Rare "Mono Mono" Twins Were Born and Immediately Held Hands With Each Other

Here's a story that should make you aww (because it's Monday and an aww starts the week off right): A rare set of identical twin girls was born over the weekend and immediately held hands for their first picture.When Sarah Thislethwaite went in for her third ultrasound to find out the sex of her baby, she got two surprises: First, that she wasn't having just one baby. And second, that her twins were monoamniotic—or "mono mono"—a rarity that occurs in 1 in 10,000 pregnancies, where twins share the same amniotic sac and placenta.

For the past two months, Sarah has been on bed rest at the Akron General Medical Center—where they could monitor the risk of the twins becoming entangled in each other's umbilical cords—but on Friday, she gave birth via C-section.



The twins, Jillian and Jenna, were put on ventilators, as they were having trouble breathing on their own, but by Sunday, they were breathing on their own and were able to be held by mom.

"It's just hard to put into words how amazing it feels to know the girls are OK," Sarah told NBC News, calling it "the best Mother's Day present ever." "It's great to know that they're doing so well, and being able to hold them."

After they were born, a picture of the twins went viral, not just because of their rare condition, but because they supposedly came out of the womb holding hands. In reality, they were born 45 seconds apart and, when doctors held them next to each other, immediately grabbed each other's hand.

Which is still very cute. "They're already best friends," mom continues. "That's amazing."