MINNEAPOLIS - Abbigail and Isabelle Carlsen were doing well Saturday as the formerly conjoined twins recovered from separation surgery at the Mayo Clinic and spent the night in separate beds for the first time in their five-month lives.

"Thank you Lord for answering our prayers!!!" their father, Jesse Carlsen, wrote in a message posted Saturday on the family's Web journal at www.caringbridge.org.

The Mayo Clinic issued a statement saying the girls were doing well "after an uneventful night. They remain in intensive care under sedation as planned, breathing with assistance of ventilators, and their vital signs are stable."

The statement said the parents, Jesse and Amy Carlsen, of Fargo, N.D., remained at the girls' bedsides through the night at the clinic in Rochester.

Jesse Carlsen wrote that the twins "had a good night with no problems." He said he and their mother talked to Abby "and her legs started to stir, so I know she heard us.

"Belle was getting an ultrasound to check things out, and we were told everything looked good on both girls," he added.

Abbigail and Isabelle were born Nov. 29, joined at the diaphragm, pancreas and liver. A Mayo Clinic team of 70 people had been caring for the girls and preparing for Friday's separation since February. Doctors had estimated there was a 90 percent to 95 percent chance that both girls would survive.

Dr. Christopher Moir, the lead surgeon, said Friday night that the girls were expected to remain critically ill for the next 24 to 48 hours, but that doctors were hopeful the twins could then come off their ventilators and perhaps begin waking up.

Jesse Carlsen wrote Saturday that he and his wife are looking forward to that.

"We will be there to make sure the first thing they see is our faces," he wrote. "If all goes well, I hope to have the first pictures of Mom and I holding the girls separate for the first time this coming week."