May 26, 2006 9:35 am US/Central
Formerly Conjoined Twins Continue To Improve
by Jeanette Trompeter
Rochester, Minn. (WCCO) ―
Formerly conjoined twins Abbigail and Isabelle Carlsen are recovering well just two weeks after a 12-hour surgery that separated the girls.
Abbigail and Isabelle -- known as Abby and Belle -- were born conjoined last November. Just two weeks ago, they were still connected breast to belly and their parents took a leap of faith in the confidence of doctors.
"Because there was always in the back of my head, you know, worrying," said the girls' mother Amy Carlsen.
Carlsen and her husband Jesse Carlsen are no longer worrying and are now loving the joys of being able to hold each of their children individually.
"Being able just to take one baby and then like putting her chest up to your chest, and just you know, snuggling, it's amazing," said Amy Carlsen. "Before I could snuggle them, but I couldn't bring them right up to me."
The girls' recovery is remarkable, but it has not come without struggles.
Dr. Jess Thompson is one of the pediatric surgeons who helped separate Abby and Belle.
"I think for them, they've gone though some enormous physical and psychological changes, just having been separated," Thompson said.
Taking the girls off pain medications proved agonizing for everyone.
"Sunday and Monday was just hell for us," Jesse Carlsen said. "They were crying. We weren't 100 percent sure why."
Two weeks after their 12-hour surgery, they are taking little more than Tylenol.
"They're smiling now, and laughing and playing and doing therapy," Amy Carlsen said.
The girls need to put on a little weight and develop the muscles rarely used when they were conjoined. They'll be going home in a matter of weeks, and they may never have to have another surgery.
The girls seem to be adjusting perfectly, and they are still connected at some level.
"When me and Amy are in the same room holding the girls, I'll catch them looking at each other, you know, and actually they're kind of leaning around, over something to see each other," Jesse Carlsen said.
Abby and Belle can now share their bond from the comfort of their own space in this world and will no doubt someday appreciate that leap of faith their parents took two weeks ago.
Thompson won't say exactly when the girls will go home. They need to maintain their weight for awhile, with just bottle feeling before heading home.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Slideshow: Separated Twins Healing
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