With the delivery of their twins on Christmas Eve and Day, a Hawaii couple
received not one, but two unique Christmas presents this year.
At the Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women & Children in Honolulu, Sara
McGuigan Quintino and Pedro Quintino welcomed their daughter Madalena Kahana
on December 25 and their son Robert Ka'ala on December 24.
Robert Ka'ala, the final baby delivered at the hospital that day, was born
at 10:12 p.m., while Madalena Kahana, the first baby born on the holiday,
arrived at the hospital a few hours later at 12:04 a.m.
Sara McGuigan Quintino said to "Good Morning America," "I actually made it
to week 39 with the twins, and we were at our Friday morning ultrasound, and
the amniotic fluid was low for baby A, which is the boy. At that point, his
movements were really slow, and we got pretty worried about it." "Therefore,
we proceeded straight to the hospital to start labor after the
ultrasound."
The new mother, whose original due date was December 25, claimed that she
had a protracted labor and didn't begin to deliver until Sunday night
[Christmas Eve]. However, with the support of their medical team, which
included their midwife Dr. Ye Nguyen, who also functioned as their doula,
and physician Robb Ohtani at Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women &
Children, she was able to adhere to most of their birth plan and deliver the
baby without the need for a cesarean section.
"Everyone was so patient and just supportive, even though it was a longer
delivery—as we know, the girl came out two hours later," the woman remarked.
"Even though I was clueless about the time, everyone else seemed to know and
they persevered for me."
The fact that they arrived on different days is hilarious. Madalena wants
her own day, we simply joke about it all the time," she continued.
The Quintinos explained to "GMA" that both of them participated in choosing
the unique significance that each of their twins' names had.
Sara McGuigan Quintino stated, "My father and grandfather's names are
Robert, and that is the first name our son has." "After [the Catholic saint]
Mary Magdalene, our daughter's first name is Madalena. Pedro then decided on
the middle names.
"This mountain, Ka'ala, is directly next to us. It's O'ahu's tallest
mountain. The first-time parent went on, "and then the girl is Kahana, a
beautiful bay more on the east side."
I can only really point them in the direction of the north. They view their
twins as "a gift of God," he continued, adding that they would know that God
is the same in the valley and on the mountain, which will ensure their
protection.
After being treated for low blood sugar for many days, baby Robert Ka'ala
was released from the newborn critical care unit. Now that the family is
back together in Waialua, the Quintinos report that their infants are
settling in fast.
They are really dissimilar. She's going to be a little bit more spoilt, I
can tell. They appear to give each other a lot of comfort, Sara McGuigan
Quintino, whose brothers are also identical twins, said. "And then he just
glides but...
The Quintinos stated that one of their motivations for telling the tale of
their "Christmas twins" was to express their appreciation to everyone who
has supported them along their journey.
"We would like everyone to know how grateful we are to Dr. Ye, our midwife,
and Dr. Ohtani, as well as the entire staff and nurses at Kapi'olani
Hospital. Without them, nothing would have gone as planned, from the nursery
to labor and delivery to the NICU," stated Sara McGuigan Quintino.
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