'We've Been Praying For This Day': Conjoined Twins Separated In Marathon Surgery Discharged Just In Time For Christmas

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Nearly two months after their marathon separation surgery at the UC Davis Children's Hospital, two formerly conjoined twins will get to spend their first Christmas at home.

Abigail and Micaela Miroshnik were born earlier in 2020 connected at the head – a condition so rare that it happens in only about one in every 2.5 million births.

RELATED: Conjoined Twins Separated After Marathon Surgery At UC Davis Children's Hospital

Their mother, North Highlands resident Liliya Miroshnik, learned the pair was conjoined when she was 11 weeks pregnant. She was referred to the UC Davis Fetal Care and Treatment to plan for their delivery.

Separated eleven-month-old conjoined twins Abigail and Micaela Bachinskiy go home from the pediatric ward of the UC Davis Medical Center. (Credit: Wayne Tilcock/UC Davis Health)

Surgeons decided on having the separation surgery once the twins were nine months old.

In a 24-hour operation back in October, more than 30 surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists and other staff were able to separate the girls. It was the first-ever separation of conjoined twins at the UC Davis Children's Hospital.

The twins have since been recovering at the hospital after the surgery.

Then, on Wednesday, the family got to go home just in time for Christmas.

"I think it's the best present of my life, to be home with them, my nice, beautiful, healthy girls," mother Liliya said in a release from UC Davis.

Hospital staff, many of who have cared for the girls for nearly a year, were there to give the family a send-off.

"They've attached everybody to this saga. All of the nurses, all of the staff are all so just google-eyed over having these two young girls here," Dr. Michael Edwards, UC Davis Pediatric Neurosurgeon, said. "They're going to be sad when they go home."

"We've been praying for this day and praise God, it's here," Liliya said.

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"It's been an emotional roller coaster," said clinical nurse specialist Dawn Harbour in a release.

"You got to be a part really of a miracle here at UC Davis. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Harbour said.

Surgeons say the twins are healthy and their futures are bright.

"We always had to have that positive outlook that this day was going come," Edwards said.