Three firefighters from Fairfax County were close friends after three years of working and living together at Station No. 465 on the Fort Belvoir Army base.
“When you do 48-hour shifts together and live together two days a time, you get to know each other pretty well,” said firefighter Kyle Frederick, 36.
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They were all expecting their sons to be born soon, and they joked at the fire station that they would run into each other at the hospital. None of them thought it would actually happen.
But on Feb. 20, the men — Frederick, Michael Irvine and Kyle Dean — saw each other at Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center. To their shock and amusement, their sons were born in the same 24-hour period.
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“We were surprised that we all ended up there at the same time,” Dean said with the understatement of a first responder who has seen a lot of unusual things on the job.
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The men thought they should perhaps burn off some nervous energy by setting up a cornhole game during their downtime at the hospital, the same way they pass time at the firehouse. They quickly decided their two wives and one fiancee wouldn’t like that.
“We joked that we should set up a game in the hallway and throw cornhole bags like usual,” Dean said.
Frederick and Irvine’s wives and Dean’s fiancee all had due dates a few weeks apart, but they arrived at the hospital in quick succession that day.
Meagan Irvine was the first to be admitted to the hospital on Feb. 20, and she gave birth at 3:25 a.m. to their fourth child and first boy. Carson Eugene Irvine weighed 9 pounds, 13 ounces.
The next mom up was Jamie Frederick, who gave birth to her ninth child, Dawson Cole Frederick, at 8 p.m. on the same day. He weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces.
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About four hours later, Dean and Andrea Nunley’s first child, Colton Tate Dean, was delivered at 1:58 a.m. on Feb. 21, weighing 8 pounds, 13 ounces.
“He missed having the same birthday by less than two hours,” said Dean, 32. “Andrea was in labor and pushing on the same day, but Colton was being stubborn. He just didn’t want to show up until he was ready.”
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“We all knew that we were having boys and we all knew we’d be taking paternity leave around the same time,” said Irvine, 31. “But the timing of us going to the hospital and having our kids one after another is something that played out on its own.”
As civilian employees at Fort Belvoir Fire and Emergency Services, Irvine, Dean and Frederick met about three years ago at Station No. 465 — one of four fire stations on the base.
“We’ve seen it all, good and bad,” Frederick said, noting that they’ve even helped with the occasional emergency baby delivery.
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“So even before this happened, we felt like family,” he said.
The Fredericks have experienced two miscarriages and lost a child to sudden infant death syndrome, “so we know the pain of something going wrong,” Frederick said. “It’s nice that we can now share a happy moment.”
Jamie Frederick’s due date wasn’t until March 13, he said, but their doctor decided to perform a C-section three weeks early when it was discovered that the baby was in a breech position. They arrived at the hospital hours after Meagan Irvine gave birth eight days early.
Then when Dean and Nunley appeared about a week after their due date and saw the others, “we knew that something wild was going on,” Frederick said. “Circumstances really lined up for us all to be there together.”
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And believe it or not, he said, more babies are on the way soon at the 110-person Fort Belvoir department.
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“There are four other guys in the department [at other stations] whose wives are also expecting soon,” Dean said, noting that the firefighters might have to start a sports team for their children.
In the meantime, he said, he is glad that the three babies are healthy and gaining weight. And he’s also grateful that the trio set up a text message group to compare notes about concerns and milestones over the next several months as they help care for their newborns.
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“I’m the first-time dad in the group, so I definitely have more questions,” Dean said. “I bounce ideas off the guys and ask them things like, ‘Is it normal that he’s sleeping this much?’ ”
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Dean, however, said that as the dad, he is not getting much shut-eye.
“I’m taking Kyle and Michael’s advice — I’m soaking it all up and enjoying every minute of watching Colton grow,” he said. “Besides, I’m used to sleeping at odd hours like any firefighter.”
The men didn’t think the news about their sons’ births would go much beyond the firehouse, but when a local television station contacted them a month later, they decided to share their fun story, said Frederick.
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“People are looking for some good in this world right now,” he said. “So we’re all happy if we can lift their spirits a bit.”
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Irvine said the three are ecstatic about the coincidence and love talking it up. But they are very clear about who did the hard work.
The women “deserve more credit than we do,” he said. “But any man could probably tell you that.”
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