After Isabella was born everyone kept asking when would we have another baby. Well, Alan and I knew we intended to have 2 children and our standard reply when asked was, “We will start trying when Isabella turns 1.” You can imagine the pressure right after Bella’s 1st birthday party. Everyone remembered what we said. LOL Luckily, they didn’t hold us to it so precisely, though we did start trying again the summer after Isabella turned 1.
By August, we were pregnant again. Because we were planning on having 2 children, we really wanted to know the sex of the baby early on. We decided to order a new technology blood test you do on your own at home in the 1st trimester and send back to the lab.
Immediately, we knew it was another girl. Wow, 2 girls, I was really in shock and thrilled. My pregnancy with Gabi was much easier and less fearful as I was a bit more experienced. I also knew to stay away from fearful books, articles, and stories. Plus I was very busy and distracted taking care of a toddler. Some input I could not escape, for example I had a neighbor who had 2 kids and said if the first was easy, the 2nd will be a nightmare. Boy, it just shocked me how negative most of my feedback and advice was. Well they could not have been more wrong, Isabella was such an easy baby and Gabrielle, was even easier. Life with newborns and toddlers is still quite physically and emotionally challenging though.
While we did start intending to get pregnant in the summer we had no idea how fast it would happen. I had another wonderful healthy pregnancy with Gabi. Fast forward to May, we again were expecting a May birthday for our 2nd daughter.
It was almost Bella’s birthday. I was 9 months pregnant and not going to make a 2nd birthday party for Isabella, but I baked her a cake and planned to frost it in the morning. I told everyone if I feel up to it, we could all have some cake tomorrow and just keep things calm and relaxed.
Well, Gabi had other plans.
I was watching Isabella on the monitor (this was the very short time in our lives when we didn’t co-sleep…more about this later) she just refused to go to sleep that night. I was lying in bed feeling so much pain in my back and having contractions, that I called down to Alan and said, “I think I am in labor.” He said, “No way, it’s too early and me and Vince are playing video games.” Ok, well, they were playing games and Isabella was standing in her crib at midnight still awake. I was watching her on the monitor she just refused to go to sleep that night. Maybe she was excited that it was her birthday and she was turning 2? Maybe she knew something we didn’t know? At 1am, Bella was still awake talking in her crib and I was in so much pain I called my doctor. She said to me, “Is the pain in the front and the back,” I said, “yes.” She said, “Is your hair curled and makeup still on,” I said, “yes.” she knew me enough to joke here. (I was in too much pain to even wash my face or get ready for bed but thought these were Braxton Hicks contractions…Gabrielle was not due for at least 3 more weeks. She said, “C’mon let’s go, I will meet you at the hospital your baby is coming tonight.”
Most people assume that we planned this shared birthday. I did have a C-section scheduled for late May as my doctor informed me I would be better off as I would face the same issues I had delivering Bella. I didn’t know then what I know now about labor…perhaps I would have even had a home birth. Yet, I had no idea Gabi had plans of her own to come weeks early.
Well, I ended up laboring for hours at the hospital and they felt I did need a C-section but I labored since 9pm the night before. They were finally ready to take me into surgery around 5:30 am and little Gabrielle Alexa, soon to be known as Gabi, was actually born on Isabella’s 2nd birthday at 6:11am. Isabella must have known her sister was coming, as she never went to sleep that night and was awake until about 10am the next day. Same birthday, 2 years apart, we couldn’t have planned this if we tried. Everyone thinks it’s a typo when they see their birthdays written out: 05-06-04 & 05-06-06
As I sit here remembering this night and preparing to celebrate our girls’ turning 10 & 12, I can hardly believe they are this age and still it’s hard to believe that they have always celebrated their birthdays together.
Alan and I have always celebrated ours together too as we are 2 years and 2 days apart…so January and May are our family birthdays.
Since Isabella & Gabi both have stunning, auburn/red hair unlike Mommy & Daddy, for 10 years, people everywhere we go have asked us…Are They Twins?
I asked the girls as they grew if it they felt comfortable with me sharing their story. They were.
So I would answer, YES, they are actually Soul Twins. They have the same birthday, 2 years apart.
The next comment people normally make is, “Oh boy they are going to be mad about that as they get older.” People would tell us that our girls would NOT ENJOY (they used stronger language here) sharing a birthday and almost always viewed this as negative.
Well, they do not know that our girls have Prana Boosters™ for parents. We have always said that this is a Divine Miracle Blessing and amazing synchronicity.
Of course, we are also mindful of “telling them” how to feel, and allowing them to have their own reactions and beliefs, but we have all enjoyed this so much and we often celebrate all week long and go to Disneyland. They each choose their favorite birthday theme. So far it has been a blessing in our home and a wonderful part of our family story.
I believe it is a choice to see it as a blessing or not.
We love Eckhart Tolle, so we know in life too, that resistance to what IS, can create unnecessary suffering. So we chose gratitude and appreciation and our girls learned this in our home.
They learned that we are responsible for deciding what “meaning we give to an event, thought, or emotion. This is where their power comes in.
Here are some amazing birthday memories from the past 10 years of Sister Birthday Bashes!
