TWO SIBLINGS, TWO BIRTHS, ONE DAY

As brother and sister, Joel Wilmarth of University City, Mo., and Laura James of Cape Girardeau competed for bragging rights in everything from grades to completion of household chores. They never expected that competitiveness would carry over years later to childbirth.

But on Tuesday, Joel's wife, Debby, and Laura both delivered healthy babies, much to the delight of their parents, George and Melva Wilmarth of Cape Girardeau.

Melva Wilmarth said trying to support both siblings during such stressful events was difficult but worth the effort.

"Oh boy, what an emotional day we had," she said of the deliveries of her newest grandson, Noah Austin James, and granddaughter, Meghan Lynn Wilmarth. "They've always liked to keep up with each other, but not to this extent."

Laura, the elder of the two, was the first to deliver despite having a later due date. She and her husband, Brian James, were not expecting the delivery of their second child until mid-February.

Her brother and his wife were anxiously awaiting the birth of their first child, who was due any day.

"She was the oldest, and she seemed to be determined to beat me at this first," Joel said with a laugh. "We've always been extremely competitive."

When Laura went into premature labor early Tuesday morning, she contacted her parents just before heading to Southeast Missouri Hospital. Melva Wilmarth then contacted her son and daughter-in-law in University City to tell them of James' pending delivery.

After ending the telephone call, she was preparing to meet her daughter at the hospital when the telephone rang. It was Joel.

"He said, 'Hey Mom, Debby's water just broke,'" Melva Wilmarth said. "I sat down on the bed and started crying. I just knew I couldn't be in both places at once."

The grandparents just missed their daughter's delivery at the hospital, but they were able to visit with Laura and to see their new grandson, who appeared healthy but was receiving treatment because of his premature birth. After repeated telephone conversations with their son, George and Melva Wilmarth decided to travel to St. Louis in hopes of arriving before the second delivery of the day.

"It did turn out we went up to St. Louis and were there when she delivered a healthy little girl," said Melva Wilmarth.

Joel Wilmarth said he cried joyful tears after the delivery of a "perfect baby girl, because she's mine." However, he could not relax completely until he received news his nephew was doing well.

"It's just been a roller coaster," he said. "All throughout the day we were worried about Debby's progress and Noah's progress. After we found out Noah was OK, that made everything perfect."

With both deliveries behind them, Melva Wilmarth already treasures being able to the tell the story of the babies being born the same day. Birthdays could be a problem, she said, but she believes the new cousins will enjoy having joint birthday parties.

"This is nice because this will be a great memory for the memory books," she said..