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Identical twin sisters give birth at same time miles apart

Identical twin sisters Sarah Mariuz and Leah Rodgers say they have been close to each other and their other two sisters.

"We've always lived in separate places, but all of us — we have two sisters — are very close in age and very close," Rodgers told "Today". "But certainly there's another connection at the twin level."

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That extra connection is what led Rodgers, older by 11 minutes, to know her sister was expecting a baby around the same time she was the moment she saw Mariuz at Thanksgiving.

The two unknowingly found out they were pregnant at the same time and planned to tell each other when they met in person for the holiday.

"She showed up to my front door and I welcomed her and Nick (my sister's husband) inside," Rodgers said. "And I had this crazy twin intuition — I call it my 'twintuition' — and I knew she was pregnant, too."

Mariuz said she let her sister have her moment to tell her.

"I wanted Leah to have her moment of sharing her news, rather than me just saying, 'Me too!'" Mariuz said.

But once Rodgers told her when she was due -- four days apart from her own -- Mariuz revealed her news too.

"I ran down the hallway and got the ultrasound pic out of my purse and slapped it down next to Leah's," said Mariuz, who works in medical sales. "We were jumping up and down, just so happy for each other. Everyone was just in shock."

The sisters ended up giving birth at the same exact time in their respective time zones early Thursday.

Rodgers welcomed a baby boy at 1:18 a.m. in Denver, and Mariuz's daughter was born at 1:18 a.m. in La Jolla, California. All are doing well at home since leaving their hospitals.

None of this was planned, the twins say.

"We were at our older sister's wedding recently, and, well, (with) two pregnant chicks together, people couldn't stop talking about this," Rodgers said. "They kept asking us, 'Was it planned?' No! It was kind of entertaining."

"We've always lived in separate places … but certainly there's another connection at the twin level."

Posted by Today Show on Tuesday, July 5, 2016