Bermuda couple Edonna and Ryan Bean’s newborn fraternal twins were delivered eight days apart. Dubbed ‘miracle twins,’ boys Emyr and Esai, are doing well despite the rare premature delayed interval births. Their mother, Edonna, told Global News, “To have two live births and thriving as they are. Just shocking doctors, shocking nurses. I…It’s rare.”

Edonna’s pregnancy began well, however as she told CTV, “My second trimester is when things spiraled downhill.” During the 18th week of pregnancy, twin A’s (Emyr) amniotic sac ruptured, so the soon to be mother was rushed to the hospital. Doctors had little hope for that twin’s likelihood of survival as Edonna recalled, “The emergency department in Bermuda were like, ‘Let’s focus on twin B, because twin A’s not going to survive.’ And I was saying to myself you know, ‘How can they say that when he’s still breathing. His heart’s still going,’ and, but, I said to him, ‘You know as long as you’re fighting so am I.’”

It was in part because of that fighting spirit that the twins continued to grow in Edonna’s womb. It’s believed that twin B (Esai) may have saved twin A’s (Emyr) life. “Twin B, Esai, actually kept my uterus up enough to allow Emyr to still live as long as he did. He lasted 8 weeks without amniotic fluid,” said their mother.

After resting at home for three weeks, it was clear to doctors that at any point, Edonna could give birth. The Bermuda hospital could not accommodate the Bean’s twins so the mother was airlifted to IWK Health Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, which specializes in high-risk pregnancies.

On November 25, Emyr was born at just 1 pound, 15 ounces, two weeks after Edonna was admitted. After that, the new mom’s contractions subsided and twin B (Esai) appeared to be happy staying put. “He was relaxing you know playing and just having himself a good old time with the extra space. It was wonderful,” Edonna explained to CBC. It was valuable extra time according to Dr. Michiel Van den Hof who said, “When you’re at 26 or 27 weeks every single day counts and so that extra period of time, a week, 8 days, that actually was extremely beneficial for that baby.”

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Doctors suspected that Edonna could have an infection from keeping Emyr’s placenta in her womb. The medical team decided to proceed with a caesarean section and Esai was born weighing 2 pounds, 7 ounces, eight days after his twin brother on December 3. The twins are reportedly doing well in the IWK neonatal intensive care unit and are lying facing each other in incubators placed side-by-side. Doctors cannot say when the babies will be able to leave and return to Bermuda, but preemies tend to stay in the hospital until after their due date which would be in early March. The new parents are incredibly appreciative of the hospital and staff who helped with the births and Edonna said, “When doctors in Bermuda said, ‘No.’ God said ‘Yes,’ and when I sit back and I think about my sons I’m just so grateful.”

Delayed interval births like the Bean twins are a rare occurrence and theirs is only the second case at IWK Health Centre in 25 years. Guinness World Records indicates that the record holder for ‘longest interval between the births of twins,’ is Maria Jones-Elliot for her twins Amy and Katie of Waterford, Ireland who were born 87 days apart. Still other unofficial records site Simone Keys and her twins Timothy and Celeste of New Orleans who were born in different years (1994 and 1995) 95 days apart.

More info: CTV, CBC, Global News, The Royal Gazette