Nine-year-old conjoined twins Callie and Carter, who were given just 24 hours to survive after birth, appeared on ITV's This Morning with their mother Chelsea to discuss their lives today.
Born in 2017, the twins spoke with hosts Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond about growing up. Chelsea recalled the moment she learned she would have conjoined twins and the "shock" she felt at the time.
First 24 hours
Discussing the hours after giving birth, Chelsea said: "The first 24 hours I wasn't able to see them because I was recovering from my big surgery that I had with them."
She continued: "The first 24 hours were really hard because I didn't see them until about 18 hours, I was a little worried that I didn't have enough time with them. But they just kept thriving and kept going, and eventually, I was able to see them and we were able to tell them home."
Learning to walk
Explaining how her daughters walk by sharing their legs, Chelsea said: "The one underneath them is the one they control. Whenever they started walking, it was like they were picking up one leg and floating in the air so it was really hard to get them to walk but we finally got there and they do perfectly now."
She described raising them as "challenging", adding: "It was very challenging, the one thing that I didn't think was such a big challenge was clothing and just going into a store and buying clothes that were already made. That was a really weird thing I didn't realise was going to happen but having clothes readily available is just a thing people do not think about!"
Ninth birthday
Chelsea recently celebrated her twins' ninth birthday on social media, on her Instagram page which she runs to connect with other parents of conjoined twins. She wrote in January: "Happy 9th birthday my baby girls. I remember being in the OR and talking about tacos. It was the only thing to keep my mind at ease."
"I didn't know if you would take your first breath, I didn't know if I'd see you pink and moving. I was so scared of the unknown for 8 months and you were arriving at any time. At 11:36am, you were born at Texas Children's Hospital, screaming, crying, and telling the world two special little girls are here."
"The song I have attached is the song playing when you guys were born. You guys moved mountains that day. I will never forget the relief of hearing your first cries. We did, you did it, you two made it here. Everyone says girls are harder than boys, but you guys are so sweet and appreciative. I don't think we'll ever not be best friends. I love you two more than the stars in the galaxy."
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and ITVX.
