Mono Mono twins Jenna and Jillian were finally released from Akron General Medical Center after a month of careful surveillance following their premature delivery. Being mono mono twins means that the two infants shared an amniotic sack during pregnancy.
Bill and Sarah Thistlethwaite are the two parents who gave birth to the mono mono twins . Jenna and Jillian were born holding hands, quite an unusual sight for doctors and parents alike. “It’s still been crazy,” father Bill Thistlethwaite said. “Everywhere we go, someone saw it. People are still talking about it.” Statistically, mono mono births occur in about 1 out of every 10,000 pregnancies.
Jenna was born first at 4 pounds, 2 ounces, while Jillian followed 48 seconds later at 3 pounds, 13 ounces. They were born at 33 weeks and 2 days to their 32-year-old mother, a middle school math teacher. Due to the rarity of the birth, the mono mono twins were transported to Akron Children’s Hospital for breathing assistance.
Although the mono mono twins were born prematurely by about seven weeks, doctors say that the twins are completely healthy and will not develop any serious complications. The biggest problem that the Thistlethwaites have to deal with is identifying between Jenna and Jillian. “We can’t find any difference right now,” said Thistlethwaite, who said the couple even tried to test themselves. “We thought for sure it was Jenna but it wasn’t, it was Jillian. I think we’re going to have to paint some toenails to keep them straight.”
After a month, Jenna and Jillian were released to their parents, and the family was finally united on Saturday. “We all came into the living room and everyone kind of relaxed and Jackson played with the toys and then looked at the girls ,” Thistlethwaite said. “It was awesome to be in our own family group with nothing hooked up to the girls.”
The Thistlethwaite family has high hopes for their new mono mono twins. They have already finished painting a new bedroom pink, and their 16-month-old son, Jaxon, has already visited and kissed the twins on the cheeks. The Thistlethwaite family also dreams about years in the future when they can show their twins their baby photo. “I already feel like they’re going to be best friends,”
Thistlethwaite said. “They’ll probably look at it and say, ‘That makes sense because that’s how we are.’”
[Image and Video via ABC News]