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Aussie twins HUG instantly after meeting for the first time since their birth

All the feels

By Frances Sheen

March 10 2019

When these twin girls arrived 12 weeks early, their parents were worried they wouldn't pull through, so when they were re-united for the first time out of the womb, this special hug was even more rewarding!

During her pregnancy, Ann Le learned that she was carrying mono-chorionic mono-amniotic twins.

The condition, referred to as “momo” twins, occurs when the babies share an amniotic sac and placenta, according to doctors.

Ahead of the delivery of Olivia and Zoe, doctors explained that Ann's pregnancy was very high-risk, so the mum from Melbourne and her husband, Jason Poon, were simply hoping for both their girls to survive.

27 days after birth the girls finally got to meet. Zoe immediately went in for the hug 😍😍😍 . . . . . . . . . . . . #twincuddles #twins #premmiebabies #tears #nicu #momotwins #mcmatwins #twingirls #twinbabies #skintoskin #kangaroocare #multiplebirth #realparentingmoments #babycenterbabies #huggiesau #postpartummother

"I remember our doctor explaining the twins were sharing one sac and one placenta, meaning they were not only fighting for space, they were fighting for food," Ann told Today.com. "She then went on to explain it was a very high-risk pregnancy and our chances of getting through the pregnancy were not looking great. I remember bursting into tears and feeling like we'd already lost our babies."

The twins' were delivered by emergency C-section after doctors picked up on their erratic heart rates. At birth, the girls weighed only 0.90kg each and were rushed to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for 27 long days, where they were held separately while being treated.

But when they were finally introduced to each other, their bond was instant and beautiful. Zoe, went right in for a hug with her sister, Olivia.

Twin pinky promise ❤ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #nicu #premmiebaby #worldprematurityday #twins #twingirls #momotwins #mcmatwins #cute #babies #promise #daughters #bornatthewomens

At 28 weeks + 5 days the girls were delivered a bit earlier than expected. They were showing signs of distress on the monitor and had to come out. They were tiny at just over 1kg each but they were beautiful 😍 Unfortunately because they were so little, I missed out on immediate skin to skin with them as they had to be taken to intensive care for breathing support. But I knew this coming into surgery and was just happy they were alive and kicking! . . . . . . . . . . #caesarian #mcmatwins #momotwins #pregnancy #birth #twins #prematurebabies #happy #hospital #twinpregnancy

"27 days after birth the girls finally got to meet. Zoe immediately went in for the hug," the mom wrote on Instagram on February 27.

"Olivia was placed on my chest first," the told Today.com, "followed by Zoe who reached out her left arm in preparation to hug her sister."

"My heart just instantly melted," Ann added. "After all the difficult weeks of keeping them apart, I was so relieved they could be reunited and had an ingrained bond.They both just laid on my chest and snuggled up to each other for a while. Everything was perfect, we finally felt like a family."

There's no word yet on when the twins will be allowed to go home, as they may need heart surgery but their parents are just relieved they have two daughters who are alive and together. "Sometimes they love each other and are happy to enjoy an afternoon nap, and other times they just irritate each other and end up pushing each other away," the mum said. "It's quite hilarious to see."

And on Instagram, the mom shared that even though life in the NICU is "pretty damn hard.(...) When I look down and see these two, I forget about how difficult things are and realize just how lucky we are to have these two ❤"