Brothers' wives give birth to girl, boy on same day
Monday was an exciting day for the Dickey family.
The wives of brothers Dakota and Derek Dickey each gave birth that afternoon at Butler Memorial Hospital.
Shalene Dickey of Butler Township, who is married to Dakota, gave birth to a daughter, Macy, first. A few hours later, Nichole Dickey of Slippery Rock Township, married to Derek, gave birth to a son, Ethan.
The due date for Macy was March 8 and the due date for Ethan was March 13. With such close due dates, the family had been joking that the babies may end up with the same birthday.
“It's been a joke for nine months,” Derek Dickey said.
Macy was born at 1:34 p.m., and was 9 pounds, 2 ounces and 20 inches long. Ethan was born at 3:38 p.m., and was 7 pounds, 9 ounces and 19.5 inches long.
Dakota and Shalene Dickey checked into the hospital late last weekend to have the birth induced due to medical conditions.
Nichole's water broke about 1:30 a.m. Monday, causing the couple to brave snowy roads to get to the hospital.
“It was bad out,” Derek Dickey said.
About 5:30 a.m. that day, Shalene and Dakota were surprised to find Nichole and Derek visiting them, and then discovered why they were there.
The two couples were placed at opposite ends of the maternity unit so as to avoid confusion with the two same last names.
Shalene, who was in labor for seven hours, said the birth was smooth.
“It went very nicely,” Shalene said.
Nichole ended up having to have an emergency C-section, which lasted less than 30 minutes.
Dakota and Shalene already have a 2-year-old daughter, Riley. With that experience under their belts, this birth was smooth sailing.For Riley, Shalene was in labor for about 16 hours.“The first time was harder,” Dakota Dickey said.This was the first child for Derek and Nichole, who still were surprised Ethan came early.“We never expected him this soon,” Nichole Dickey said.Shalene noted that March 2 also is Dr. Seuss' birthday, and said there already is talk about having the infants' first birthday next year be a Dr. Seuss theme.Nichole Dickey said the children will be raised close, almost like brother and sister.“We're a close family,” she said.
