Conjoined Twins
In Photo: Twenty-four-day-old conjoined twin boys are seen at Urumqi Children's Hospital in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, September 10, 2013. The twins are currently sharing one heart and one kidney and are undergoing consultation from Shanghai experts on September 12, 2013, according to local media. REUTERS/Stringer

Houston doctors took 26 hours last week to separate through surgery 10-month-old conjoined twin girls Knatalyne Hope and Adeline Faith Mata. The surgery was done at Texas Children’s Hospital, led by Dr Darrell Cass.

Cass, the co-director of the hospital’s Fetal Center and associate professor of surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine, said they are optimistic the two girls will survive after the surgery. The two were born in April, sharing a chest wall, lungs, part of their heart lining, diaphragm, liver, colon, intestines and pelvic area.

The babies are in stable but critical condition and will remain hooked on a ventilator for one week. They will remain in intensive care for several more months in preparation for more surgeries, reports Miami Herald.

Cass shared that the surgery had its dramatic moments such as when Adeline’s blood pressure dropped during the fifth hour that the team – made up of 12 surgeons, six anaesthesiologists and eight nurses - had to manually pump the infant’s heart to revive her. About five to eight minute after pumping Adeline’s heart, the baby recovered.

However, while waiting for the heart to respond, Cass said it felt like forever.

The twins are the second childbirth for Elysse Mata. Her firstborn, a son, is five years old now. She and husband John moved to Houston from Lubbock to be near their daughters.

When the twins were born on April 11, 2014, they both weighed 3 pounds, 7 ounces. Since their birth, the two have been under the care of the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit. Prior to their surgery, they weighed more than 20 pounds each.

“We know how much planning and time went into this surgery and we are so blessed to be at a place like Texas Children’s where we have access to the surgeon and caretakers that made this dream a reality,” Elysse said in a statement.

Cass said he cried upon seeing the babies wheeled out of the operating room as separate patients on two gurneys.

Channel 13 (KTRK) aired details of the surgery on Monday at 11:35 pm.

To help the family pay for the surgery and medical bills, the couple launched the “Helping Hope and Faith” page on Facebook. Elyssa said she pursued the surgery for her daughters because “I want to give them a shot at a normal life as much as possible.”

To contact the write, email: v.hernandez@ibtimes.com.au

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