FORT SMITH (KFSM) -- It was quite the New Year's Day at Mercy Hospital.
"I wasn't expecting twins," said the new mother, Amber James.
Neither did the hospital staff who helped welcome twins to Fort Smith as the first newborns of 2017.
The doctor who helped deliver them, Don Phillips, has delivered eight New Year's babies.
"It's the second time for twins," he explained. "The last time was 27 years ago when I was in residency."
"I was passed out when they told me [they were] twins. I thought they were lying," James said.
The father, Xavier Griffin, said he woke up to text messages and was so excited by the births, he didn't realize the significance of the date.
"I didn't even think about it," he said.
When it hit Griffin, he started calling everyone he knew. The impact of the moment is so fresh, the parents still need tags to tell the twins, Zacharias and La'Montrae apart.
"It's a real good feeling," he said, "I got all my kids in one roof. It feels good."