National Zoo panda gives birth to twins

Officials say new mom doing well; 1 cub in incubator

When Bao Bao celebrated her second birthday on Sunday, she did not realize the gift from her mom, Mei Xiang, would be two siblings.

The Smithsonian's National Zoo announced on Saturday afternoon that giant panda Mei Xiang gave birth to a cub at 5:35 pm. The zoo's panda team had begun preparing for a birth when they saw Mei Xiang's water break at 4:32 pm and she was already having contractions.