Sisters Courtney Carpentier, left, and Morgan Bailey, right, who are 21 months apart, gave birth this week just 61 minutes apart. Carpentier holds her son Reece; Bailey holds her daughter Mia. (Christy Perry for The Tribune)
CULLMAN – Sisters Morgan Bailey and Courtney Carpentier have always been very close. Last December when the sisters learned they were both expecting, they shared their great news with family at Christmas. Later in the spring, they had a joint gender reveal party. What happened next, they had NOT planned.
Carpentier, the older sister by 21 months, was scheduled to be admitted to Cullman Regional at 4 a.m. on July 30. Younger sister Bailey agreed to watch her sister’s 4-year-old son, Tanner, so Carpentier’s husband could be at the birth. That plan fell through when Bailey started having strong contractions and was admitted on Sunday night (July 29).
By 4 o’clock Monday morning, the sisters were next door to each other in the maternity ward.
The family members frantically kept each sister updated.
Father Randy Bailey laughed, “It did seem like the girls were racing each other. I did the best I could and just went with the flow and let nature do its thing. Two healthy babies is what we wanted.”
Carpentier recalled, “I didn’t want to have my baby until I knew Morgan had hers and I knew everything was good.”
At 11:42 a.m. Bailey and Anthony Mullet welcomed their daughter, Mia Lynn Mullet, a beautiful healthy baby weighing 8 lbs. 4 oz. and measuring 21.5 inches. Mia is the first baby girl for the family in more than 12 years.
Next, Courtney and Will Carpentier welcomed Reece Harold Carpentier at 12:43 p.m. Baby Reece, a healthy baby boy, weighed in at 8 lbs. 10 oz. and measured 21.75 inches. Reece’s middle name, Harold, was in honor of the sisters’ maternal grandfather.
Debra Freeman, the babies’ great grandmother laughed, “I went to bed with the one great grandbaby, Tanner, and expected to wake up with two. Nope, I still had one, so I went to work. Not long after that, the texts started coming in and all I could do was laugh. By early afternoon I had three great grandchildren.” Freeman admitted, “I will likely spoil both, but especially Mia since she’s the first girl in a long time.”
Carpentier and Bailey loved being able to share such an important day. Bailey was a bit scared as a first-time mom, explaining, “I’m glad I get to share the day with my sister. I don’t know if I could do this by myself.”
The sisters’ mother, Hollie Taylor, went home to get some rest after the exciting day of running from room to room. Mullet’s mom was also next door getting some much-needed rest when The Tribune stopped in to meet the new arrivals.
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