Twins born in a San Diego hospital will forever share different birthdays: one baby was born in the final minute of New Year’s Eve, while the other debuted in the first minutes of New Year’s Day.
According to staffers at the San Diego Kaiser Permanente Zion Medical Center, the twins – baby girl, Jaelyn, and baby boy, Luis – were born at 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 31 and at 12:02 a.m. on Jan. 1, respectively, to mother Maribel Valencia, 22, and her husband, Luis.
Though the twins will be sharing a lot of things over the years, they will certainly not be sharing a birthday.
The hospital said the twins were both 18.5 inches long. Jaelyn weighed four pounds, 15 ounces, while Luis weighed five pounds, nine ounces. Both babies and their mother are healthy and happy.
"We were actually watching the clock. We wanted to see if we were one of the first ones," said Luis.
According to the hospital, the Valencia family lives in San Diego. Maribel works as a cashier at the San Diego International Airport and her husband is a diesel mechanic for the United State Navy. The couple also has another daughter, 3-year-old Isabella.
Luis told NBC 7 that the older sister was surprised and a little shocked about how her siblings came into the world.
The twins’ birth times may mean Jaelyn is the last baby born in 2015 in San Diego County, and Luis is possibly the first baby born in 2016 in San Diego County.
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"[Maribel] really wanted to have the babies on the same birthday because you know later on in the years, they're going to have a little confrontation and be like, 'my birthday came first,' so it means two birthday parties, back to back," said Luis.
The family had scheduled a cesarean-section scheduled for Jan. 6, but the babies decided to make an appearance earlier than expected.
"It's very unusual and it's very special," said nurse Lynnette Coetzee, "and I haven't seen it in all my 34 years of nursing."
She joked the timing of their births will probably affect the family dynamics.
"I think she's the little girl; she's gonna be pulling rank the whole time because she's gonna be the older one," said Coetzee. "He's gonna have a hard time living that down."
Other babies were also born in the first few minutes of the New Year across the city at facilities including Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women & Newborns, Scripps Hospital in Encinitas and Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD).
The first baby of 2016 born at Sharp Mary Birch is Harvey Charles Gillman, born at 12:35 a.m., weighing 7 pounds, 11 ounces. Little Harvey was actually due on Jan. 8, so he was quite the New Year's Day surprise for his proud parents, Rebecca and Josh Gillman. The family lives in Chula Vista.
The first baby born in 2016 at Scripps’ Encinitas campus came into the world at 12:59 a.m., a hospital spokesperson confirmed.
NMCSD welcomed its first newborn of the New Year at 3:54 a.m. Baby Lucas John Squires weighed six pounds and 11 ounces and was born to mother Lisa G. Irwin and father Joshua D. Squires – both active duty service members in the U.S. Navy, NMCSD officials said.
