Meet the US twins born minutes apart but in two different years
For most, the New Year means - new resolutions, new parties, new friends, new lifestyles, but for a small-town couple from California, this new year meant two new people to call their own!
What is a better way to end the year and start a new one than holding up your two newborn twins - one in each arm? Yes, Maria Ontiveros - a farm laborer from Earlimart, California - was due to deliver her twins on January 27 but was in for a surprise early in the year. She went into labor prematurely on New Year's Eve at 7 pm and it took all of 4 - 5 hours to bring the twins-who couldn't wait to see the world- along with the new year.
Mother Maria is going to have a hard time getting away with one birthday celebration because, her first twin Joaquin Ontiveros, was born 5lbs 9oz at 11.58pm on December 31, 2017 and Aitana, Joaquin's younger sister arrived 4lbs 10.8oz at 12.16am on January 1, 2018.
She might argue saying that they were born only 20 minutes apart, but they, on the other hand, will always win saying they were born in different days, months and years!! They might share everything from genes, facial features to sleep times - but not their birthdays, birth months or birth years.
To celebrate the uniqueness of their time of birth, local communities donated $3,000 worth of baby supplies to the couple who are farm laborers.
While most of the world was bringing in the new year clinking glasses and sharing kisses, the labor and delivery care team at California's Delano Regional Medical Center helped Maria deliver her twins naturally.
Doctors say the girl was slightly breached, so she had to be delivered via cesarean section. Delano Regional Medical Centre has stated that Joaquin was the last baby born in Kern County in 2017, with his younger sister Aitana named the first baby born in Kern County in 2018.
Maria was well-acquainted with the drill since she and her husband have had three other daughters together. The mother and her twins were declared healthy and ready to leave for home the very next day - making way for celebrations due in Earlimart, a small town sandwiched between Fresno and Santa Barbara.
A spokesperson representing the couple said, "It was definitely a surprise! The whole family feels humbled and blessed and excited...when they realized they were going to be in the hospital over New Year's Eve, the family planned to celebrate at midnight in the break room...but then it turned out Maria was in labor, which was a surprise."
The birth of these twins is a rare occurrence because such a case has only been witnessed in the U.S. - 12 months ago with pairs of twins being born in Georgia, Utah, Arizona and San Diego in California. The year before that - San Diego was the only city to witness a similar case of twin birth in different years. Here are some other instances in the recent past.
The twins have now turned a year old. The fraternal twins were born on different dates at Banner Thunderbird in Glendale. And in different years. Sawyer arrived late on New Year's Eve in 2016, 11 minutes before his brother was born at 12:01 a.m. — Banner Health's first baby of 2017.
Jennifer Ruble, a public relations spokesperson for the hospital where these twins were born, had told NBC then: "I have been at Banner for 25 years and I don't recall this happening in our history — to have a New Year's baby that was born just on the other side of the new year while his twin was born in the year previous."
Last year a family in Arlington welcomed a set of twin brothers One of the boys was born on Saturday while the other was born on Sunday. And the duo arrived one in 2016 and the other in 2017.
The two babies were not actually due until January 20, but they decided to show up early.
Another brother-sister duo from Hernando County, Florida made the headlines last New Year because of their birth. The mother Geraldine Alexander of Spring Hill wasn't due until January 23 but after more than eight hours of labor, she gave birth to a baby girl Yulianne at 11.43p.m. on December 31, 2016 and her twin brother Zayne followed her at 12.01 a.m making his birthday January 1. 2017.
In 2016, Jaelyn Valencia was born at 11:59 p.m. New Year's Eve at San Diego Kaiser Permanente Zion Medical Center in Mission Valley. Jaelyn's little brother, Luis, arrived at 12:02 a.m. New Year's Day. The twins were born to mother Maribel, 22, and her husband, Luis Valencia.