In a heartwarming twist of fate on Mother’s Day, Sarah Thistlewaite received an extraordinary gift when her identical twin girls were born holding hands. Jenna and Jillian, known as monoamniotic or “mono mono” identical twins, shared an amniotic sac and remained in constant contact during the pregnancy, making it a high-risk situation. Sarah endured weeks of bed rest at Akron General Medical Center in Akron, Ohio.

Monoamniotic twins can be prone to entangling their umbilical cords, requiring constant monitoring. Sarah, already a mother to a 15-month-old son, spent nearly two months in the hospital, hooked up to heart rate monitors and undergoing regular ultrasounds. Fortunately, the twins were born healthy at 33 weeks through a planned Cesarean section to avoid entanglement risks.

During delivery, the twins were held up over a sheet for Sarah and her husband, Bill, to see. To their surprise and joy, the newborns were holding hands. Jenna weighed 4 pounds, 2 ounces, and Jillian followed less than a minute later at 3 pounds, 13 ounces. The twins spent almost a month in the neonatal intensive care unit gaining strength. The family, including the twins’ older brother Jaxson, was finally reunited under one roof when the twins were released from the hospital. The rarity of the twins’ birth condition, occurring in approximately one in 10,000 pregnancies, added to the family’s unique joy.

Sarah noticed an extraordinary bond between the twins, describing how they gravitated towards each other during feedings and when placed on the floor. As the Thistlewaite family relishes the presence of their newborns at home, their biggest concern is telling the twins apart. Grateful for the healthy outcome, Sarah plans to use different colored nail polish to distinguish the twins. The family celebrates the miraculous and phenomenal journey of bringing the twins into the world.