{"id":23927,"date":"2025-01-06T02:44:21","date_gmt":"2025-01-06T02:44:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/popularnews.pw\/?page_id=23927"},"modified":"2025-01-06T02:44:21","modified_gmt":"2025-01-06T02:44:21","slug":"formerly-conjoined-twin-sisters-turn-1-take-first-steps-in-major-milestone-after-separation-surgery","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/popularnews.pw\/?page_id=23927","title":{"rendered":"Formerly conjoined twin sisters turn 1, take first steps in major milestone after separation surgery"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Formerly conjoined twin sisters turn 1, take first steps in major milestone after separation surgery<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Twin sisters who were\u00a0born conjoined at the chest and stomach<\/a>\u00a0and who spent nearly six months in the hospital have reached new milestones.<\/p>\n

JamieLynn and AmieLynn Finley celebrated their first birthday this month and took their first steps.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t sit still anymore,\u201d the sisters\u2019 father, James Finley, told \u201cGood Morning America<\/a>.\u201d \u201cThey are busy \u2026 they wake up at 6 in the morning and they are ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

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It was just nine months ago that JamieLynn and AmieLynn\u00a0survived a rare and complex 11-hour surgery<\/a>\u00a0that involved separating the girls\u2019 liver as well as their skin and fascia.<\/p>\n

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Amanda Arciniega and James Finley hold their conjoined twin daughters AmieLynn and JamieLynn prior to separation surgery.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
James Finley<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Following the surgery, the girls spent several more months in the hospital before being able to go their family\u2019s home in Saginaw, Texas, for the first time in their young lives.<\/p>\n

JamieLynn returned home in March, one month before AmieLynn. The sisters have done nothing but make progress, according to their parents and medical team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think it\u2019s so crazy because they had just got home not too long ago and now they\u2019re just thriving,\u201d the girls\u2019 mom, Amanda Arciniega, told \u201cGMA,\u201d adding of their affection for each other, \u201cThey always like to touch each other and hold each other\u2019s hands and Jamie likes to give Aimee kisses.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Twin sisters AmieLynn and JamieLynn marked a milestone by taking their first steps.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
James Finley<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Finley added, \u201cWhen they kiss each other, they giggle and their beds are right next to each other, so when one wakes up, she wakes up her sister.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sisters also have a shared favorite movie, Disney\u2019s \u201cMoana,\u201d which was the theme for their birthday party when they turned 1 on Oct. 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey love the music,\u201d said Finley, who dressed up as Maui, one of the movie\u2019s main characters, for the birthday celebration. \u201cIt just like stops them in their tracks when the music comes on.\u201d<\/p>\n

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James Finley, in costume as Maui from the movie \u201cMoana,\u201d holds his twin daughters AmieLynn and JamieLynn at their first birthday party.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
James Finley<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The fact that JamieLynn and AmieLynn were able to be home and celebrating their shared first birthday by walking, dancing and eating birthday cake on their own, in separate high chairs, was a miracle not lost on their parents.<\/p>\n

Finley said he thinks about how lucky his family is every time they attend follow-up medical appointments at Cook Children\u2019s Medical Center in Fort Worth, where the girls underwent the separation surgery and where they spent their first months of life, in the hospital\u2019s neo-natal intensive care unit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were at Cook\u2019s today and I saw somebody with a blue band on and that means they\u2019re in the NICU and I was like, \u201cI\u2019m praying for ya\u2019ll to go home,’\u201d Finley said. \u201cEverybody that\u2019s in there, they all want to go home and we made it home, with both of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Twin sisters AmieLynn and JamieLynn Finley are pictured eating birthday cake at their first birthday party.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
James Finley<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Only a small handful of conjoined twins \u2014 which occur once in every 50,000 to 60,000 births \u2014 survive past birth, according to Dr. Jose Iglesias, medical director of pediatric surgery at Cook Children\u2019s Medical Center and the lead surgeon for the twins\u2019 separation surgery.<\/p>\n

Dr. Mary Frances Lynch<\/a>, the neonatologist who cared for JamieLynn and AmieLynn in the NICU at Cook Children\u2019s, told \u201cGMA\u201d that the twins\u2019 progress has been \u201camazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are just right on target with their developmental milestones. They\u2019re very social,\u201d said Lynch, also medical director at Pediatrix Neonatology of Texas. \u201cThey\u2019re even a little ahead of schedule as far as their motor skills are concerned, so it\u2019s really just incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Twin sisters AmieLynn and JamieLynn Finley are pictured in Dallas Cowboys\u2019 jerseys.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
James Finley<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Lynch said doctors are continuing to closely monitor JamieLynn and AmieLynn, who is also being treated for scoliosis, but the expectation is that they will go on to lead healthy lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so gratifying for everybody who was involved in their care \u2014 nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech therapy, respiratory therapy, all people that were so involved with, with these girls and their family,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen they come visit, just seeing people flock to come and see how they\u2019re doing, it just really warms your heart and it reminds everybody why we why we do what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lynch noted that over the many months she and other doctors and nurses provided care for JamieLynn and AmieLynn, they also got to see firsthand the incredible love and care the girls received from their parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t say enough about how wonderful their parents are,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re just an amazing, amazing family those girls are very blessed to have such wonderful parents and family around them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Walt Disney Co. is the parent company of ABC News.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Formerly conjoined twin sisters turn 1, take first steps in major milestone after separation surgery Twin sisters who were\u00a0born conjoined at the chest and stomach\u00a0and who spent… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23928,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-23927","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nFormerly conjoined twin sisters turn 1, take first steps in major milestone after separation surgery - POPULARNEWS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/popularnews.pw\/?page_id=23927\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Formerly conjoined twin sisters turn 1, take first steps in major milestone after separation surgery - 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