Conjoined twins separated last week say hello for the first time since their surgery.
For the first time in their very young lives, Eva and Erika Sandoval were able to look at each other without sharing the same body.
The formerly conjoined twins said hello this week for the first time since undergoing a marathon surgery on Dec. 6 to separate the 2-year-old girls.
Read: Twins Conjoined at the Heart Are Separated in Miracle Surgery
“It was such a thrill for us to see the girls next to one another again,” said mom Aida Sandoval, The Associated Press reported.
The sisters “have had no significant complications,” said their pediatrician, Dr. Meghna Patel, who is looking after them at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford.
Eva and Erika, with myriad tubes and IV lines running from their small bodies, have been recovering in the same room, but in different beds.
And when they were reunited Monday, one sister promptly grabbed a toy car from the other’s hand, making their parents laugh.
The girls had shared a bladder, liver, a third leg and portions of a digestive system.
Now, each has a portion of the organs they once had in common. The sisters each have one leg and will later need prostheses.
Their third limb was used to provide skin grafts, doctors said.
The Sacramento siblings will likely remain in the pediatric intensive care unit for one more week, and then be transferred to an acute care center.
Watch: See How These Conjoined Twins Are Now Thriving After Being Separated Two Years Ago
