Best friends who became pregnant together give birth at the same hospital — just two days apart

Best friends Shauna Wheeler, 41, and Ivy Chichester, 37 were destined to enter the hospital for their respective deliveries together. Their first babies were born just one week apart and this time when they realized that they had gotten pregnant at the same time, they were in utter shock. "A week before (Ivy) actually confirmed she was pregnant, she was saying she might be pregnant," Wheeler told TODAY. "I kind of snickered because I feel like people always think that, but at the time it had been so early for her to have symptoms for real."

Chichester disagreed with Wheeler to which the latter responded by saying, "I was over here like, 'OK girl, whatever.'" Wheeler added. "But she was right and I was wrong." Chichester said that she had "mixed emotions" about having to raise another child which is why Wheeler told her to "give it a couple of days." One week later Chichester confirmed her pregnancy. On the other hand, Wheeler had also been suspecting her own pregnancy.

"It prompted me to go directly home and test," Wheeler said. "Sure enough, I was. That line was the pinkest I've ever seen it — it was prominent." After being pretty sure, she knew it was time to tell her dear friend that she was pregnant too. "I told her, 'I know that you're apprehensive about it, but hopefully the fact that we're doing this together can help both of us with our anxieties about being pregnant,'" Wheeler explained. They both, however, had their own worries, Chichester was anxious at the thought of having another baby while Wheeler was worried that her body wouldn't be able to carry out a healthy delivery, a fear that stemmed from her previous miscarriage.

"It was just so nice to truly have a judgment-free zone where I could talk about whatever I was feeling and have that mental and emotional support from my village," Chichester said. "Those conversations helped me through the struggles, and because Shauna was pregnant we could support each other on a slightly bigger level because we were both going through it at the same time," she added.

Wheeler went on to say how she "felt like Superwoman" during her pregnancy. They would often ask each other if they thought they could do it. "I'm always the person who is like, 'Shauna, you really think you can do that? Really?'" Chichester said. "I think we were able to encourage each other and keep it real." Wheeler had her C-section scheduled for December 13 while Chichester had plans for normal delivery.

During a routine check-up, the doctors found that Wheeler's blood pressure was really high and decided to send her into labor following which her delivery date moved up to December 5. "I had my baby at 3:41 p.m. on 12/5," Wheeler said. "The next day I was recovering and Ivy was supposed to come and visit. A couple of hours later, Ivy called and said, 'I'm at the hospital!' My husband said, 'They said she can't visit.' I said, 'Um, she's in labor.'"

Chichester gave birth to a healthy baby boy on December 7 at 4:56 in the morning."It felt surreal, but also right," Chichester explained. "It felt like we were meant to be at the hospital at the same time and we were meant to have our babies around the same time and that our friendship was meant to be."