Formerly conjoined twins, Ella and Eliza, are thriving on their 1st birthday

Formerly conjoined twins Ella and Eliza Fuller are officially toddlers after celebrating their first birthday.

"Everywhere they go, they're together," Ella and Eliza's mom Sandy Fuller told TODAY co-anchors Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb on March 14. "Every morning when they wake up, the first thing they do is they stand up and they talk to each other and they giggle."

"Sometimes when we're in bed, we'll hear them and they're talking," added their dad Jesse Fuller.

According to Jesse, Ella "wants attention all the time," while Eliza is "more laid back" and on the "quiet side."

In a touching tribute on Instagram, Sandy described her daughters as “miracle babies,” and reflected on the day she and her husband, Jesse, met their “hugging twins.” Ella and Eliza, who were born connected at the abdomen, were delivered via cesarean section at Texas Children’s Hospital on March 1, 2023.

The Fullers learned the babies were conjoined when Sandy was 12 weeks pregnant.

“Soo many praying warriors praying with us from all around that our girls would make it safe and sound,” Sandy wrote in her birthday post, noting that her heart was “filled with so much gratitude.”

At four months old, Ella and Eliza underwent a risky six-hour separation surgery led by Dr. Alice King, a pediatric surgeon at Texas Children’s Hospital. King was assisted by a surgical team of 17. Conjoined twins occur once in every 50,000 to 60,000 births, and many are stillborn.

“They’re so rare that there’s no playbook,” King previously told TODAY. “In the back of my mind, I always have my plan A, B, and then all the way down to like L, M, N.”

Not only was the surgery a success, Ella and Eliza are now "thriving," according to their mom.

“The girls were discharged from physical therapy,” Sandy shared on Instagram in January. “As much as we loved seeing our PT, we are happy to know that they are on the right track.”

When the twins were 8 months old, Sandy marveled at their crawling.

“It amazes me that they’re doing all of this... after being unable to use any of their core muscles for nearly 4 months,” Sandy captioned an Instagram carousel. “Babies are truly so resilient.”

“They love chatting with each other at night before falling asleep,” she added. “I love their giggles and laughter.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com