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A normal pregnancy lasts 40 weeks but thanks to modern medicine, babies born incredibly premature, at 24 weeks, still have a good chance of surviving. Sadly, survival is unlikely before then because lungs and other vital organs have not developed enough... but it isn't impossible. In fact, a set of twins proved that in miraculous form and in doing so, they got themselves a Guinness World Record.
Adiah Laelynn Nadarajah and Adrial Luka Naradajah from Ontario, Canada were born a staggering four months early after their mom, Shakina Rajendram, went into labor just 21 weeks and five days into her pregnancy. When her contractions began, she went to her local hospital where doctors gave her devastating news - that her babies had a "0% chance of survival" and were "not viable." Shakina stated, "When I went into labor, the babies were denied all life-sustaining measures at the hospital I was admitted to and almost left to die." The hospital explained they were not equipped to handle such a premature birth, but during Shakina's second day of labor, the couple and their newborns were able to go to Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, which has a special neonatal intensive care unit that can accommodate early births.
Once there though, she was told that children born even a few minutes before 22 weeks are considered a loss, so she tried to "hold the babies in" to make it to that mark. Her water broke just 15 minutes after midnight and the twins were born less than two hours into their 22nd week in the womb, weighing a mere 12 ounces each.
That was one year ago and it was quite a difficult year since the babies had many serious medical issues throughout it. Shakina said, "We watched the babies almost die before our eyes many times." Now, though, to help celebrate their birthday, the Guinness Book of World Records has presented the kids with a certificate since they are officially the world's more premature twins.
Shakina describes Adiah as "an extremely happy and social baby" who "smiles all day long," adding, "She is very chatty and has 'conversations' with us and her toys for hours." As for Adrial, he is "observant, attentive and intelligent" and, like his parents, loves music.