3 generations of Wisconsinites born in the same hospital, on the same day

BY ALY PROUTY WAUSAU

WAUSAU, Wis. — Three generations of Wisconsinites were born on the same day, in the same hospital.

There is a 1 in 133,000 chance of sharing a birthday with both your dad and grandfather, but one family has defied the odds.

On April 29, 1961, Todd Mitchel Olson was born at Aspirus Wausau Hospital to parents Jack and Valeria Olson. Little did they know, Todd Olson would grow up to be a registered nurse, spending 37 years working at AWH.

Just over three decades later, Todd Olson and his wife Cynthia Olson welcomed their son into the world. Ethan Mitchel Olson was born on April 29, 1993 at AWH.

“A lot of people ask my dad and I how we feel to be born on the same day and honestly, it’s great. Just because we are born on the same day doesn’t make the birthday less special. It’s even better and more unique,” Ethan Olson said.

Now, that birthday is even more special.

In 2022, Ethan Olson found out he and Angela Damato were expecting a little one.

“Her due date was May 7, but I had a feeling she might be born early. As we got closer, I wasn’t totally sure. We didn’t have any signs,” Damato said.

Damato started having contractions on April 28. However, she and Ethan Olson thought she was experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions, also called “practice contractions,” where muscles in the uterus tighten for 30 to 120 seconds. They act as the body’s “preparation for the real event,” according to the American Pregnancy Association. The couple went to bed and tried to get some sleep.

However, around midnight, they went to the hospital — AWH to be specfic.

Two hours later, on April 29, 2023, Ava Marie Olson was born. She weighed 6 pounds, 10 ounces, measuring at 20 inches. Ava Olson is the first grandchild born in the Olson family.

All three Olson births — Todd, Ethan and Ava’s — were natural and non-scheduled. Ava Olson marks the third generation of Olsons welcomed on April 29 at AWH.

Everyone, Ethan Olson said, was shocked and excited at the birthday surprise.

“[Cynthia and I were] really excited to hear Ava was born on Ethan and I’s birthdays. It makes it an even more special and unique day. I realize that it is rare to have the grandfather’s, his son’s and a granddaughter’s birthday on the same day,” Todd Olson said.

What made it doubly special was that Ethan Olson was hoping for a little girl. Ethan Olson and Damato decided to be surprised by their future child’s gender.

Wives’ tales, ring test and Chinese gender calendar told the couple they would be having a boy, AWH said.

 “Since it was our first, we were happy either way, but Ethan really wanted a girl. So, it was the best birthday surprise for him,” Damato said.

“She is truly the best birthday gift I could have asked for,” Ethan Olson said.