A set of twin sisters who were born conjoined are now home one month after undergoing six hours of surgery to separate them.
Ella Grace and Eliza Faith Fuller where born conjoined at the abdomen on 1 March at Texas Children’s Pavilion for women. The babies each weighed 5 pounds, 10 ounces at birth.
Their mum, Sandy Fuller, said she was ‘completely shocked’ when she discovered she was pregnant with twins.
She then added how it was a ‘hard and difficult’ time when she and her husband, Jesse Fuller, discovered their baby daughters were conjoined.
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"[When] we found out they were conjoined, it was hard and difficult, but we trusted that God was going to work in the entire journey, so it was OK,” Sandy told Good Morning America.
The sisters also shared liver tissues in addition to sharing an abdomen, according to the hospital.
After their birth, Ella and Eliza spent three months in the NICU where a team of 17 medical professionals, consisting of seven surgeons and four anesthesiologists, prepared for the complex surgery to separate the twins.
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"Our team began planning and preparing for this operation before these babies were even born," Dr. Alice King, the lead surgeon on the operation and a pediatric surgeon at Texas Children's Hospital, explained in a statement.
"From conducting simulations of the procedure, to collaborating extensively with our colleagues in anesthesiology, maternal-fetal medicine, neonatology and radiology, we have all been working together to achieve one common goal: the best outcome for Ella and Eliza."
The surgery took place on 14 June and Ella and Eliza were successfully separated.
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Sandy and Jesse, who are also parents to an older daughter, were able to hold their twins separately for the first time three days after the surgery.
"I think you can look at them and just see God's goodness and how kind he's been to us, because they're true miracles since day one," said Sandy.
Conjoined twins are very rare and occur in only once in every 50,000 to 60,000 births, according to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
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The twins will now continue their recovery at home and doctors expect them both to make a full recovery.
"I know it's going to be another chaotic moment once we get home, but we're excited about that chaotic moment," Jesse said. "I'm kind of bracing myself because I know it's going to be a wild house pretty soon, but I'm excited."
Gregory Robinson