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Everett Woman Celebrates Mother's Day A Year After Giving Birth To Twins While Having COVID-19

EVERETT (CBS) -- "I'm excited. I'm so happy that I'm going to celebrate Mother's Day with them. Last year they were in the hospital," says Lisseth Hernandez of Everett, while holding her one-year-old twin babies. "I still can't believe that I have them and they are so big."

Around this time last year, Hernandez was covering a severe case of COVID-19.

It started with normal aches and pains as an expecting mother. When it got worse, she was brought to Massachusetts General Hospital where she was put on a ventilator.

Three days after she was intubated, Hernandez woke up to learn that her twins had been delivered by emergency c-section.

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Lisseth Hernandez holds her one-year-old twins (WBZ-TV)

The virus dealt another challenge to the twins. MGH had a shortage of ventilators in the NICU because they had so many intubated adult patients. The twins were transported to the NICU at the Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center.

Hernandez met her babies, Sebastien Isael and Milagros Aurora, 14 days after they were born.

Mother's Day wasn't much of a celebration last year because Hernandez was recovering from COVID and the twins were still in the hospital. At the time, doctors estimated it would be weeks before the twins could go home.

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Lisseth Hernandez meeting her newborn twins for the first time. (WBZ-TV)

Now, Hernandez said she is a busy mom of three, who is still recovering from lasting symptoms.

"I'm lucky because I have them, when I was pregnant I didn't know they were twins," she said. "I'm so blessed to have them. When they grow up they're going to know their story."

"I'm happy. I'm happy with them," she said.

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