After spending five years struggling to conceive, Laura Guilliatt and her partner Simon Robinson, 46, decided to try IVF and were overjoyed when they discovered they were pregnant with not one, but two baby girls.
Non-identical twins Freya and Caitlyn, now two, were born on September 29, 2019, after Laura had an emergency C-section at 35 weeks.
Freya was born with Down's Syndrome, while Caitlyn was not, which is thought to be a 14 in one million chance with non-identical twins.
As the little ones got older, Caitlyn began crawling and walking before her sister - but she was determined to help Freya do the same.
Their mum has shared how through their special bond, Caitlyn helped Freya take her very first steps.
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Laura, from Gainsborough, Lincs, said: "Caitlyn would be crawling and walking while Freya was a few months behind and was just bum shuffling.
"So Caitlyn took it upon herself to help Freya along.
"She would constantly come and take Freya's hand to support her, it was lovely to watch.
"Caitlyn would also bring the baby walker over to her sister for a bit more assistance with her walking and go along behind her to make sure she was okay.
"She totally mothered her, she still does it now."
The 32-year-old payroll administrator continued: "Thanks to all of Caitlyn's help and Freya's determination, Freya actually started walking just before her second birthday.
"By having Caitlyn by her side and watching her, it definitely encouraged and inspired her because she wanted to be running around with her twin sister."
Laura has also recounted her difficult journey to motherhood, explaining how during IVF the couple had two embryos to use as they weren't suitable for freezing.
To their amazement both of the embryos took and the couple was pregnant with twins.
Everything was pretty straightforward and going well with the pregnancy until the mum hit the 20-week mark when it was discovered that there was extra fluid in Freya's brain.
"We had a scan and it was mentioned that there could have been a chromosomal issue, but we didn't opt for amniocentesis because of the risk of miscarriage," she said.
"We were told there wasn't anything to be concerned about, but towards the end of my pregnancy, I was having scans every other day to keep an eye on the twins.
"At 35 weeks I was sent for an emergency C-section. The girls needed help with their breathing so they were taken to NICU.
"After giving birth we hadn't seen the girls for eight hours, so I asked Simon to go down and check on the girls.
"When he arrived back he explained that there was a chance that Freya had Down's Syndrome as there were some markers, and the doctors wanted to do a blood test to confirm.
"Three days later it was confirmed that Freya had Down's Syndrome."
Laura recalls the news being a massive shock and feeling an overwhelming rush of emotions.
She admits that she didn't know anything about the condition and was terrified for the future.
"I started doing some research into the condition but I was scared for what I would find. I was terrified of all the health implications that I thought would come with her having Down's Syndrome.
"Eventually we took the babies home and tried to get our heads around it. Simon was amazing, he was very chilled whereas I was panicking.
"I came across the Positive about Down's Syndrome group which was immensely helpful and made me realise that Freya was just a typical baby like her sister.
"As she got older she has physio to help her muscles and develop alongside Caitlyn.
"And she quickly followed in her twin sisters footsteps with Caitlyn's regular acts of encouragement to get her sister to walk alongside her."
Laura added: "Freya is a lot more chilled than Caitlyn and she loves to cuddle her sister. Caitlyn is the bossy one and she tells Freya off.
"They have the best bond. I love hearing them giggle and babble away.
"I love that they're going to be best friends for life. I know that Freya will always have someone there to look out for her in the future.
"They're such funny girls and make us proud every day."
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