Sisters Brooke Dueringer and Ali White of Augusta, Georgia, both found out that they were pregnant within a week of each other. For nine months, they were there for each other throughout their pregnancies, while family members joked that their babies could end up sharing a birthday.
But it turned out to be no joke. Both Dueringer and White both gave birth to baby girls on Aug. 6 at the same hospital.
"It was a cool experience to see her there," Dueringer told WRDW-TV in Augusta. "She was like two rooms down from me, and we had a text message going back and forth keeping everyone updated."
White was the first to find out she was pregnant earlier this year. She quickly told her mom, Alison, the good news. But when Dueringer found about her pregnancy a week later, their mother thought it was a joke.
"I thought they were kidding with me because they do it a lot," she told WRDW.
"It was totally not planned," Dueringer said, according to WDRW. "I hadn't told Ali we were trying, and Ali, of course, didn't tell us they were trying, so it was a big surprise for us and the whole family."
Both White and Dueringer were grateful to have each other as they grew closer to their due dates — particularly because they shared the same OBGYN.
"We got to share all the experiences together and [could ask each other], 'Has this happened to you? Did you experience this?'" White said, according to ABC News. "Our doctors' appointments were the same day almost every time."
"Ali was kind of the guinea pig and would go into the [OBYGN] appointment first and then come out and tell me what was going to happen," Dueringer said.
White was set to have her daughter in mid-August, just five days ahead of her sister. But according to ABC News, it was Dueringer who went into labor first. While the family was awaiting the arrival of her daughter, Palmer, White started experiencing contractions.
"When they were wheeling me to my room, Brooke was already there, and the nurse was like, 'Do you want to peek in on your sister?'" White said, according to ABC News.
Palmer arrived on Aug. 6. White's daughter, Hudsyn, was born less than seven hours later.
"It's just been an awesome, awesome experience. We did not think this would happen," Dueringer said. "It's been really awesome to have everything happen so close together and to have everyone so close together."
With moms, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers all in the Augusta area, the family is looking forward to joint birthday parties in the years to come.
"Yes, we probably will for the first few years, and then they will probably want their own parties, and their 21st birthday will be so much fun," Dueringer said, according to WDRW.