it back, no, I was told I have twins, I’m not doing triplets.
She’s like no, there’s three babies in here, there’s triplets.
The mum welcomed two girls and a boy into the world on August 10 and later shared a picture of the newborns on Facebook, with the telling caption: ‘well this was a huge shock’.
Dannette told KOTA-TV her family and friends were completely taken aback.
She said:
You don’t ever see triplets being conceived naturally, let alone going 34 weeks without knowing.
So, everyone’s like, I can’t believe it. We’re still in shock, trust me.
I go to the doctor’s thinking I’ll have surgery for kidney stones and end up going into labour with a c-section that night. It’s crazy.
The babies have been named Blaze, Gypsy and Nikki.
After their arrival, one of Dannette’s friends set up a fundraising page on Facebook to help raise money for the parents, explaining they are ‘in need of everything’.
Almost £1000 has been raised so far; you can donate to the family here.
Dannette shared an update on the children on Thursday, explaining that after having to be on IVs the babies were making good progress and should be able to return home with their parents in the next few days.
Amazing!
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.