After going through their pandemic pregnancies together, two Minnesota sisters thought it would be pretty neat if they ended up giving birth on the same day.
Their baby boys apparently agreed and arrived earlier this month about 90 minutes apart.
Keep scrolling for a gallery of uplifting photos from a tough 2020
Ashley Carruth told CNN that she and her sister Brittany Schille found out that they were pregnant in April, as their state was locking down because of the coronavirus pandemic. Their due dates were just a few days apart, Carruth said.
The sisters live about 20 minutes apart in the Twin Cities area and were able to see each other regularly during their pregnancies.
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"We definitely stayed connected and close," she said.
At the start of the pandemic, The Associated Press launched its "One Good Thing" series to highlight individuals whose actions offer glimmers of light in dark times. Nine months later The AP has hit every continent except Antarctica to bring viewers more than 180 stories of kindness, good deeds and serendipity.
Carruth went into labor at about 2 a.m. on December 14, the day her sister was scheduled to be induced. They texted back and forth during the delivery and Carruth said it was a real comfort to have her big sister nearby at M Health Fairview Ridges Hospital in Burnsville.
At one point, Carruth was able to pop into her sister's room.
"I did get to say hi, and see her, and we both just gave each other a sweet look," she said. "It's like those moments you think about when you're a little girl happening in such a special way, so it was very, very emotional for both of us."
Hospital staff were able to put them in delivery rooms that were right next to each other and they had the same doctor and many of the same nurses.
"They were like, 'So are you taking bets on who's gonna who's gonna go first?'" Carruth said. "Everybody was just laughing and it definitely was really funny."
Her son, Cassius John Carruth was born first, followed by Zander Paul Schille -- named after the sisters' father Paul, who died of cancer in 2016.
"He just was such an important man in our life and just so special to us," Carruth said. "We definitely felt like this was kind of his little gift to us."
The timing felt like a little wink from her dad and a reminder that he was looking down on them, Carruth said.
"It just seemed like something that he would do," she said. "We really felt God's presence and his presence throughout the whole labor and delivery hospital stay experience that could have been really scary and really weird with COVID, and no visitors, and no family able to come in besides your spouse or your partner."
Zander is Schille's first child. Cassius has a 3-year-old sister, who's already helping change diapers and reading books to her little brother.
Photos: Uplifting images from a tough year
Photos: Uplifting images from a tough year
A health worker makes a heart sign while she and her fellow workers celebrate as the last three patients are released from a field hospital at the National Stadium Mane Garrincha, after recuperating from COVID-19, in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Richardson Fremond leaps over a wall as he runs to collect an award during the Chambers High School graduation ceremony at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., on June 23, 2020. The ceremony was held at the race track to enable social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic and the 41 seniors who graduated crossed the start-finish line to receive their diplomas. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Cuban singer Cimafunk hugs a woman during a music conga through the streets of Cuba's Old Havana neighborhood during the 35th Havana International Jazz Festival on Jan. 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A reveler dressed in a Spider-Man costume strikes a pose at the "Ceu na Terra" or Heaven on Earth street party in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Feb. 22, 2020, during the Carnival celebration. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A protester and a police officer shake hands in the middle of a standoff during a rally in New York on June 2, 2020, calling for justice over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died under the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis on May 25. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
Blanca Ortiz, 84, celebrates after learning from nurses that she will be dismissed from the Eurnekian Ezeiza Hospital, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Aug. 13, 2020, several weeks after being admitted with COVID-19. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
A woman and child peer out their car window as bubbles are blown into their car by volunteers from the Muslim Community Center as part of an Eid al-Fitr ceremony celebrating the end of Ramadan and a month of fasting in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, Sunday, May 24, 2020, in New York. Because of the need for social distancing due to coronavirus, the celebration was a drive-by celebration in which sweets and toys were handed out. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Reflected in the rearview mirror, Jose Collantes gets a hug from 5-year-old daughter Kehity while they're stopped at a red light, as Jose drives her home from a playdate in Santiago, Chile, on Sept. 6, 2020, three months after they lost his wife, her mother, to COVID-19. Their case highlights how COVID-19 deaths the world over are often the beginning of a new personal journey for those affected. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Oregon's Taylor Chavez, left, and Minyon Moore celebrate after defeating Stanford in an NCAA college basketball game in the final of the Pac-12 women's tournament Sunday, March 8, 2020, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Indian revelers, faces smeared with colored powder, dance during celebrations to mark Holi, the Hindu festival of colors in Prayagraj, India, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. This exuberant festival originally held to celebrate the fertility of the land, is also associated with the immortal love of Hindu God Krishna and Radha. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Graduating seniors from Buckeye Union High School, and their families, celebrate during the Parade of Graduates drive-thru graduation ceremony on the race track at Phoenix Raceway Saturday, May 16, 2020, in Avondale, Ariz. The coronavirus has caused most schools to either cancel traditional graduations or find alternative celebrations. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
United States Military Academy graduating cadets celebrate at the end of their commencement ceremonies, Saturday, June 13, 2020, in West Point, N.Y. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, Pool)
A boy watches fireworks as he celebrates the Fourth of July, Saturday, July 4, 2020, in Stillwell, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
A woman smiles as her face is covered in colored powder during the Holi Festival in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2020. The popular ancient Hindu festival, also known as the festival of colors, or the festival of love, celebrates the victory of good over evil. It is normally celebrated in spring, but was postponed due to the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Spain's Rafael Nadal celebrates winning the semifinal match of the French Open tennis tournament against Argentina's Diego Schwartzman in three sets, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6, at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, Friday, Oct. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Chase Elliott holds up the season championship trophy as he celebrates with his race crew in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Phoenix Raceway, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020, in Avondale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso)
Egili Oliveira, a member of the Mocidade Unida do Santa Marta samba school, smiles for a portrait as she attends a ceremony marking Black Consciousness Day in the Santa Marta favela of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Nov. 20, 2020. Brazilians celebrate the holiday with Afro-Brazilian dance, music and religious ceremonies, reflecting the deep cultural and social ties of the Black community to the country's history and honor legendary anti-slave leader Zumbi dos Palmares on the day of his death. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
People stand in their balconies during a nationwide confinement to counter the coronavirus in Barcelona, Spain on March 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Members of the Israeli Mermaid Community swim with mermaid tails at the beachfront in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv, Israel, on May 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A woman bangs a pot in support of medical staff who are working on the front lines of the COVID-19 outbreak during a partial lockdown against the spread of the coronavirus in Brussels on March 31, 2020. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Agustina Canamero, 81, and Pascual Perez, 84, hug and kiss through a plastic film screen to avoid contracting the coronavirus at a nursing home in Barcelona, Spain, on June 22, 2020. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden smiles as he puts on his face mask after speaking to media in Wilmington, Del., on Sept. 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
President Donald Trump smiles as he holds a debit card handed to him by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that will be used to send payments by the Treasury Department during a Cabinet Meeting in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, May 19, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
A supporter of presidential candidate Kouadio Konan Bertin jumps a fence as he arrives at Bertin's final campaign rally in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on Oct. 29, 2020, ahead of the Oct. 31 election. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A Lim Kim, of South Korea, celebrates after winning the U.S. Women's Open golf tournament, Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
