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It was a one in 10,000 chance that Alexis Cooper would become pregnant with Monoamniotic twins, one of the rarest and most high-risk kinds of pregnancies.

But it was a one in a million chance she would even become pregnant naturally at all.

Cooper, 26, and her husband, Justin, had tried for almost four years to get pregnant before they decided to turn to in vitro fertilization. Nine months later, she gave birth to healthy fraternal twins.

But it was right after the twins’ first birthday that the Coopers’ world got turned upside down. Cooper discovered she was pregnant again, with twins again, only this time naturally.

“We just couldn’t believe it. I mean, I wasn’t supposed to be able to get pregnant but then we went from nothing to twins to two sets of twins,” the pre-school teacher from Cuero said. “Four kids was not the plan, but obviously it was God’s plan.”

Then came the bad news. Cooper was told she was pregnant with Monoamniotic-Monochorionic twins, which are identical twins who develop inside the same amniotic sac and share the same placenta.

Cooper’s doctor, Dr. Philip Suarez, said the fetuses develop from a single fertilized egg that splits after fertilization.

“It’s extremely rare and a much more complicated pregnancy,” Suarez said. “The biggest issue is that since there is no membrane separating the twins, their cords can become entangled.”

Fetal mortality rates for Monoamniotic twins can be as high as 60 percent. In addition to cord entanglement, which can be deadly, other risks include twin to twin transfusion syndrome, where one baby gets more of the blood supply and nutrients than the other, and cord compression. Monoamniotic twins can also end up as conjoined twins if they do not separate completely.

“For awhile it was like every time we went to the doctor it was bad news,” Cooper said. “We tried to remain positive and our outlook was that obviously God gave us these babies and He’ll carry us through this. But in the back of our minds, we knew that we might have to plan a funeral for our own babies.”

Now at 30 weeks and staying at DeTar’s Women and Children’s Clinic for the last part of her pregnancy, the twins are out of the woods. In less than two weeks, the babies will be delivered via cesarean birth to avoid any more risks and to make sure both are healthy, at a good weight and completely separated.

“It’s just a miracle. It was a miracle to get pregnant and a miracle for these babies to survive,” Cooper’s husband, Justin, said.

The rare pregnancy has also had the added side effect of making the Coopers somewhat celebrities in Cuero.

“It’s a small town, so we can’t even go to the grocery store without people stopping you and asking how you are doing,” Cooper laughed. “I’ll walk into H-E-B and it’s like, OK, I’m just going to stand here in the doorway and ya’ll can come by and I’ll answer everyone’s questions.”

But the Coopers don’t really mind the added attention now that their roller coaster ride is almost over. They will soon get to meet their twin girls, who they decided to name Hope and Grace.

Monoamniotic Twins

Result from the division of single fertilized oocyte (egg cell).

Occurs in about 1 in 10,000 pregnancies.

Fetal mortality occurs in 8 to 60 percent of cases.

One of the main concerns during the pregnancy is cord entanglement. With no amniotic membrane separating the fetuses, their umbilical cords can easily become entangled, which can hinder movement and development.

Monoamniotic twins are generally born at 32 or 34 weeks via cesarean birth due to the increasing risk of complications in the third trimester.