HOME

Hi, my name is Lee Hermiston. Up until about this time last year, as I was approaching my 22nd birthday, I was a self-described "typical college student." I was in my third year at the UI, majoring in journalism. I went to football games, drank on the weekends, had a job at the cafeteria and an apartment with a couple of my friends.

I also had a girlfriend, Hannah — a fellow UI student —whom I had been dating for nine months. Just days after my birthday in late October, Hannah told me she thought she was pregnant. I laughed at the notion.

Days later, Hannah called me late one night, sobbing, "I ruined your life." She was pregnant. Ten weeks and several lengthy conversations with our shocked parents later, we had our first visit at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. A brief listen to Hannah's tummy confirmed what we thought we already knew, we were having a baby...or so we thought.

For the next 10 weeks, we continued seeing a midwife at the UIHC. With each visit, the heartbeat, which sounded more like a hummingbird's than a baby's, grew stronger and stronger.

Then, on February 7th, came the first ultrasound. Would it be a boy or girl? Would he/she be healthy? Questions clouded our minds leading up to the big day. We were not expecting, however, what the ultrasound technician told us.

"You're having twins."

We had less than twenty weeks to prepare for the arrival of two little girls.

The next fifteen weeks went without incident. Regular check-ups confirmed the girls were growing well and healthy. Hannah and I moved in together a week after the spring semester came to a close.

On June 1st, nearly five weeks prior to our due date, Hannah started feeling pain in her abdomen. A quick trip to the hospital to check things out turned into a sixty-hour labor.

Finally, at 11:30 p.m. on June 3rd, Josie came into the world. The medical team tending to Hannah was convinced baby #2 would be born before midnight. No such luck. An hour and a half later at 1 a.m on the 4th, Robyn was born. My twins had different birthdays.

I wish I could say Hannah, the girls, and I went home a couple days later. However, because the babies were born early, we ended up spending nearly three weeks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

So, for my first 19 days of fatherhood, I spent eight to ten hours at the Daily Iowan newsroom and all of my breaks and free time at the NICU.

Now, six months later, Hannah, Josie, Robyn and I are all at home doing well. The girls are growing and Hannah and I are trying to finish our college careers.