After a six day journey from Texas to Idaho, conjoined twins Callie and Carter Torres are finally home.
"Callie is on the left, Carter is on the right," says mom Chelsea Torres.
A stay in the NICU combined with the long drive home has parents Nick and Chelsea looking forward to some down-time to get to know their daughters.
"We don't really know them exactly," Chelsea said. "When we do know them, it's mainly in the car or crying at night. So we're still trying to get to know them and get used to this new lifestyle."
Part of that new lifestyle is dealing with some unwanted attention from strangers.
"Some people are like, 'Oh look there are twins, there are babies," Chelsea said. "Then they kind of look a little bit more and like 'Oh!', and you can see when the light bulb clicks in their head when they realize, kind of, what's going on."
The girls have separate torsos, but share everything from the pelvis down.
"They told us that they didn't want to separate them because they are healthy right now," Chelsea said. "So separation is just kind of off the table. When twins need to be separated it's because they have issues."
Chelsea said doctors advised the family to treat the girls as they would any other newborns. They will have their first check-up with a pediatrician in Idaho Falls in the coming week.
"Everyone says they're just like regular newborns; they're just conjoined," Chelsea said.
Like all parents, Chelsea and Nick are concerned for their daughters' future.
"It worries me everyday," Chelsea said. "It's something that's always on my mind of what we need to do and the challenges that we need to face, and then, also, what the girls will face because they're the ones that are living through this."
After being advised to terminate the pregnancy, these parents say they hope their story will raise awareness and high-risk pregnancies.
"Doctors don't see this very often so they say termination is the best option," Chelsea said. "We were told countless times to terminate and to terminate and they might not make it; they made it."
Nick and Chelsea expect the girls will learn to crawl and, eventually, walk.
"They are different, but they're miracle babies also," they said.
The family does have a
GoFundMe account for those who would like to assist with expenses.
