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'This actually blows my mind': US mum's shock discovery about triplets

By Kate Kachor|

A mother in the US has expressed her shock after discovering a rare fact about one of her triplets.

Shannon Tarkey, who describes herself as a 'large family mum', took to social media to reveal why her daughter is taller than her siblings - because she is 'technically' two months older.

The mum-of-five regularly shares snippets from her life with her family with her more than 100,000 Instagram followers.

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Shannon Tarkey with her triplets.
Shannon Tarkey with her triplets. (boys_plus_triplets/Instagram)

"Brooklyn has always been at least four inches (10 cm) taller than her triplet siblings since she was born," Tarkey wrote in an Instagram post.?

"She weighed a lot more than them at birth, and one of their NICU nurses always commented that Brooklyn seemed so much older than the other 2 triplets.

"Turns out - she technically could be older than Aubrey and Caleb."

She then shared a story she has not publicly shared before.?

"Before we found out we were expecting triplets I took an early pregnancy test and was so excited to see that it was positive," she wrote.

"A few days later I took another one to confirm and it was negative. I was a little confused and sad, but figured we'd try again next month."

She said two months after the negative test, the couple was expecting triplets.?

"I thought about my previous "false positive," and always thought it was weird," she said.

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Brooklyn (right) with her siblings.
Brooklyn (right) with her siblings. (boys_plus_triplets/Instagram)

"Turns out Brooklyn could have possibly been conceived a month or two before Aubrey and Caleb - meaning I could've already been pregnant with her and conceived fraternal twins even while pregnant.

"It is very rare, but it definitely can happen."

She offered that the couple will "never know for sure".

"Of course fraternal multiples can always look completely different and be different heights, but I've always found this pretty fascinating," she wrote.

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Tarkey's post caused a stir among her followers.

"What stopppp! That's crazy to think about! Was she always measuring bigger than them during ultrasounds???" one said.

"She measured bigger and also weighed a pound more than Aubrey and Caleb at birth! Their NICU nurse would always say "I swear she's older!" because she would even act older as Aubrey and Caleb seemed more like "preemies," Tarkey replied.

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Brooklyn (right) with her sister Aubrey.
Brooklyn (right) with her sister Aubrey. (boys_plus_triplets/Instagram)

Another follower took a moment to take it all in, even doing the pregnancy maths.

"This actually blows my mind. So if she was possibly conceived two months earlier and you had them at 32 weeks technically she was "full term" maybe that's why you had them then. The human body amazes me," they wrote.

A third follower offered their own experience on the topic, claiming doctors confirmed similar suspicions as Tarkey.

"So funny enough this has been confirmed with my pregnancy, the doctors said I may have hyperovulated," they said.

"Because Sienna always measured a week or two older than the identicals. She isn't taller than the other two but she develops at a different spectrum than the other two.?"

?Triplets are usually a combination of the types of twins, with a set of identical twins (two) and a fraternal (one) triplet, according to a Better Health Victoria factsheet.

"Triplets and more can be a combination of both identical and fraternal multiples. Triplets are most commonly a combination of monozygotic and dizygotic, with a set of identical twins (two) and a fraternal (one) triplet," the factsheet reads.

"Triplets or more require a closely monitored pregnancy."

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