These jaw-dropping photos show the moment twin sisters Makayla and Makenzie Pope, among the most premature babies ever to survive, arrived into the world at just 22 weeks and three days.

The sisters were born at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina, on December 8 — nearly four months before their due date. Makenzie weighed just 1 pound 1 ounce, while Makayla weighed 1 pound 3 ounces.

One astonishing photo shows one of the tiny babies still inside her amniotic sac as she was delivered. The girls were born so early that their skin was transparent and their eyes were still fused shut.

Doctors had warned their mother, Tracey Hernandez, 33, that their chances of survival were extremely low.

‘When I went into labor they told me the survival rate for them was extremely low,’ Tracey said. ‘They said babies born at less than 23 weeks rarely make it.’

But both girls began breathing on their own, giving their medical team hope.

‘The moment I saw them gasping for air was the best moment of my life,’ Tracey recalled. ‘Their skin looked see-through and they could fit in the palm of my hand.’

Tracey had been Christmas shopping when she suddenly began feeling uncomfortable. Just hours later, she found herself in labor and terrified that the twins had arrived far too soon.

‘I was nervous and scared and just thought, “Is this really happening?”’ she said.

The sisters spent 129 days in hospital, where they received intensive neonatal care and gradually grew stronger.

‘It has been so hard for me to see them in a hospital bed with wires and tubes attached to them,’ Tracey said. ‘I feel a bit like my motherhood has been stripped, but it has been bittersweet and it has been worth it.’

After making it through their crucial first weeks, Makayla and Makenzie began learning to breathe on their own and feed from a bottle.

The twins later entered the history books as the world’s second most premature twins ever to survive, born at 22 weeks and three days.

Their parents were hopeful the little girls would soon be able to leave the hospital and return home with their family.

‘I couldn’t hold or kiss them for the first month of their lives, and that was really tough,’ Tracey said.

‘I’ve had to watch them grow up inside a box in hospital. It has been a long and draining journey, but we are nearly there.

‘They have both amazed me and they continue to amaze me. They are a blessing and I am so proud to call myself their mom.’