Newborn ᴛᴡɪɴs Olivia and Zoe Poon were separated for the first month of their lives after entering the world at 29 weeks. But once they were strong enough to be together the pair were reunited. Still surrounded by tubes and braces, they reached out for one another in a heartwarming embrace. Their mother Ann Le, from Victoria said: “We had been waiting so long for the girls to meet so when the day finally came we couldn’t believe it, We waited 27 days exactly for our first twin cuddle and it was so much more than we could have expected. Olivia was placed on me first, then when it was Zoe’s turn she reached out her left arm and hugged her sister. My tears were flowing, it’s a moment I’ll never forget. Since we have been able to do twin cuddles, both us and the nurses have been able to see just how much calmer they are when they are together. They clearly have a unique bond already.”

For six-and-a-half months Ann Le anxiously awaited the arrival of her identical twin girls, who were sharing the same ᴀᴍɴɪᴏᴛɪᴄ sac inside her. Known as ᴍᴏɴᴏᴄʜᴏʀɪᴏɴɪᴄ ᴍᴏɴᴏᴀᴍɴɪᴏᴛɪᴄ ᴛᴡɪɴs, it’s one of the highest ʀɪsᴋ ᴛᴡɪɴ ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄɪᴇs ᴘᴏssɪʙʟᴇ, with only a 50 per cent chance the babies will sᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴇ after the 26 week mark. Every fortnight from the 10 week mark Ann had ᴜʟᴛʀᴀsᴏᴜɴᴅs to ensure the girls were progressing as they should be. But she didn’t make it that far and after routine monitoring noticed one of the babies was in ᴅɪsᴛʀᴇss, the doctor decided they both needed to come out at 28 weeks and five days.

Ann said: “I was ᴅᴇᴠᴀsᴛᴀᴛᴇᴅ as I knew they were going to be ᴘʀᴇᴍᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ but not by this much, About three hours after I was told, I was taken down to the ᴏᴘᴇʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇᴀᴛʀᴇ where I was given the spinal ᴀɴᴀᴇsᴛʜᴇᴛɪᴄ which was ɪɴᴄʀᴇᴅɪʙʟʏ ᴘᴀɪɴʟᴇss and quick. It wasn’t long before they pulled Olivia out who let out a loud cry. Zoe came next but was breech, so after a bit of pulling, the doctor managed to get her out. She didn’t cry or move which made us really ᴄᴏɴᴄᴇʀɴᴇᴅ. Both girls were quickly taken by the midwives to the paediatric team for assessment. About 10 minutes later one of the midwives came back and told us “your girls are doing well”.

Zoe and Olivia have been in the Nᴇᴏɴᴀᴛᴀʟ Iɴᴛᴇɴsɪᴠᴇ Cᴀʀᴇ Uɴɪᴛ (N.I.C.U) at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne since their birth on January 26, and while it’s too soon to know when they’ll be able to come home, Ann expects it might be around mid-April. She said: “Being in N.I.C.U is like being in a time warp. You can’t tell what time of day it is and before you know it, you’ve been there for six hours, Like most babies who enter N.I.C.U, the girls have had a roller coaster of a journey. There are days where they show incredible signs of improvement and other days where they appear to deteriorate. It has been emotionally draining for my husband and I, but now that they have passed the one month mark, their chances of sᴜʀᴠɪᴠᴀʟ are now greater than 95 per cent.”