![\"Twins](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_7783_t850.jpeg\" "\\"Twins")
<\/p>\nGoing into her fetal ultrasound, Dr. Xiomara Ruiz-Baez was ready to prank her husband, Mark Chacon, by telling him they were having twins.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Twins don\u2019t run in either of their families and would have been a surprise to the soon-to-be-first-time parents.<\/p>\n
She laughed as the ultrasound showed twins.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She thought the tables had turned and the office staff were pranking her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m like, Oh my God, these people are so cool, they\u2019re pranking us! That\u2019s so cool,\u201d Ruiz-Baez said. \u201cMy husband is doing this nervous laugh, like he couldn\u2019t believe it. He was between happy and nervous and excited and anxious. I just stepped out like a zombie from the ultrasound, and I kept looking at everybody else\u2019s ultrasound because obviously it\u2019s the plan that they\u2019re pranking everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the doctor wrote twins on her medical files, it finally hit her. They can\u2019t lie on medical files. It must be true.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She actually was having twins.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ruiz-Baez and Chacon will celebrate their first Mother\u2019s Day with their 10-month-old twins, Alex Gustavo Chacon and Gustavo Rafael Chacon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Growing up in the Dominican Republic, Ruiz-Baez said Mother\u2019s Day always has been a big occasion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s almost like Christmas for women back in the Dominican Republic,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She\u2019s thrilled to finally have the day to celebrate her and her boys, and she already has given her husband a to-do list of celebratory activities so she can treasure her time with her sons. She\u2019s expecting breakfast to be ready and for songs to be sung.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know the infant time is the shortest, so I am very conscious of enjoying every moment of it,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As an internal medicine physician, Ruiz-Baez said she knew from the moment the pregnancy test was positive how vital it was to take care of herself physically, mentally and emotionally. She was prepared for the worst and hoping for the best.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had a support system at home and at work at Dr. P. Phillips Hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When she told her colleagues at the hospital, which she said is a community of friends, \u201cit was a party.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing a first-time mom, you don\u2019t really know what you\u2019re doing, and whatever it is, right or wrong, you\u2019re doing it twice,\u201d she said. \u201cSo having that support from my work family has been a true blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruiz-Baez said she likes to joke that she\u2019s God\u2019s favorite. She said He\u2019s always brought her to the best places in life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving the colleagues I have and working in the community I work, it\u2019s a testament that I\u2019m truly God\u2019s favorite,\u201d she said with a laugh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The timing of finding out she was pregnant was further proof to her joke that she indeed is God\u2019s favorite.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ruiz-Baez and Mark Chacon were celebrating their first wedding anniversary in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She thought, why not take a pregnancy test? It\u2019ll be fun.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The couple hadn\u2019t been trying for long and had their doubts.<\/p>\n
But the test was positive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They were having a baby.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI just couldn\u2019t believe it, because it was so early on,\u201d she said. \u201cWe were like, OK, I guess I\u2019m not drinking wine tonight. It was a joy and celebration and honestly of disbelief a little bit. I was like, yes, we\u2019re pregnant, but are we really? Could it happen this fast? Are we really having this amazing anniversary gift? We were so excited so much that we couldn\u2019t believe our luck. This is too good to be true.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Twins Gustavo Rafael Chacon and Axel Gustavo Chacon both were named in honor of family members.<\/p>\n
Courtesy photo<\/p>\n
During delivery, Ruiz-Baez recalled lying on the table for a C-section talking to the doctor and anesthesiologist and waiting in anticipation to meet her sons. Her only hope was her boys were healthy and safe once they were born. Hearing their cries gave her assurance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a perfect baby, and they are completely healthy and they\u2019re OK,\u201d she said of hearing their cries. \u201cIt was super special when they put both of them next to me, and (I saw) both of them so healthy, so strong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the birth of her boys, who are fraternal twins, Ruiz-Baez has been overjoyed watching them grow and develop their personalities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite being twins, she said they\u2019re vastly different from each other, reacting differently, having different tastes and preferences. They\u2019re almost the same size, and the similarities end there.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Axel has Ruiz-Baez\u2019s personality: talkative and outgoing. Gustavo has Chacon\u2019s: chill and joyful. Yet, the boys look like the other parent, giving the parents a fun combination that keeps them on their toes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now the bundles of joy are interacting with each other, and Ruiz-Baez is watching with amusement as they yell and babble at each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Having children has made Ruiz-Baez a better doctor and mother, she said. She\u2019s more patient with and has more empathy for her patients and values the little time she has with both her patients and her sons.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ruiz-Baez said being a working mom has its challenges. She encourages mothers to trust their instincts and although that feeling of \u201cwanting it all\u201d and being perfect won\u2019t dissipate, it\u2019s OK to accept there are days mothers can\u2019t spend as much time with their kids as they\u2019d like.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat time you don\u2019t have with them makes the time you do even more meaningful, and you\u2019re more mindful of the time,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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