Having twins means getting twice the love. And being a twins means sharing a unique bond with a sibling for a lifetime.
Especially, for the Thistlethwaite girls.
A couple of years ago, their mother, Sarah, told People,
“I can’t wait to watch them grow up and be best friends.”
She’s getting her wish.
After a high-risk pregnancy that included almost two months of hospital bed rest, Sarah gave birth to the twins right before Mother’s Day, 2014. Immediately after delivery, the room became silent.
Then, Sarah’s OB-GYN, Dr. Melissa Mancuso, gasped,
“Oh, my gosh! They’re holding hands!”
Nurses then held up the girls for Sarah and her husband to see. They were indeed born holding hands.
Now, several years later, they are just as cute and even closer.
What makes this story even sweeter (is that possible?) is that when Sarah was 19 weeks into her pregnancy, she was told the twins were monoamniotic – meaning they shared one amniotic sac.
Dr. Mancuso, who is also the director of Akron Children’s Hospital’s fetal treatment center said this situation is rare. It also carries a significant risk that the umbilical cords can entangle and cut off blood supply as the twins move and grow. There is a 50% survival rates for “mono mono” twins, as they are called.
But Sarah and her husband were excited to find out they were adding twins to their small family (they also had a young son). On Sarah’s 57th day of bed rest, she underwent the Cesarean section that delivered her girls at 33 weeks – healthy and happy.
The Thistlethwaites love seeing their little girls support and push each other as they grow. They miss each other when one is away, and they love to get in trouble together – easy for them, since they are identical.
With a built-in best friend, life for them is bound to be full of fun and little adventures.
How sweet is that?
