Blessings come in threes
Boardman women share more than a common upbringing
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN — It was once, twice, three times a baby.
Three township women, Jennifer Dravecky, Bethany Lopatta and Lisa Young, who grew up together, all gave birth March 3 at St. Elizabeth Health Center, Youngstown.
“It’s crazy,” Dravecky said.
And it wasn’t planned.
Young and her husband, Guy, welcomed Patrick Michael at 6:36 p.m. He joins big brothers Guy, 5, and Charlie, 2.
Dravecky and her husband, George, brought Tanner Joseph into the world at 7:39 p.m. The couple’s daughter, Madison, is 4.
Lopatta and her husband, Brian “Woodsy,” had their first child, Addison Ann, at 10:38 p.m.
“The nurse was running back and forth to the rooms, saying, ‘The race is on,’” Young said.
It was a full house in the maternity ward that day, the women said.
But their relationships go way back.
“Our families knew each other really since the time of our births,” Dravecky said.
That wasn’t the same day: Young graduated from Boardman High School in 1993, Lopatta in 1995 and Dravecky in 1996.
The infants cooed, whined and mostly slept in their mothers’ arms one day last week as the moms sat side-by-side on a couch in Young’s home, talking about the experience.
They learned of one another’s pending bundle of joy last summer via text message from their respective husbands — who also are all friends.
Only Young’s delivery was Caesarean section, but the date wasn’t planned much ahead of time.
Lopatta delivered on her due date. She jokes that Addison is already taking after her mother’s penchant for planning and sticking to a schedule.
Dravecky’s due date was March 28, and Young’s was March 10.
Dravecky had been on bed rest, then began having contractions the day before and went into the hospital. Young visited her doctor the day before, and he told her to call the hospital to schedule her delivery that week.
She was surprised when the hospital scheduled her for the next day.
“The doctor didn’t think I’d deliver that day either,” Lopatta said.
She had an appointment March 3 and after leaving the doctor’s office began to have contractions. She progressed quickly.
After the births, they all enjoyed one another’s company.
“There was constant movement, and it made the time go by fast,” Lopatta said.
“It was like a dorm room then,” Dravecky said.
Husbands walked from one another’s rooms, and the women visited when they recovered.
The women took advantage of the family pizza plan option offered through the hospital’s Birth By Design program.
“We had pizza and pop, and it really was like a dorm room,” Lopatta said.
The women all are teachers — Dravecky at Glenwood Middle School, Young at Struthers Elementary and Lopatta at Canfield’s Hilltop Elementary — and each will return to the classroom upon completion of maternity leave.
All of the families live within a few blocks of one another, too, but they’re not sure if their children will attend the same schools.
At 8 pounds, 3 ounces, Addison was and remains the largest of the group. Tanner was 6 pounds, 1 ounce, and Patrick was 6 pounds, 3 ounces.
“They took a picture of the three of them, and I feel like it’s that movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito and she’s Arnold Schwarzenegger,” joked Lopatta, referring to the 1988 film “Twins.”
A first-time mom, she welcomes having close friends with babies at the same time, especially since they’ve done it before.
The three friends are already thinking about joint birthday parties and play dates.
Young says she and her husband will probably stop with three kids.
That leaves Dravecky and Lopatta to try to repeat the same-day birth with their next children if they decide to have more.
“I guess it’s up to us,” Dravecky said.
denise_dick@vindy.com