Sisters Gave Birth 1 Day Apart at Same Hospital. Now They’re Having a ‘Big Thanksgiving’ Together (Exclusive)

Mackenzie Root and Alysha Orsine tell PEOPLE their birthdays are also a day apart — but welcoming their daughters back-to-back was a total surprise

• Mackenzie Root, 24, welcomed her daughter on Oct. 7 at Lakenau Medical Center — the next day, Alysha Orsine, 30, who works as a nurse at the same hospital, gave birth to her bundle of joy

• Making the moment extra special, both sisters already know what it's like to have birthdays that are only a day apart

• “I'm just hoping they get to be really close growing up since they're so close in age,” Root tells PEOPLE

For two sisters in Pennsylvania, their annual Thanksgiving gathering is going to get a bit larger thanks to their newborn daughters, who arrived just one day apart.

Mackenzie Root, 24, gave birth to her second child, daughter Celine, on Oct. 7, at Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, where her older sister, Alysha Orsine, 30, works as a labor and delivery nurse.

Although they were pregnant at the same time, having back-to-back babies did come as a surprise as Orsine’s due date was over a week later than Root's — but her daughter had other plans.

In fact, Orsine was nine hours into her shift at the hospital when she went into labor, giving birth to Lylah on Oct. 8.

Related: Mom Welcomes Fourth Baby — Who Shares the Same Birthday with Her 3 Big Sisters: ‘Blows My Mind’ (Exclusive)

For the sisters, who have a six-year age difference, the birth of the newborns is even more special considering that their own birthdays are also one day apart: Aug. 13 for Root and Aug. 14 for Orsine.

“I had been making jokes about it the whole time, because our birthdays are a day apart,” Orsine tells PEOPLE. "I kept saying, ‘Oh, wouldn't it be so funny?' "

But, she adds, "Mackenzie was like, ‘No, we're not doing that.’ ”

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However, by the time her sister went into labor, Orsine, already a mom of two, had given up on the idea.

"I already had an induction scheduled with my doctors for October 18th, so it wasn't even on my mind," she says. "And I was going to work."

Orsine, who is six years older than Root, says she actually remembers witnessing Root’s birth — and she says that influenced her decision to eventually become a nurse.

“I remember how crazy it was,” Orsine recalls, “because my mom had [the medical staff] discharge her the following day because it was my birthday. She was trying to run around and have a party for me still and everyone was coming over. it was kind of like a baby welcome home party and my birthday party at the same time.”

The sisters, who grew up in Glen Olden in Pennsylvania’s Delaware County, also have a younger brother and another sister.

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As for being pregnant at the same time, Root says she found her sister was expecting after calling about her own pregnancy.

“I called because the doctors were saying that there were problems,” Root remembers. “Then [she was] like, ‘Well, if it makes you feel better, I'm pregnant, too.' "

“[Mackenzie] found out really early,” Orsine adds, sharing that because it was early, doctors weren't initially sure if her pregnancy was viable, but were finally able to see the baby on ultrasound and determine everything would be fine.

Orsine says that she already knew she was pregnant but hadn’t told anybody yet. “And then when I had the due date confirmed, and then she told me her due date, I was like, ‘Oh my God, we might deliver on the same day.’ ”

When it came time to welcome her daughter, Root says she went into the hospital on the evening of Oct. 6, and her daughter arrived the following morning.

Root says that her sister "came in my room to visit me when she got to work," but then had to start her shift. But, a few hours later, Root says everything changed when her sister "texted me saying that her water broke."

Fortunately, both of their deliveries went smoothly.

Related: Mom Welcomes Son on Her Birthday, Which She Also Shares with 8-Year-Old Daughter: ‘It Does Feel Wild’

Since then, the two sisters have visited each other a few times (both live in Morton, which is also in Delaware County) accompanied by their newborns.

“They've seen each other, but they're not doing a whole lot right now except for really eating and sleeping,” says Orsine.

As for Thanksgiving, the sisters plan to celebrate together with their mom, their siblings and their kids. In addition to their newborns, Orsine is also a mother of two, ages 7 and 3, while Root has a 3 year old.

“There's always a ton of people,” says Orsine, “especially now that we obviously both have more than one child and our significant others."

"We have family who lives really close by, like walking distance from our mother's house, and they usually are having a big Thanksgiving too," she adds. "So sometimes we'll all walk over to their house to have dessert afterwards and then walk back."

Root acknowledges that it is an incredible feeling that she and her sister have new babies. She adds, “I'm just hoping they get to be really close growing up since they're so close in age."