ORRVILLE, Ohio — Their births left even doctors speechless. Now, two years later, rare twin girls from Northeast Ohio are closer than ever.
Jenna and Jillian Thistlewaite, were monoamniotic or “mono mono,” meaning they shared an amniotic sac. This happens in about one in 10,000 twin pregnancies. Because of complications, some never survive to birth.
Their mom, Sarah, delivered the girls at Akron General Hospital at 33 weeks. Seconds after nurses held the babies up to show their parents, the two newborns quickly clasped hands.
Watch video of the twins one year after they were born (aired May 7, 2015):
"They were born 45 seconds apart,” said Amy Kilgore, a hospital spokesperson who was there for the birth. "Once they made sure they were OK, they held them up so mom and dad could see. As soon as they were side by side, they held hands. It gave me chills."
At one year, the twins still wanted to be near each other, especially during meals. It's because of that closeness, that their father, Bill, told Fox 8's Dave Nethers he had to put the girls in different colored socks to tell them apart.
Now as two-year-olds, not much has changed. The Thistlewaites say the girls have a "built-in best friend" in each other.
"They like the same foods, they both love swimming and being outside, and they love to play with the same toys," Sarah Thistlethwaite told People. "We try to buy two of everything to minimize competition, but still, they usually find one to fight over – even if they're exactly the same."
The Akron mom also said her girls still don't like being away from one another.
"Sometimes if my husband goes to the store, he'll take one twin and I'll keep the other," Thistlethwaite told the magazine. "When that happens, they both get really upset and ask for each other. They're definitely really close. They're like two peas in a pod."
