The triplets weighed 4 lbs 9 oz, 4 lbs 8 oz, and 4 lbs 5 oz respectively, and are doing well, each weighing 7 lbs. Donna Carter, 34, was told she had ‘won the lottery’ when doctors revealed she was pregnant with triplets.

Her Egyptian boyfriend, Mahmood, who is a policeman, and she have been living abroad for four years. Donna, the care worker, is originally from Warsop, near Mansfield.

Only after returning to the UK did she discover she was pregnant. She said : “I was told at the age of 24 that I wasn’t able to have children and now I’m blessed with three at 34. When I came back I found out I was pregnant and at five weeks I was told there were three heartbeats. It was such a shock. They told me it was a chance in a million, like winning the lottery and I could do with winning the lottery now for the money.”

In Nottingham, Donna was referred to Queen’s Medical Centre for every other week scans, but at 32 weeks pregnant, she became ill and was diagnosed with a breech birth. She was rushed to the hospital.

In her words, she was very large and swelled up like a balloon. Within a week, the triplets decided they were ready to come into the world, and I went into labor for 15 hours followed by a caesarean section. It was so loud, I woke up confused and just wanted a cup of tea, I had no idea they had been born when I awoke.

I saw a photograph of my children and thought, ‘They’re not mine! How can they be my children because they must be stɪʟʟ inside me?’. I was so big I thought I was stɪʟʟ pregnant. Then they took me down to see them. It was amazing and I was so overwhelmed and the most content feeling I have ever had.

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