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'So surreal': Sisters give birth 90 minutes apart in adjoining hospital rooms

The Minnesota siblings both welcomed sons.
/ Source: TODAY

A pair of inseparable sisters in Minnesota gave birth to sons 90 minutes apart in adjoining hospital rooms.

Brittany Schille, who had a scheduled induction, was admitted to M Health Fairview Ridges Hospital in Burnsville, Minnesota, on the morning of Dec. 14.

The preschool teacher, 30, had been there for fewer than three hours when she heard a familiar voice in the hallway.

Schille’s sister, Ashley Carruth, had gone into labor — and not only that, but she was moving into the room next door. The siblings couldn't believe their luck.

Ashley and John Carruth and Joe and Brittany Schille posed at the hospital with their newborn sons.
Ashley and John Carruth and Joe and Brittany Schille posed at the hospital with their newborn sons.Ashley Carruth

“We looked at each other and just started bawling,” Carruth, 29, told TODAY Parents. “For nine months I prepared myself knowing that I’d have to give birth without Britt because of COVID-19. And then there she was. It was comforting and so surreal.”

Schille noted that when she and Carruth were little girls, they would pretend to be mothers to their baby dolls.

"We wanted to be moms together and then it happened in real life!" she said.

Sisters Ashley Carruth and Brittany Schille gave birth to sons 90 minutes apart.
Sisters Ashley Carruth and Brittany Schille gave birth to sons 90 minutes apart. Ashley Carruth

The women said they believe the exciting turn of events must have been masterminded by their father, Paul Wayne Lemke, who passed away from cancer in 2016. Family was everything to him, they said.

“He made this happen,” Schille shared. “He was looking down on us and smiling. He knew we needed each other. To some people it might seem like a crazy coincidence, but for us ... we know it’s God and our dad.”

Sisters Ashley Carruth and Brittany Schille gave birth to sons 90 minutes apart.
The newborn cousins celebrated their first Christmas together.Ashley Carruth

Carruth’s little boy, Cassius John, was born first, followed by Zander Paul, who is named after his late grandfather. Carruth and her husband, John, are also parents to a 3-year-old daughter, Eden.

"I've been calling Ash with questions. She's been through this before. She knows what she's doing," Schille told TODAY Parents. "We'll be up in the middle of the night, feeding and texting and talking."

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