“My Two Mini-Muffins”
The Schu family and their little miracles, Abigail Lauren and Audrey Nicole; Evansville, IN

My name is Kerri and my story began in 1997 when I married my high-school sweetheart, John. Our dream was to have a family. After about 4 years of trying without success, we sought medical help. We underwent several tests and procedures and everything appeared fine. After many months of taking fertility drugs, we decided to try the uterine insemination procedure. We failed to become pregnant after trying the procedure twice and we were planning on a third time when John was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Eight months later, I lost the man I had loved since I was 15. My life changed forever, but I knew I had to go on and I was still dreaming of having a family.

In 2003, I was blessed again when I met Brian on Match.com. We dated for several months and knew we were meant for each other. We were married in 2004. We decided we would start a family right away. After many months of trying to conceive naturally, and due to my past fertility history, we sought the help of a fertility specialist. The first procedure we tried again was uterine insemination. We had no success with this procedure, so we decided to try in vitro fertilization. The cost of this procedure put a financial burden on us, but we were still focused on the dream of having a family. I followed a detailed protocol that involved taking REPRONEX^® injections along with many other drugs. On April 14, 2005, we received the wonderful news that we were expecting. It was a dream come true for us. Our happiness was not without sacrifice though. About 10 weeks into my pregnancy, I had an episode of bleeding and found out that we lost 1 of our babies. We were devastated. That was not the end of our sacrifice.

Shortly after losing the 1 baby, Brian, a member of the Army National Guard, found out that he was going to be deployed to Iraq for 18 months. He left on August 12th for training when I was only about 4 months pregnant. While Brian was gone, I developed more complications with my pregnancy. I started to show signs of preclampsia and we discovered that both babies had potential heart problems. The stress of these complications was too much for me to handle alone and too much for Brian to handle being away from home. Brian was granted a leave to come home and be with me for the birth of the babies.

My doctor decided it was best to take the babies at 35 weeks due to their slow growth rates. On November 21, 2005, our 2 baby girls entered this world. Abigail Lauren came first weighing 4 pounds and 13 ounces, and Audrey Nicole came second weighing 3 pounds and 13 ounces. Due to their prematurity, they both spent the first weeks of their lives in the NICU. Our hope was to have them home by Christmas and we did. Who could have asked for a better Christmas present? Abigail came home after 2 weeks in the NICU and Audrey came home after 4 weeks due to her size. Despite the fears we had before they were born, both girls are now doing fine. They are 2 of the most precious babies I have ever seen.

The babies are about 4 months old now. We have been so blessed. Brian has been able to stay home with us for all these months. He will be leaving for Iraq in a few weeks though. He will be over there until November. We only hope that he will make it home in time for his daughters’ first birthdays. It will be hard for him to be away from his family. Brian’s nickname for me is Muffin, so he has always called the girls his Mini-Muffins. He will miss his Mini-Muffins greatly.

This is my story of how having a family finally came true for me. I have been through a lot in my adult life so far; but my experiences have made me who I am today. I thank God every day for the gifts he has given me and I ask for his guidance in not taking those gifts for granted. I pray for all those couples who are struggling to conceive and I hope they can be as happy as we are.