Mum conceived second baby- just a week after falling pregnant

Adriana Condello was eight weeks pregnant when she walked into her doctors. She was wrecked with nerves, her previous four pregnancies had ended in unexplained miscarriages. 

Five was her lucky number, not only was her baby doing completely find, but there was a second baby a week younger than their sibling. One baby was conceived thought IVF, the other naturally. 

“It was such a shock,” the 33-year-old recalled while talking to Mamamia. “I went in there thinking I had lost that baby; I had put that in my head, that it was over. So to be told that that baby was OK and then to be told that there was a second, my joy was just through the roof. It was one of the best days of my life.”

For Condello, the presence of the two babies was a miracle. 

“It couldn't have happened a better way,” she said. “With all our struggles it felt meant to be.”

Not only did Condello and her husband struggle with infertility, but she also lives with Multiple Sclerosis. 

While MS itself does not cause infertility, many of the effects of MS drugs on pregnancy are unknown. Condello had to stop taking her MS drugs during the twins pregnancy. 

Condello was 26 when she was diagnosed with MS, an incurable disease where the immune system attacks the fatty cells around the spinal chord leading a to whole host of side affects. 

At first Condello though that she had pinched a nerve while working out. But it turns out that it was far more serious than that.

By the time she was admitted to hospital a week later, she had lost feeling in nearly three-quarters of her body. 

“It was frightening, so frightening,” she said. “That feeling in my body was like I was being strangled. I couldn't feel the actual skin. It was bizarre.”

While she still gets occasional flare-ups, Cordello has become more adept at managing her symptoms. 

“I have to put myself first at times, so that I can be the best version of myself for my kids. I think that’s really important,” she said. “I don’t want to be out of action; I want to be able to take care of my children.”

Cordello now works with local MS charities raising awareness for sufferers.

"In the beginning, I wondered what the point of life was after an MS diagnosis," she said. "But through all the work I'm doing I have met all these incredible people that have changed my mind and my mindset. People can have an incredible life with MS, and they've helped me learn how to live mine."