Ohio Couple Born on Same Day Welcome Twins on Their Birthday: 'It’s a Blessing,' Says Dad

“They were my birthday present and I’m good with that,” José Ervin tells PEOPLE of twins José Ervin III and Ar’ria Lannette Ervin

Ohio couple Scierra Blair and fiancé José Ervin share the same Aug. 18 birthday — and now, so do their newborn twins!

The fraternal twins were born shortly after the stroke of midnight at Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital, with José Ervin III arriving at 12:35 a.m., just one minute before sister Ar’ria Lannette Ervin at 12:36 a.m.

“They were my birthday present and I’m good with that,” an obviously exhilarated Ervin, 31, tells PEOPLE. “I’m so stoked. I kiss them like 30,000 times a day.”

This time last year, the Cleveland couple never imagined this was how they would be spending their shared birthday. In fact, they hadn’t even met yet.

The two started seeing each other a few days after Blair turned 31 and Ervin turned 30 in 2022.

“I thought she was telling a tale, because she asked me about my birthday and then said that’s pretty ironic, because that’s my birthday,” Ervin says. “I’m like, get outta here. But she showed me her ID and proved me wrong.”

Related: Virginia Mom of 6 Welcomes Triplets Years After Giving Birth to Twin Boys: 'Special Moment'

The couple had discussed different ways of celebrating their first shared birthday together, including a trip to the aquarium, attending a Browns or Indians game, or just hanging out together for brunch or dinner.

What they didn’t plan was to be in a maternity ward.

Blair says twins run in her family — she has paternal brothers who are fraternal twins — and also in Ervin’s family, so she wasn’t too surprised to learn she was carrying multiples. She was also happy to learn that was expecting a boy and a girl.

And Blair's father was excited about their pregnancy news too.

“I was so adamant that I was going to be the only one of his kids not to give him grandkids,” Blair says. “He said 'Scierra’s going to give me dogs and cats.' So he was so excited when he found out.”

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The couple's original due date was Aug. 28, but Ervin told Blair he thought it would be a great thing if the babies were born on their birthday so they could all have a big blowout celebration every year.

She was not exactly on board.

“The whole month of August, I said I would love for them to be born on our birthdays,” Ervin says, going on to quip that Blair joked that "it was bad enough that I have to spend my birthday with you."

"But I said our kids being born on our birthday, that’s unique," he adds. "All of us celebrating together, that’s beautiful."

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Still, he modified his expectations.

If the babies weren't born on their parents' birthday, "I just wanted them to be born a Leo because we are Leos,” Ervin says. “But it turned out God wanted them to be on the same day as ours.

Related: Ala. Couple Welcomes 'Incredibly Rare' Quadruplets — Including 2 Sets of Identical Twins!

Blair had been working right up to her regular doctor's appointment on Aug. 17, when she was told she needed to get to the hospital so they could do a cesarean section. Their son was in a breech position and the doctor didn’t want to risk complications.

The couple arrived at the hospital at about 4:30 p.m. to prepare for surgery — and then Ervin asked Blair if she could hang on for just a bit longer so the babies could be born on their birthdays. 

Ervin emphasizes he would not have requested the delay if it would have posed any risk to his loved ones.

“Since she was in good health and wasn’t stressed, and the kids were in good health and weren’t stressed, I thought, 'Why not wait?'” Ervin says.

One reason, Blair says, was that she could not eat and wasn’t seeing the upside of waiting a few hours just to have a shared birthdate.

“I was hangry and just wanted it to be over,” Blair says. “He said, ‘It’s only a few hours and it will go by real fast.' And I just looked at him and said, ‘Easy for you to say. I’m starving.'”

Even his mom put in a plea for the wait. “I agreed, but I told them they owed me a week of potato salad,” Blair adds.

Related: Woman Walks to Hospital and Gives Birth After Going Into Labor at Pink Concert in Boston

Blair says she gnawed on ice chips while they waited for almost six hours before getting prepped and ready to go.

She says she was so scared — or maybe hungry — she almost bit Ervin’s finger off at one point. But in the end, everything went smoothly and the family is all at home now.

"It's a blessing," Ervin tells PEOPLE, adding that their arrival was the "best birthday present ever."

As for next summer’s birthday bash times four, Blair already has some ideas.

“I’m big on traveling, so if I could leave the state or country, that’d be a nice thing,” she says. “I love being on the water. I don’t know what it is, but I love how it feels.”

n any case, they are looking forward to spending many more birthdays together.

“We can just do one big celebration, do it all at one time,” Ervin says. “And that would be beautiful.”

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