The Full TWS Story

Summer of 2005 was a hot one, but that didn't stop two pregnant ladies with due dates in August from staying healthy and living fully as they intentionally grew their families.

Tressa: I remember how adamant we both were about having healthy pregnancies this time around. Stephanie was due first and I would soon follow, and we were both having boys. We'd encourage each other during our first trimester to walk early in the mornings, despite the exhaustion. By the second trimester, we were challenging each other to keep at it. There was nothing sweeter than a close friend during that season. We celebrated each other at our baby showers and swapped stories and tips the whole way through.

One afternoon, during an intense bout of "nesting," I started feeling contractions. I'd let them subside and keep mopping. Then they'd come again and stop me in my tracks. I called my doctor, who told me to come up to the Women's and Children's Unit to get checked out. I got a family member to the house fast, and Stephanie offered to drive me to the hospital. Joel would meet us there as he was out of town for work and running behind.

We walked into the maternity ward, both of us big and pregnant, and the woman at the front desk practically stood up in disbelief. "The both of you?!" Steph gritted her teeth and said, "No. Just her..." It was a funny moment. Stephanie headed home while Joel met me, and I got examined. The doctors decided they'd deliver Dylan that night. I called Stephanie to let her know.

Stephanie: I got home and told Greg, "I was due first and we are having this baby stat!" I got the call from Tressa a few hours later that Dylan had arrived. Not long after, I went into labor myself and headed to a different hospital across town. Twelve hours after Dylan was born, Nathan arrived. Two best friends, two baby boys, one wild week.

Looking back, it's hard not to laugh at how on-brand that was for us even then - showing up for each other, one leading and one right behind, cheering the whole way. Twenty-one years later, we're still doing exactly that. We just traded baby showers for business plans.