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Newtown, CT, USA
Newtown, CT, USA
Newtown, CT, USA
Newtown, CT, USA
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'Twin' Cousins Add To The Family Fun

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Cecelia Ann Ragusa and cousin Halle Rowan Pechenko are four months old now. The daughters of Jessica (Stiewing) and Thomas Ragusa of Newtown and of Brook (Stiewing) and Eric Pechenko of Brookfield see each other nearly every day, as they have since Cecelia’s May 29 birth and Halle’s May 30 birth.

The “twousins” — not quite twins, but more than just cousins — were born less than 26 hours apart at Danbury Hospital, much to the surprise of their parents.

“My husband and I were in our hospital room when Brook called,” said Ms Ragusa. Her sister was planning to visit her new niece in the maternity ward — as soon as she finished checking in to the labor and delivery room at the hospital.

The sisters had due dates that were very close together, with Brook due to deliver on June 2, and Jessica on June 11.

“With my first baby, Sophia, who is now 6, she came one week early. Our second, Eliza, who is 4, came two weeks early. With this one, we all had it in our minds that she would come way before Jessica’s baby,” said Ms Pechenko. It was quite a surprise to find herself in the hospital not only at the same time as her younger sister, but giving birth later than Jessica, she said.

“We are a close family,” laughed Ms Pechenko. “We are the kind of family that if there is no where to sit but on our brother, Glenn, we pile on top of him. Our mother says we are like a bunch of monkeys picking on each other, but in the most loving way,” she said.

Additionally, Jessica and Thomas are high school sweethearts, graduating from Newtown High School in 2002, and Brook is also a Newtown High School graduate, Class of 1996.

 “The nurses had an absolute ball with us. Cecelia and Halle ended up in neighboring bassinettes in the same room. [The nurses] said they had never had two sisters at once. It was great, with the in-laws, our husbands, and our parents all in the same room with us,” Ms Ragusa said. “Eric had to go home to be with the two older girls, so I think that my husband, Tom, changed Halle’s first diaper. It gives meaning to ‘It takes a village to raise a child,’” she said.

It is not the first time the Stiewing girls have shared a baby bond. Ms Pechenko’s oldest, Sophia, was born within four months of Luke, her sister Chelsa’s son. Those two, said Ms Pechenko, are fondly referred to in the family as “the Littles.” Like Halle and Cecelia, Sophia and Luke share a special bond.

Nephew Nicholas, 11, and Eliza, she said, have fallen into a more nurturing role, as the family expands, but all of the cousins are very close.

There is something extraordinary of the relationship developing between Halle and Cecelia, said their mothers.

“We always put them in close proximity to each other. They are definitely leaving an imprint on each other when they are together,” Ms Ragusa said. Now that the babies are starting to roll and interact, they do a lot of babbling at each other, as well.

On Thursday, September 18, the mothers had packed up the Littles and the Twousins, and all of the equipment babies require, and were heading off together to enjoy one last summer day at the beach.

It would be, said Ms Ragusa, just one more in many days ahead to spend together.

“My sister and I already like to sit and daydream together about what we’ll do for their first birthdays,” she said.

Cecelia Ann Ragusa was born May 29, to Jessica and Thomas Ragusa of Newtown, at Danbury Hospital. She weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces at birth and was 19 inches in length. Paternal grandparents Joseph and Linda Ragusa of Naples, Fla. welcomed Cecelia into the family.

Brook and Eric Pechenko are the proud parents of Halle Rowan Pechenko, born May 30, at Danbury Hospital. Halle weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces, and was 21 inches in length at birth. She has two older sister, Sophia, 6, and Eliza, 4. Paternal grandparents are Michael and JoAnn Pechenko of Bethpage, N.Y., and Tillie Ambrosino of Florida is the paternal great-grandmother.

James and Deborah Stiewing of Newtown are maternal grandparents to Halle and Cecelia, and Lorett Ostuni is their maternal great-grandmother.

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