A mom is just weeks off giving birth to conjoined twin girls who are inseparably fused at the heart and liver.
Fuschia Gaskin and husband Quincy, both 26, are set to welcome little Lailani and Iyana into the world later this month.
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The mom-of-one discovered she was pregnant with the girls last November at Dr Stanley Santiago’s ultrasound clinic in Key West, Florida.
Admin worker Fuschia and naval operations specialist Quincy have since moved to Clemanton, New Jersey.
Fuschia, who is already mom to an adorable one year-old boy called Quamari, will give birth to her 200,000-to-one babies at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia next month.
In an exclusive interview with Metro US, the admin worker said: ‘I found out at 20 weeks, and right now I’m 31 weeks.
‘We were just going in like a regular ultrasound visit.
‘We were excited, then the scan was continuing, then they said: “There are two babies and not just one.”
‘We thought “Even better”.
Fuschia continued: ‘They kept doing the scan and said they are conjoined, and we instantly thought “That’s scary.”
‘The doctors were surprised.
‘It’s exciting, its nerve wracking, it’s scary, you just don’t know what to expect really.’
The couple subsequently went further ultrasounds, to establish which vital organs the girls shared.
Fuschia continued: ‘They share their heart and liver. Everything else is separate. They each have two arms and two legs.
‘But as of right now, they are not separable.’
Fuschia has set up a Facebook page complete with an amazing ultrasound photo of her two girls.
Doctors have told her Iyana has a cleft lip and palate, which they anticipate fixing at a few months old.
But the girls also suffer a heart condition that is potentially much more serious.
Fuschia explained: ‘The doctors are worried about their heart.
‘They have a heart condition whereas instead of a normal heart like most people have, with two upper chambers and two lower chambers, they have just one large upper chamber and three lower chambers.
‘(The doctors) are worried about how’s that’s going to function after.
‘It could potentially cause health issues if their hearts are overworked.’
Speaking of her husband, who is an operations specialist in the navy, Fuschia said: ‘Quincy feels the same as me.
‘He’s excited. He’s going through the same rollercoaster.
‘Our family are excited too. When I tell people I meet they say ‘Oh My God.’
Doctors have told Fuschia she will be given an epidural and will be awake for the birth, like any other mom.
She will have a Caesarian section, but may have to have a midline vertical incision as well as the standard horizontal cut to remove the girls from her womb.
Medics have also warned Fuschia that Lailani and Iyana will have to spend several months in hospital while they monitor the girls.
She has not yet bought any specialist furniture for her new arrivals, and plans to use one year-old Quamari’s crib and rocker for her baby girls.
Doctors told the Gaskins that the chances of a pregnancy like theirs are just one in 200,000.
Fuschia added: ‘They said (the pregnancy) is nothing that either of us did.
‘We found out we both had twins on both sides of our family.
‘We didn’t find that out until we were having twins.
‘They said it’s a one in 200,000 thing. We just got lucky and drew that straw.’
Fuschia and Quincy have set up a GoFundMe page to help support their family. To donate click here.
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METRO
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