Samantha was a busy mum-of-two, when her daughter made a startling pregnancy prediction...
Looking at the time, I quickly threw something together for breakfast.
I was on a tight schedule to get Eliyanah, three, and Luis Jnr, 18 months, off to the childminder before I went to work, but it was the mum life I had always dreamt of.
My husband Luis and I had wanted a family for so long.
After 10 years of trying, we did IVF and after one round, I gave birth to Eliyanah.
Aged 32, I was overjoyed our dream had finally come true.
Then over a year later, we couldn’t believe it when we conceived naturally, and our boy Luis Jnr arrived.
Now as I was getting Eliyanah dressed, her face lit up with excitement.
‘Mummy, I had a dream,’ she beamed.
It was the first time she had said she’d remembered a dream, and I couldn’t wait to hear all about it.
‘I dreamt you’re going to have a baby,’ she insisted.
I laughed it off, and didn’t take it seriously.
For one thing, I’d had my period recently, and although Luis and I had spoken about having more kids, we agreed that was at least another three years down the line.
Thinking no more of it, I dropped my two children off at the childminder’s before heading to work.
But later that day, I was back to pick them up when the childminder took me to one side.
‘Eliyanah told me that you’ll need a bigger car as she’s going to have a sister,’ the childminder said.
I looked down at Eliyanah, rolling my eyes.
‘Why do we need a bigger car?’ I asked.
‘Because, Mummy, you’re going to have a baby boy and girl,’ she replied.
‘Oh, now there’s a baby boy as well!’ I chuckled.
But the childminder wasn’t so quick to dismiss it.
'My girl was right all along!'
‘You should listen to her,’ she said. ‘Kids have a way of knowing these things.’
Some of my family members did have psychic abilities, but this was the first time my girl had made a prediction.
Once home, I decided to probe her for more details.
‘You have a baby boy and a baby girl in your tummy, Mummy,’ she squealed. ‘They’re going to come out like an explosion.’
‘You never mentioned a boy before,’ I said.
She told me there had always been a baby boy, but she had been more interested in the girl.
‘Where is this coming from?’ I asked.
‘God,’ she replied, seriously.
That evening, I mentioned it to Luis and he laughed it off. too.
‘That’s bizarre,’ he said.
Although Eliyanah reminded me daily that she would have a brother and sister to play with soon, I didn’t give it much thought.
Something else was preoccupying me.
I had a pain in the left side of my pelvis, coupled with tiredness, and a Google search had thrown up ovarian cancer.
After a few weeks, the pain and tiredness hadn’t gone away so I went to the doctor’s.
I hoped it would be down to being a busy mum.
But…
‘Your symptoms are pregnancy related,’ she said.
‘No way,’ I said. ‘I’ve had my period.’
‘I think you should still do a pregnancy test,’ the doctor said.
But just like I thought, it was negative.
I had a blood test as the doctor wanted to be sure it wasn’t pregnancy or something else.
While I waited for the results, a month later, I started another period.
'The look like two black circles'
But after a few days, I stopped bleeding.
That's weird, I thought.
It was much shorter and lighter than my usual periods.
‘Maybe I am pregnant,’ I told Luis.
For the first time, I thought there might be something in my girl’s prediction, and that afternoon, I took a pregnancy test.
Positive, it said.
Oh my God, I thought. My girl was right all along!
After the shock had worn off, I called the doctor.
‘I’ve booked you in for an emergency scan tomorrow morning,’ I was told.
Now it was confirmed I was pregnant, there was concern the pain could potentially be an ectopic pregnancy,
I broke the news to Luis, who was shell-shocked.
‘Let’s not tell the kids yet,’ I said to Luis, who agreed to wait a few more weeks in order not to tempt fate.
But that didn’t stop me from trying to find out what else my mini mystic might know, as I picked my kids up from the childminder’s.
‘Who do the boy and girl look like?’ I asked.
‘The girl looks like me and the boy will be really tall later in life,’ she replied. ‘But now they look like two black circles.’
Was I really carrying twins?
My brother and I were twins, and my hubby and I had said it would be nice to have boy and girl twins at some point.
Had our vision already come true?
The next morning, I went to hospital, and as the nurse traced the Doppler over my stomach, she turned the monitor to me.
On the screen, I saw two black circles.
‘Twins!’ I exclaimed.
The pain in my left side had simply been ovary pain from being pregnant with twins.
My body was working overtime.
But then the nurse’s face dropped.
‘One doesn’t have a heartbeat,’ she said. ‘But we can check in two weeks’ time.’
Another nurse then took me into a consulting room.
‘Sorry for the loss of the second twin,’ she said. ‘It happens but at least we can see one healthy scan and yolk with a heartbeat.’
I must have sounded mad when I explained that my daughter had said God had told her I was having boy and girl twins.
‘I think they will both be perfectly fine,’ I replied. ‘When I come back in two weeks, there will be two healthy heartbeats, I’m sure of it.’
Knowing Eliyanah’s predictions had come true, I was keen to know more.
‘When is my due date?’ I asked.
She didn’t know her numbers well, but she did have an answer.
‘The same as the number of our house,’ she said, sagely. ‘But they will be born early.’
We lived at number 10.
The next two weeks were a blur.
Then at my second scan, the sound of two healthy heartbeats filled the room.
‘Congratulations,’ the nurse smiled.
Luis and I were so happy.
I didn’t share the prediction about them being premature, as Luis and I were praying that they would be born safely.
‘I’m pleased to say your due date is 10 July,’ she said.
I couldn’t believe it.
When we broke the news to my girl that her dream had come true, she was thrilled.
But as the months went by, what Eliyanah had said about them coming early was at the forefront of my mind.
Then at 26 weeks pregnant, I started going into labour at home.
By the time Luis had rushed me to the hospital, I was up to 4cm dilated.
I had the twins early, but they thrived in intensive care.
After three weeks in hospital, our twins Ameliah and Levi were discharged.
But on the way home, I received a call from a relative.
‘I’ve just had a dream you’re going to be pregnant with a boy before the end of the year,’ she said.
‘No, don’t tell me that,’ I gulped.
But on New Year’s Eve, I realised I had missed my period.
Although we used protection, I was sensitive to hormonal contraception like the Pill, so that’s how I imagined we had been unlucky.
In time, I gave birth to my fifth child, Luraif.
‘That’s it, we are done now,’ Luis and I agreed.
But then nine months later, I had a dream that I was going to have a girl — and then found out I was pregnant!
‘I don’t want any birthday presents this year, I just want my sister,’ Eliyanah said.
Sure enough on Eliyanah’s birthday, I gave birth to my sixth child, Mileenah.
With six little ones, I’m praying for no more pregnancy predictions!
Samantha Lubanz, 39, Manchester