Thy were a worldwide sensation when they were born and now they are finally heading home from the hospital.
Just in time for Mother’s Day, one Mom delivered a rare set of mono mono identical twin girls in Akron, Ohio. The babies were breathing on their own and their mom said she and her husband were able to hold them on Mother’s Day.
Sarah Thistlewaite’s identical twin daughters, Jenna and Jillian, shared an amniotic sack and placenta in their mother’s womb.
They’re called “mono mono” twins, a rare condition that occurs in around 1 in 10,000 twin pregnancies.
“I didn’t think they would come out and instantly holding hands. It was overwhelming. I can’t even put into words,” Thistlewaite told ABC News. “There wasn’t a dry eye in the whole OR.”
Now they’re finally going home to be with Mom and Dad:
The twins spent nearly a month in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit gaining weight and getting stronger. At nearly 6 pounds now, they were cleared to be released from the hospital on Saturday and went home with their parents and their big brother, 15-month-old Jaxon.
Their parents, Sarah and Bill Thistlethwaite, had been splitting their time at home with Jaxon and at the hospital 40 minutes away with the twins.
“It’s just nice to have everyone under the same roof,” Sarah Thistlethwaite told The Associated Press. “It was really stressful — you want to pay attention to the little one at home and you just gave birth to two little babies. It was a pull and a tear as to where to go.”
The twins’ rare birth condition is called monoamnioitic, or “mono mono.” Doctors say they occur in about one of every 10,000 pregnancies.
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Thistlethwaite, a 32-year-old eighth-grade teacher, said she’s already noticed a unique bond between the twins.
“When I try to feed them on the feeding pillow, they gradually migrate toward each other,” she said. “And when I lay them on the floor, they scoot toward each other. It’s pretty cool to see them doing.”
She said her mother, grandparents and her husband’s grandparents all came to their house Saturday night to welcome the little ones. The family spent Sunday trying to relax and enjoy each other.
“We were so excited and kept thanking God we made it to that point,” she said. “Having them here is amazing, but having them here so healthy when they were premature, it’s absolutely phenomenal.”
