Congratulations are in order for a 19-year-old panda who naturally conceived and birthed the first giant pandas born in Hong Kong.

The mother, Ying Ying, lives in the city's Ocean Park.

She and her mate, Le Le, were gifted to Hong Kong by the Chinese government in 2007.

Ying Ying had been trying to conceive for almost a decade, and suffered a series of miscarriages along the way, reported CNN.

The panda finally gave birth to twin cubs in the early hours of Aug. 15, just one day before her 19th birthday.

Birthday and birth day

"As a first-time mother, Ying Ying was understandably nervous throughout the process.

"She spent much of her time lying on the ground and twisting", said the park in a Facebook post.

At 2:05am that day, she gave birth to a 122g female cub.

A 122g male cub followed soon after at 3:27am.

The long-awaited twins were met with delight by both the park's staff and the Hong Kong public.

The twins are currently under 24-hour intensive care by Ocean Park, with the support of experts from the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda.

“Both cubs are currently very fragile and need time to stabilise, especially the female cub who has a lower body temperature, weaker cries, and lower food intake after birth,” the park informed.

Pandas in captivity have a life span of about 30 years.

Cubs doing well

An update from the park on Aug. 16 showed the "miracle" twins experiencing their first taste of the world.

The park reiterated that the cubs are still in the "relatively sensitive" first-month period after their birth, and continue to be under constant care by animals caretakers and a veterinary team.

Panda problems

Native to the mountains of southwest China, giant pandas were once classified as endangered.

But their population has been recovering in the wild, prompting the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to upgrade the species' status to “vulnerable” in 2017.

Currently, an estimated 1,800 pandas roam the wild, largely in the mountains of Sichuan.

Vox reported that there are around 600 pandas in captivity, with some of them on loan by Beijing to about 20 countries.

According to Ocean Park, giant pandas have a notoriously difficult time reproducing — even more so as they age.

Giant pandas experience just one fertile period throughout the year, which spans anywhere between one to three days.

As solitary creatures, a panda's preference to be alone in their natural habitat means they rarely get the chance to mate.

Ying Ying should be proud.

Top images via Ocean Park Hong Kong/Facebook