Handholding 'Mono Mono' Twins Go Home

ByGILLIAN MOHNEY ABCNews logo
Sunday, June 8, 2014

A pair of twins who made headlines after a picture of the newborns holding hands in the delivery room went viral have finally been allowed to go home after more than a month in the hospital.

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Sarah Thistlethwaite was finally able to take home her daughters Jenna and Jillian after they spent more than a month in Akron General Medial Center in Ohio following their premature delivery.

The infants were "monoamniotic," meaning they shared an amniotic sack during Thistlethwaite's pregnancy. The condition made the pregnancy more susceptible to complications.

Thistlethwaite, who also has an older son Jackson, spent two months in the hospital on near total bed rest before the cesarean delivery to reduce risk of complications.

On Saturday, after months of anticipation, the family was finally able to be together for the first time under their own roof.

"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."

Although the girls were delivered about seven weeks early, Thistlethwaite said doctors do not anticpate them developing any serious complications related to their premature delivery.

In fact the biggest problem for the Thistlethwaites is just trying to keep straight which baby is Jenna and which is Jillian. Right now they've kept the infant's hospital nametags on.

"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."

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