Four cousins share birthday
Published 9:59 pm Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Two years to the day after giving birth to a boy less than three hours after her sister delivered a girl, a Suffolk woman had twin boys — all at Sentara Obici Hospital.
On Aug. 15, 2012, Jennifer Buchheit, 30, was two doors down from Allison Lilly, 29, at Obici’s maternity unit when she had Joseph Flick at 9:30 p.m. Lilly had given birth to Noni Rayne at 6:56 p.m.
“I shared that we were pregnant, then a few weeks later Jen and her husband shared they were pregnant,” said Lilly, who lives in Southampton County.
“We were supposed to be a week apart. Then I was four days late, and Jen was three days early.”
The young cousins had a combined first birthday party at the home of their maternal grandparents. “It was BYOB — bring your own baby,” grandmother Colleen Flick said.
Something lower key-had been planned for the second birthday — the two families getting together so Joseph and Noni could play.
But Jennifer headed to her doctor after contractions began and was subsequently sent back to Obici.
Doctors picked up some activity. Buchheit was scheduled for a Cesarean section Aug. 18, but a decision was made to bring it forward three days.
Ethan, weighing 6 pounds 3 ounces, was born at 5:37 p.m., and Evan, 5 pounds 13 ounces, was born at 5:38 p.m.
Buchheit, who was 36 weeks and five days into her pregnancy, said she was not surprised her twin boys were born on the same day as their big brother and cousin Noni. “I always said I was going to have them on a Friday,” she said.
“I had bought cupcakes for Joseph and Noni … so we had cupcakes and Jen had babies,” Lilly said.
Buchheit spoke glowingly of both of her experiences at Obici. “They were really supportive — the nurse staff are very educated,” she said. “They are really there for the mothers and babies.”
Young Joseph, she said, has had “a pretty hard time” getting used to his new brothers. “But he’s gotten a lot better,” she added.
Lilly said, “I think Noni gets the short end of the stick, because it’s three boys against one girl.”
To help Noni come to grips with it, a princess party in the works, she added.
For Colleen Flick, all of her grandchildren were now born on the same day. “In two years we have doubled what we had,” Flick said.
Buchheit said husband Ryan is “completely tripped out” by the idea of three sons in the house. They’ll go to Kansas City Chiefs football games together, she said, and the boys will be wakeboarding before too long.
“He’s excited he has nephews to take hunting and fishing,” Lilly said of her husband’s reaction.