Exactly six months old today, twin sisters Riley and Halle Davidson have beaten odds of 700 million to one simply by being born on October 27.
Delivered six weeks early by caesarean section, they carried on a fine family tradition of being born on the 27th of the month.
Their early years worker mum Cara Graham, 31, was born on May 27; their dad Ryan Davidson – 34 on Sunday – an engineering team leader, was born on April 27; Cara’s grandpa Tommy Graham – who died in 2017 – was born on May 27; Ryan’s uncle Michael McCormack was born on December 27 and his dad Mark Davidson, was born on September 27.
Born weighing 4lb 9oz and 4lb 11oz respectively, Riley and Halle became the sixth and seventh members of the Scottish family’s ‘27 club.’
Mum Cara, of Midlothian, says: “When I was pregnant, Ryan said how weird it would be if they were born on the 27th too, but we never actually believed it was going to happen, as it wasn’t our original due date.”
And with a one in 30 chance of being born on the 27th of any month, the chances of them following in the family tradition were 700 million to one!
Cara continues: “We had suffered a miscarriage previously, so when I fell pregnant again and suffered cramping, we had an early scan at six weeks to check the baby was still ok.
“The sonographer told us that not only was the baby all right, but there were actually two of them in there!
“My granny is a twin, so it wasn’t a complete shock to find out I was pregnant with twins too.”
Enjoying a smooth pregnancy until 33 weeks, Cara was then admitted to hospital, experiencing contractions.
She says: “The doctors told me that I was in early labour, so we thought the twins were on their way, six weeks early.
“It was October 24, so we thought there was no way it was going to be the 27th.”
But her labour progressed so slowly that she had only dilated one more centimetre in three days, which meant the twins still hadn’t arrived by the morning of 27th.
And when doctors decided to speed things up with a caesarean delivery later that day, they joined the family’s 27 club.
Cara says: “We couldn’t believe it. They were six weeks early, which meant they were due on December 8, and I’d gone into labour on October 24, so we ever imagined they would actually end up being born on the 27th instead!
“It was as though they were trying to hang on in there – and they managed to for another 48 hours so they could keep to the family tradition.
“When we told all the family about their birth, no one could quite believe it. We’d thought about it, but no-one actually thought it would happen like this. We can’t believe how many of us there are now all born on the same date.”
Cara suffered a massive haemorrhage after the birth, losing 3.6 litres of blood, and had to have a blood transfusion, so it was an anxious time for Ryan, who was waiting with the girls in special care.
She says: “I was so terrified that something awful was going to happen. I was in the operating theatre for two hours and it was pure panic. All I wanted to do was see my girls.
“Thankfully, the doctors were able to stop the bleeding, give me a transfusion, and then I could finally get to meet my girls, which was incredibly emotional holding them for the first time.”
Both girls needed help with breathing at first and Halle had a problem with her hip, so at 11 weeks old she was fitted with a special brace for 10 weeks, but they are now both doing well.
Cara adds: “We feel so lucky to have them both here with us. They are a perfect addition to our family – and kept with our tradition. I wish we’d put a bet on the girls being born on the 27th – we could have been millionaires!”
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