While much of America was gathering around a dining table on Thanksgiving, this hospital stayed busy caring for not one, not two, not even three, but 12 sets of newborn twins.
The cuteness overload occurred this week at Saint Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. Staff believes it’s the largest number of twins the hospital has ever cared for at once.
“We always see multiples in here, but not 12 sets at one time,” nurse Danielle Gathers told CNN affiliate KMBC.
And, predictably, they’re incredibly cute.
Every set of twins was born this week—all between five and 14 weeks early, a spokeswoman for the hospital told CNN. They’re being cared for by staff in the neonatal intensive care unit.
Though some of the babies are looking at longer stays in the hospital than others, new mom Amanda Tollifer told KMBC she’s hoping her new bundles of joy will be home by Christmas.
“It’s our ultimate goal,” she said.
Identical Twin Sisters Deliver Identical Twin Sisters
Identical twin girls were delivered into this world by identical twin nurses at Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center in Athens, Georgia, on Sept. 25.
Nurses Tara Drinkard, and her twin sister, Tori Howard, 26, were both scheduled to work in the delivery room together for the first time and assist with a twin delivery by cesarean section.
“I was excited to go to a delivery with my sister, but it didn’t really cross my mind—we’re twins, and they’re twins,” Tara shared on Good Morning America.
The new parents, Rebecca and Brannan Williams, were surprised to hear of the twin nurses assisting with the delivery, “I was really nervous about the walk into the C-section room,” Brannan told CNN, “and then learning that I was like, oh, that’s pretty cool! It kind of relaxed me a little bit.”
“It was pretty neat because Tara took care of Becca in the labor and delivery room, and Tori was taking care of Emma in the NICU,” Brannan Williams told GMA.
“[Tara and Tori] have become our friends. I look forward to letting the girls know about this one day, and hopefully, they’ll get to meet them and keep carrying this thing on,” Rebecca told the station.
The CNN Wire and NTD reporter Victor Westerkamp contributed to this report.
