Born 126 days early, on March 4, 2022, Adiah Laelynn and Adrial Luka Nadarajah, from Ontario, Canada, became the most premature twins in the world, beating the previous record of 125 days held by Keeley and Kambry Ewoldt. Their mother Shakina Rajendram went into labour four months early, 21 weeks and five days to be precise, and was told her twins had a "0% chance at survival".
At the time, doctors told Shakina that her pregnancy was "not viable" and that all doctors would be able to offer was "comfort care", whereby the babies would be placed on Shakina as they passed away.
One year on, and the Guinness World Record-breaking twins have just celebrated their first birthday, and are still continuing to exceed all expectations.
After she went into labour, Shakina and her husband Kevin Nadarajah were given a spark of renewed hope after getting a transfer to Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital, a facility that specialises in resuscitating 22-week-old babies.
The majority of hospitals in Canada do not attempt to save infants born before the 24-26 week mark, and the couple was advised that if their babies were born even a few minutes before the 22-week mark, no attempt would be made to resuscitate them.
At 21 weeks six days along, Shakina was distraught after believing her waters had broken just half an hour before midnight but was thankfully informed that this wasn't the case.
Just 15 minutes after midnight, Shakina's waters broke for real, and within an hour and a half, both babies were born and resuscitated successfully.
Baby girl Adiah was born first and weighed just 330 g (0.72 lb), with Adrial, her younger brother by 23 minutes, weighing 420 g (0.92 lb). With a combined 750 g (1.65 lb), the siblings are understood to be the lightest twins at birth ever.
The twins, who both had very thin, transparent skin, were cared for at the hospital for nearly six months and faced complications with sepsis, brain bleeding, and fluid management.
Shakina said: "We watched the babies almost die before our eyes many times."
Although they were advised several times to consider withdrawing medical care, Shakina and Kevin remained focused on their babies' progress. and would spend 12 hours a day by their sides, singing and holding their tiny hands.
Adiah was finally cleared to be discharged after 161 days in the Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), with Adrial following one week later.
Adiah has been growing "really well| since she was discharged, and Shakina describes her as an "extremely happy and social baby" who "smiles all day long".
She is also meeting all the milestones for her corrected age - a baby's chronological age when taking away the number of weeks or months early they were at birth. Now around 6 kg (13.2 lb), Adiah is 18 times heavier than she was when she was born.
Adrial, an "observant, attentive, and intelligent" baby who loves music, is also now "progressing well", despite having been admitted back to the hospital twice since he was discharged, and is said to have now outgrown his sister.
As devout Christians, Shakina and Kevin believe that the power of prayer – from their friends, family, and even strangers from all over the world - helped to save their babies' lives.
Adiah and Adrial continue to be monitored by medical specialists but are said to be "doing great" in general, and are both exceeding all expectations.
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