Double blessings: Twin brothers welcome babies on same day in Lincoln

By ALYSSA JOHNSON

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    LINCOLN, Nebraska (Lincoln Journal Star) — Twins. They do everything together, so why not become fathers together?

Luke and Seth Flowerday graduated from preschool together, attended college together, became roommates after graduation and even started a company together.

“It was great,” Luke said. “We always had our best friend over, we always had someone who agreed with us even if we were wrong and always had someone to have our back. We called it our superpower.”

They even showed up to a recent interview in similar outfits — an accident, they said.

“We didn’t mean to,” Luke said. “We don’t try and plan this stuff out, it just happens.”

To those who know them it might not have been surprising that their wives would become pregnant at the same time, or that even with due dates weeks apart, their wives would end up giving birth the same day.

“I’m just not surprised,” Luke said. “I should be, but I’m not. We’ve been doing everything together our whole lives.”

On Nov. 2, Lucy Flowerday, daughter of Seth and Elizabeth Flowerday, was born just a few hours before her cousin Evan Flowerday, son of Luke and Lauren Flowerday.

Twin brothers Seth (left) and Luke Flowerday pose for a portrait at their parents’ home in Lincoln. The brothers have 6-week-old children who share a birthday.

Luke and Seth, along with their wives, attended Lincoln East High School. Luke and Lauren dated for nine years and no matter how cheesy it sounds, Luke says it was love at first sight for both of them. The two got married on May 10, 2019, less than two months before his brother.

Seth and Elizabeth knew of each other in high school, but reconnected years later. After a few dates, Seth said to himself, “that’s the girl I’m gonna marry.” The two tied the knot on June 29, 2019. Prior to Lucy being born, Seth and Elizabeth had a daughter named Clare, who’s now an energetic 2-year-old. It didn’t take long for Uncle Luke to become “Dada Luke” to Clare.

In February, Elizabeth found out they were pregnant with their second child and announced the news to their families. Four days later, Lauren found out she was pregnant. After going through in vitro fertilization a few months prior and deciding to wait, Lauren said the pregnancy was a surprise.

For Grandma Linda Johnson Flowerday, it all fit together for her two sons.

“The boys have been in that synchronicity their entire life,” Linda said. “It didn’t surprise people that they would have babies on the same day just from how connected they are.”

Elizabeth said she couldn’t have wished for better timing for the brothers.

“Parenthood is beautiful and challenging and so they get to do it together,” Elizabeth said. “I’m really excited that (Seth) gets to do it with his brother.”

While the couples were excited to be pregnant together, their due dates were several weeks apart. But in October, Elizabeth got the stomach flu and her due date was moved up.

Lauren’s baby wasn’t due until Nov. 21, but high blood pressure put her on bed rest. The week of Halloween, her doctor told her that it was time to have the baby and the couple would need to schedule a labor induction that week — the same week as Elizabeth and Seth.

Lauren and Luke had a choice of three different days and were left to decide if the cousins would be born a day apart or share birthdays.

“I think we were always due on the same day, it just wasn’t scientifically scheduled,” Luke said. “On paper, it was a different day, but I think we were always on the same day.”

Lucy Flowerday (left) is posed for a portrait next to her cousin, Evan, at their grandparents’ home in Lincoln. The cousins, whose fathers are twins, share the same birthday.

Lucy was born in the morning at 9 pounds, 15 ounces. Prior to Luke and Lauren getting checked into their room, they got to meet their new niece. Evan was born that afternoon at 7 pounds, 11 ounces.

Linda referred to the births as “a family affair on the sixth floor” of the hospital where she spent the day splitting her time in the two rooms across the hall from each other.

The cousins got to meet each other the next day and even had a photoshoot at the hospital.

Nearly two months old now, Linda has already babysat both of the grandchildren at the same time.

Evan Flowerday (left) is posed for a portrait next to his cousin, Lucy, shortly after they were born. The cousins, whose fathers are twins, share the same birthday.

“I forgot what this is like,” the mother of the twins said.

Luke and Seth were a handful for their parents when they were younger. Linda said every night they had to rope the refrigerator shut, Velcro the oven and even kept a clamp on the VCR so the boys couldn’t jam stuff inside. She also has a daughter who is 11 years younger than the boys who Linda calls “a dream child.”

“We like to say that she was the kid that they deserved after putting up with us,” Luke said.

For now, it’s not too difficult handling the babies unless it’s naptime, but Linda looks forward to the chaos that will ensue in the future.

Joint birthday parties are already in the works for the cousins or “twinsins” as the family calls them.

“It’s best-case scenario,” Luke said. “They’re cousins that can grow up like siblings. … We spent way too much time together, so they’ll spend way too much time together.”

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