May 30, 2006 11:00 am US/Central
Separated Twins Could Go Home In A Week
Fargo, N.D. (AP) ―
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Abbigail and Isabelle Carlsen
CBS
Former conjoined twins Abbigail and Isabelle Carlsen are getting ready to come home.
The 6-month-old twins are expected to be discharged from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., by the end of the week, and return home to Fargo a few days later.
Two weeks after separation surgery, their squeals and smiles have returned.
Now their days are spent preparing for their futures as twin sisters apart. They practice sitting in the car seats their parents bought before they were born, and therapists continue to work on strengthening their trunk muscles.
The babies still favor their conjoined positions -- backs slightly arched and chests extended. They will continue therapy at home.
Their parents, Jesse and Amy Carlsen, are adjusting to life as parents of two separate babies.
Every night requires two baths, two feedings, two babies to be rocked to sleep. The parents are learning how to hold two separate babies at the same time and keep them both entertained.
During a recent bath time, Amy encouraged Belle to grab her toes, something she's never been able to do until recently. When the baby was clean and playtime was over, Amy handed her to Jesse.
"Time to switch babies," she said and took Abby.
The Carlsens have noticed that their daughters now cry with more gusto.
"Did you make them louder?" Jesse recently asked the lead surgeon. After a bit of joking, Dr. Christopher Moir said the girls may have more room for their diaphragms to expand, providing more power behind their cries.
As excited as the Carlsens are to return home, it will be hard to leave the place that has been home since February. The medical staff has become like family, offering helping hands and willing arms.
Even mail addressed to "Abby and Belle" in care of the Mayo Clinic finds its way to their hospital room.
Jesse jokes with the nurses that when he wins the lottery, he will buy them homes in Fargo.
Late last week, the Carlsens took their daughters outside for the first time since their surgery. Sitting in the shade, Amy tried to balance one girl on each knee. She laughed and hugged both of them as Jesse took a photo.
"It's so amazing," she said.
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According to the Mayo Clinic, conjoined twins are extremely rare, occurring once in every 200,000 births.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Slideshow: Separated Twins Healing
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