SACRAMENTO, CA (WCMH) — Erika and Eva Sandoval, conjoined twins from California, have been successfully separated after a lengthy surgery.

The twins spent the first two years of their lives sharing most of their lower half of their bodies.

“With every day, every week, that passed, for me it was like we’ve made it. We made it …. so,” the twins’ mother Aida Sandoval tells KCRA.

The girls were joined at the pelvis, liver, and leg.

A medical team of 50 people at Stanford’s Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital spent 17 hours separating the twins.

“There’s going to be challenges. I’m not going to deny that. But this is something I want to help them through. And they are going to show not only me but other people that disability isn’t something that is going to bring you down. It’s something that’s going to make you stronger,” their mother tells KCRA.

The twins had a 30 percent chance of not surviving the surgery, but are now a healthy two.