In just four years, Petrina McArthur, 32, a mother of eight, gave birth to three pairs of twins. Petrina Mcarthur of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, welcomed her newest set of twins in November, but they had a difficult time adjusting to life.
Born a month early, Felix and Francine spent their first weeks on earth in the NICU. They went home for Christmas. While managing twins is a challenge for any parent, Petrina is used to the demands of being a mum, with six other kids to look after. In fact, after having three sets of twins since 2017, dealing with two at a time has become routine for the mum of eight.
Petrina and Trevor started their family seven years ago when they welcomed their eldest son. A few years later, they had a daughter.
Then when Petrina fell pregnant again with what she thought would be her third child, she was Fʟᴏᴏʀᴇᴅ when she found out she was having two girls – Hailyn and Hannah, non-identical twins born in November 2017. In May 2019, she gave birth to a boy and a girl, Kai, and Kitty.
Recently When she welcomed Felix and Francine on 29 November, she was an expert at managing chaos She was managing 6 children, so now she has more twins that become normal.
Dr. Stephanie Cooper said it’s rare to have twins without using Fᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴛʏ treatments like IVF.
She added that it’s “definitely unusual” to have three sets of twins in four years as Petrina has.
“If you are somebody who just tends to ovulate more than one ᴇɢɢ per cycle, then that would make you more likely to have twins in a subsequent pregnancy,” she explained, adding some women are more likely to ovulate multiple eggs through family history, ᴇᴛʜɴɪᴄɪᴛʏ or types of Fᴇʀᴛɪʟɪᴛʏ treatment.
After a worrying month in NICU with Felix and Francine, the parents and twins are finally home – but Petrina admits she doesn’t get much sleep or privacy. But although she’s short on time for herself, she doesn’t mind one bit – because she gets plenty of love and cuddles from the kids.
