What happens if you’re carrying twins, but only one of them is ready to come out? Did you know that twins might be born on different days? At least, that was the case for Carmen Martinez.

The Texas mom learned that her identical twin girls would be born prematurely at one routine checkup. She was admitted to the hospital on February 28, and then her water broke that night.

However, just one of her girls wanted to be delivered after that—and it was an entire week after: On March 7. After she was born, she had to go right back to the delivery room.

“I delivered Gabby, had a natural birth with her, and got wheeled right back in,” says Martinez.

Because the second baby wasn’t quite ready to make her way into the world, the doctor advised her to try and delay delivery for as long as possible—quite the request, huh? But it was for her own good.

“The more time that we can give each baby in the uterus is better at this early gestational age,” says Dr. Len Tadvick, Hendrick Health OBGYN.

Really, Martinez wasn’t sure what to make of the whole thing anyway. “I really didn’t know how to comprehend what just happened – I’m like I just had a baby and I’m still pregnant,” Martinez says.

For three days since the birth of her first twin, Martinez laid in the hospital bed. She was in so much pain but just wanted to make sure Baby #2 would be delivered safe and sound. “From a 1 to 10 I’d say the pain was 100…as long as they were okay that’s all that mattered to me,” she said.

Finally, Isabella was born on March 10, weighing in at just 1 pound, 10 ounces.

When the two were finally here, the twins’ big brother got to meet them at the hospital and instantly fell in love. “Now that he has met them, he has just been on cloud 9. He’s ready for them to come home. He’s ready to be the big brother that I know he can be,” Martinez says.

If you’re currently carrying twins and worried that this could happen to you, know that this situation is quite rare. “[I’ve only seen this] one other time in my career. It’s very uncommon,” Tadvick says.

“There’s a point where you use everything you’ve been given and it’s just up to God. He’s got it,” he added.

Did you know that twins could have different birthdays?