After 13 months conjoined at the head, these twins see each other for the first time

When Jadon and Anias McDonald emerged from a life-saving surgery one month ago, their mother Nicole could barely believe the sight.

She had spent the last 13 months since their birth in countless hospital visits because her twins, born with the tops of their heads fused together, had narrowly survived dozens of medical complications throughout their first year of life. But when an arduous surgery in October separated the two, giving each the chance at new independence, even she had trouble processing what their new separate existences would mean.

"When they told me they were wheeling Jadon up first, it took me a second to comprehend," she wrote in a Facebook post shortly after their surgery. "I actually asked why they rearranged the room because I hadn't really internalized the idea that there would be 2 beds in here."

The boys’ surgery, documented by CNN and livestreamed across the world, was hailed by many as a miracle considering its difficulty and length. But another aspect of their operation has also made others marvel: the speed of their recovery.

In the weeks since Jadon and Anias were separated, their recuperation has gone more swiftly than planned. Their doctors are already planning to move them from the Children's Hospital at Montifiore Medical Center in the Bronx, where they were operated on, into a nearby rehabilitation facility after Thanksgiving, according to CNN.

The fastest time frame for recovery before the McDonald twins was eight weeks, CNN reported. Though similar craniopagus surgeries are rare, many of those separated face months of hospitalization before rehab can be considered.

"Historically, this will be the fastest [recovery]," lead surgeon Dr. James Goodrich said in November, according to the network. "I'm the least complaining person in this room… When they're ahead of schedule, it makes everyone happy."

The time has gone particularly quickly for the McDonalds, who have essentially lived at Children’s since Jadon and Anias were wheeled out of the operating room a month ago.

"Living in the hospital is like living in the twilight zone," Nicole McDonald wrote Nov. 10 on Facebook. "I feel like it has only been one very long day since the boys' separation, when in actuality it has been 4 incredibly grueling weeks."

Their recovery, she added, has made her feel "so incredibly blessed to have my smiling children in separate beds," though "I still grieve their separation and miss looking into all of their eyes at once."

Anias and Jadon, who for now live in a turquoise-painted room festooned with the letters of their names over their beds, have let life continue around them. Though they’ve never lifted their heads on their own, they now sleep in separate beds for the first time and can be held by their parents separately for the first time.

And shortly after Anias was wheeled out of surgery as well, they were able to look into each other’s eyes for the first time. A photo published by CNN showed both looking at each other, a little perplexed, a little surprised, their heads both wrapped in matching gauze.

Both also seem impatient to move on to the next stage of their recovery. In one video McDonald shared to Facebook Monday, one of the twins smiles and tugs hard at the gauze covering the cap on his head.

"You’re getting it," McDonald can be heard saying behind the camera. "You’re getting it."

But soon both will face a new challenge. The transition to a rehab facility, McDonald wrote in the Nov. 10 post, means "a whole new team of people that will be essential to the boys' recovery."

"I mourn this transition deeply as I have come to love the people at Montefiore as family,” she added, thanking them for their care. "Only they can understand what it's like for us here on the front line. Only they understand the true battle we have endured, because they have been right there fighting with us."

This story was originally published November 22, 2016 at 12:35 PM with the headline "After 13 months conjoined at the head, these twins see each other for the first time."