A distraught mum held her premature baby for the first time as the tot lay dying - then placed her in a cot with her surviving twin who cuddled her.
Heartbroken Victoria Robinson was told there was nothing doctors could do to save tiny Ocean who was born more than four months early at 23 weeks and three days.
She and twin sister, Winter, had battled to survive after being placed in plastic bags and put under UV light in neonatal intensive care.
Speaking about Ocean's final moments, Victoria said: "I was holding her, and looking into her eyes as she made the only noise I ever heard from her - of her taking her last breath. I was crying and saw Winter in her cot, still battling.
"They had been together in my womb and I wanted them to be together again so I placed Ocean in Winter's cot.
"She moved her arm straight away and placed it on her to give her a cuddle. It was unbelievably moving and sad.
"They stayed like that for half an hour with the one arm wrapped around her sister."
Ocean, who was born 28 minutes after her twin sister and weighed just 1lb 2oz, also had a tiny heated cushion placed under her right leg because of restricted blood flow to it.
But she had a severe bleed on the brain and three days later, doctors told Victoria and her partner Greg Rukwava, both 26, that there was no hope for their smallest baby.
"She would have been severely brain damaged," Victoria, of Wolverhampton, West Mids, said.
"Her lungs was so immature that doctors said she would never be able to breath on her own. They did everything they could for but prepared me for the worst.
"I was in a complete mess knowing that I'd given birth to two babies, but one wasn't going to make it.'
Within hours, Victoria - also mum to four-year-old daughter Storm - was called to the unit and told Ocean had been resuscitated after flatlining but that she was only being kept alive by machines.
"They said she wasn't going to pull through even though they had brought her back," she added.
"They said I could spend time with her and tell them when I wanted them to switch off the machines keeping her alive.
"I asked if they were sure and they said they were. There wasn't any hope and the next few hours were about spending time with Ocean and saying goodbye. I kissed her and washed her and they placed her in my arms. It was the first time I'd held her and I knew it would also be my last as she was going to die.
"I was in pieces, crying and saying that I shouldn't have to bury my baby. Greg was with me and we dressed her. I told her that I loved her and took pictures with her.
"I didn't want to stop cuddling her, but eventually after five hours I knew I had to let her go.
"It was heart wrenching to agree to switch off the machines, but it would have been crueler to keep her alive with no hope."
Victoria had to organise Ocean's funeral while hoping that Winter, who was born weighing 1lb 5oz, would survive.
"It was all a blur as I was overwhelmed with emotions," she said.
"But I remember being offered a cuddle cot - a special cot with a cold mattress to stop her body from deteriorating - which would have let us spend more time with Ocean, but I refused. "I was in such a state I could see myself running out of the hospital with her.
"She was still so tiny she could fit in the palm of my hand but she was the strongest twin," Victoria said. "She kept me going. I just focused on her and her fight to get better."
Victoria added: "Ocean is part of our family forever. We have a memory box with a wisp of her hair, photos, clothes, a blanket and prints of her hands and feet which are smaller than a 10p piece."
Winter spent five months in ICU after being born on Valentine's Day. She was allowed home on July 7 and now weighs 11lb.
"She is such a happy, giggly baby," Victoria added "Winter is nearly nine months old now and wears clothes for newborns, but she loves to eat.
"She is going onto solids and screams for her food. She is starting to crawl and loves to suck her thumb. She is very loud and we all love cuddling her."
JEN Coates, Director of Bereavement Support and Volunteering at Stillbirth and neonatal death charity (Sands), said:
"Whilst every grief is different, the loss of a twin has its own particular challenges.
"Birthdays and other milestones of the surviving twin will always be bittersweet with the thoughts of what might have been.
"Friends and family may not appreciate that the grief for the twin who died is not eclipsed by the living sibling and may expect parents to focus only on their living child.
"Recognising parents' and siblings' grief will enable those bereaved by twin loss to move forward with resilience and grow around their bereavement feeling supported."
