When Jalynne Crawford picked up her phone and saw a text from her twin sister Janelle saying that she was pregnant, she couldn't believe her eyes. Just a short while later, she was able to share some special news with Janelle over the phone. She was also pregnant.
The twins laughed and cried at the revelation that they were both expecting and were both equally far into their pregnancies. Both pregnancies were nothing short of miraculous for each of the moms-to-be. While Jalynne had suffered two miscarriages prior to conceiving her fourth child, Janelle had experienced an ectopic pregnancy and also suffered from polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) prior to conceiving her second child. The two had also experienced a hard loss with the death of their sister, Jennifer Pippin, last year.
Jalynne and Janelle had always wanted to be pregnant together, and their chance had arrived at the perfect time. There was just one problem: Jalynne and her husband live in Arizona, while Janelle and her husband live in California. Their parents had been present for the birth of all their grandchildren and didn't want this to be an exception. That's when Jalynne and Janelle knew that they wanted, for themselves and their family, to have their babies on the same day at the same hospital.
Jalynne April Crawford received a text from her twin sister, Janelle Ann Leopoldo, that she was pregnant. Just four days earlier, Jalynne had also found out she was pregnant.
The pregnancies were blessings to both sisters, who had each endured hardships on the road to these babies. Janelle suffered from PCOS and experienced an ectopic pregnancy, while Jalynne had suffered two miscarriages.
Their family had also experienced tragedy last year when Jalynne and Janelle suddenly lost their sister, Jennifer Pippin, who died due to an asthma attack.
The twins were excited to discover they were in the same gestational period, but it did pose an issue. Jalynne and Janelle's parents wanted to be present for both births but didn't know how to divide their time between Jalynne, who lives in Arizona, and Janelle, who lives in California.
The twins realized they wanted their family together for the momentous occasion, so Jalynne asked her doctor if it would be possible for her and Janelle to deliver their babies on the same day.
Since their due dates were just a week apart, they were given the green light. Janelle, her husband Jason, and her son packed up six weeks before the due date and headed to Arizona, where Jalynne and her husband, San Francisco Giants' player Brandon Michael Crawford, reside with their three children.
Both women had met their husbands in college at UCLA, where all four were student-athletes. Brandon and Jason both know and understand the special the bond between the sisters, so of course they were on board with the unconventional plan.
Throughout the pregnancies, everyone was stunned to see how similarly the women progressed. "Our pregnancies were almost as identical as us," Jalynne wrote in a feature for Love What Matters. "The babies were positioned in the same way, their weights were ounces off, and length was the same. Our doctor and the ultrasound technician could not believe their eyes! Neither had ever seen twins share a pregnancy together and they discussed how crazy it was that the babies were growing so similarly."
Both women made it to the agreed-upon delivery date, June 18. The whole family headed to the hospital, excited to meet the two newest additions.
Jalynne gave birth to Bryson Ryder Crawford that morning. Just three hours later, Janelle gave birth to Jace Alan Leopoldo.
"Everyone always asks how we decided who got to go first," Jalynne said of the two scheduled C-sections. "Well, I was born first and got pregnant first. Plus my husband only gets three days of paternity leave."
For Jalynne, Bryson was her fourth child, and she feels her family is "complete." She did note that Janelle has also always wanted four children and is only halfway there.
After a terrible year, this marks a wonderful new chapter for Jalynne, Janelle, and their families. The birth of these baby boys was a true blessing for everyone the story has touched.
Photos provided by Liz Valentine Photography
