Part of being a twin is that you share your birthday with your sibling, right? Well, not always. LaTroya Woolridge's twin babies were born two weeks apart.
When the US mum experienced intense labour pains at just 24 weeks pregnant, she immediately feared the worst for her twins. With her husband Arthur away at the time, she had to drive herself to the local hospital, an alarming situation that made her wonder if she'd arrive safely.
"It was the most terrifying experience of my life," she told People. "It was raining that morning and I wasn't sure I would even make it to the hospital."
When she arrived, in excruciating pain and vomiting, doctors told her she was in active labour and she had to make a difficult choice - to deliver both babies immediately by c-section or to deliver one naturally then adopt a wait-and-see approach with the other. She chose the latter option and delivered baby Amara on January 17, weighing just 540 grams.
Speaking to Inside Edition, Ms Woolridge described the experience.
"When I was told Amara's heart beat [in the womb] could not be detected, I feared she would be stillborn. Once I delivered her and saw her feet moving, I was relieved, but I feared what was ahead for her," Woolridge said.
While she spent the next two weeks on bed rest so that the second twin Arthur III could remain in the womb for as long as possible, the new mum was only allowed to see her tiny daughter twice a day for 15 minutes at a time. She says that seeing her gave her the fortitude she needed to get through a very difficult time.
LaTroya then developed a fever and baby Arthur was born by c-section on January 31, weighing 965 grams, two weeks to the day after his twin sister.
According the the Woolridge's specialist Dr Amber Samuel, delayed interval twin delivery is quite rare, occurring in less than 1 in 1000 twin births. LaTroya says she never imagined her twins would have different birthdays, adding that she "...didn't even know that was possible."
"I have heard of twins being born on different days because they were a few minutes apart, but I had no idea that it was possible for twins to be born with a significantly different date of birth," she said.
Arthur benefited significantly from the extra two weeks in utero, and is already off oxygen while his sister has needed additional assistance with her oxygen levels. He now weighs 3 kilograms and Amara is nearing 2.5 kilograms.