We have been best friends since we were born. We always do everything together. Hence our nickname, 'Sticky Sisters'. Sticky Sisters always stick together, no matter what. Prior to either of us finding out we were expecting the girls we had a very brief conversation on how we were both ready to think about having another. We jokingly chatted about being pregnant together, neither of us knowing we were both already in fact expecting.
It was late November when I (Katie) found out I was pregnant. My husband Tim wanted to surprise everyone on Christmas morning. I knew that meant keeping the news from my sister and I was really stressed about it.
Early December Katie and the girls were over having a girls' night/sleepover, baking Christmas cookies and I (Corey) mentioned that I was late. Katie was very adamant that we send Travis (my husband) out to get a test. Katie obviously already secretly knew she was pregnant and was very persistent that we do one immediately. With my previous pregnancy with my son Tydus I never had a positive pregnancy test. If you could only imagine our SHOCK when the test instantly turned positive. We were crying and laughing, it was great.
At that moment I (Katie) slipped away to call my husband Tim because I was going to explode if I couldn't tell Corey that very second. He laughed because he assumed I had most likely already told her. We put him on speaker phone and this is exactly what I said, "Tim, guess what? Corey's pregnant! This is crazy!! But do you want to know what is even crazier? I am too!"
Corey basically fainted on to the bed. Probably one of my all time favorite moments.
We immediately did the math and we were at a loss for words when we came to the realisation that our due dates were only a week apart.
Being pregnant together was such a gift. We shared aches and pains and lots and lots of dessert. Our husbands especially loved it because instead of complaining to them we would just complain to each other knowing we'd give/get the appropriate amount of sympathy that we were looking for.
On many occasions, we'd walk into our prenatal appointment and find the other in the waiting room. Completely unplanned. That always made for a good laugh.
If only we knew then that the string of coincidences would only get better. I (Katie) remember being in labor and our nurse joking about us having our babies on the same day. Her shift ended and before she left for the night she said, "Now don't let me come in tomorrow and find out I missed you and your sister both having your babies."
Needless to say she couldn't believe that was actually about to happen.
After we had our girls we of course wanted to be together. Did I mention there are more coincidences yet to come? The labor and delivery unit was almost FULL and guess where the last room available was located? Right next door to Katie's. We were driving all of the nurses nuts because they didn't like one of the babies being in another room but we'd just laugh and say, "But we reserved an adjoining room? Didn't you get the memo?"
That first week was great. We tossed advice back and forth and shared in the misery of being sleep deprived.
Indie was having trouble sleeping so Corey was so sweet and brought me over this swaddle that Ryatt was loving and like magic Indie started sleeping great. That was so wonderful and we used that swaddle until she no longer fit in it.
I (Corey) was really having a rough time establishing my milk supply. I was working really hard at it but it was slow to come in. I'm pretty sure I cried when my sister showed up with this enormous bag of frozen breast milk for me. That always seems to be the case with us. We compensate where the other is lacking. If she forgot a diaper, I'd have an extra and vice versa. Together we are a dream team! Because of her I was able to eventually make enough and continue to breastfeed Ryatt.
When the babies were four months old Ryatt became very sick with RSV. It was an extremely scary time and she was admitted into the NICU. Katie gathered all the colostrum she had saved in her freezer and paired with mine we pumped little Ryatt full of antibodies. I to this day believe this is why she got better so fast and made it home from the hospital on Christmas Eve morning.
The girls definitely share the same bond that we do. They are so sweet together. They have literally spent 100% of their lives with each other. They even hit miles stones together. Just last month they both decided to stand up for the first time five minutes after the other. We definitely think they share the Sticky Sister bond as well but in their own special way. They baby talk while playing with their baby dolls. It's so precious.
We say all of the time how wonderful it is to be moms together. We loved it before with our other little ones but nothing compares to the experiences we have shared from the moment we found out we were pregnant together. It's so awesome having them be the exact same age. It's so convenient because we always have a back up in case the other forgot something. It cracks us up. If I don't have it, she does. We have a shoulder to lean on when the babies have a rough night teething, growing or colds. It's a special connection like no other and we thank God everyday we get to share this life together.
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