Preemie Babies Hold Hands In 'Unbelievable' Moment Captured On Video
By Allison Slater Tate for TODAY
Australians Glen and Anthea "Cookie" Jackson-Rushford's twins were born 11 weeks early, but they have already shown remarkable strength and a determination to stick together that is inspiring people worldwide.
The Melbourne couple gave birth to tiny Kristian Ian and Kristiana Micaela, each weighing just under 1 kilo, or a bit more than 2 pounds, on Jan. 4 at 28 weeks gestation.
Despite their early entry into the world, Jackson-Rushford let friends and family on Facebook know that "All [is] going swell! Just growth is all that we are waiting on now!"
The twins might be little miracles themselves, but even more miraculous is that they seem to be hanging on to each other, even at just a week old. Jackson-Rushford recently posted a video of the twins at a week old on their dad's chest, getting skin-to-skin time with him and with each other:
The video now has almost 7.4 million views from across the globe.
"As you can clearly see, they can't stop holding hands!" posted Jackson-Rushford later. TODAY.com reached out to the parents for more information about their twins but have not heard back.
In a Facebook update shortly after the twins were born, Jackson-Rushford wrote that although she and her husband realize it may be "a tad bit disturbing seeing our twins with tubes," that as preemies, this is "understandable and normal." Her goal in posting so many pictures and videos of her twins, she said, is "for the simple reason that it gives hope to all parents out there that even they do just fine!
"To all parents that face this, be comforted in knowing that today anything is possible," she said.