The Bobbsey clan has nothing on Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

While that fictional family from children’s literature had an improbable two sets of twins, LMH has seen the birth of ” count ’em ” four pairs.

Within nine days, two sets of boys and two sets of girls were born, each delivered by different doctors.

No official could remember a similar wave of multiple births in the hospital’s history.

“All of a sudden, our nursery is overflowing,” said Isabel Schmedermann, maternal-child director for LMH. “One set is not a big deal, but the second doubles your population.”

The four doubly blessed families were brought together Thursday afternoon (precisely nine months after Valentine’s Day) for a joint photo session.

• Sharon and Doug Green are the parents of John and Karson, boys born Nov. 4.


Four sets of twins have been delivered at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, 325 Maine, within nine days. On Thursday, the moms and dads gathered with their twins at the hospital. The couples and their children are, from left, Keri and Austin Rogge and their new boys, Isaac and Isaiah; Katharine and Darby Ritter and their new girls, Hayley and Lauren; Jennifer and Dusty Wilson, not pictured, and their new girls, Jocelyn and Jayded; and Sharon and Doug Green and their new sons, John and Karson.

“A lot of people said, ‘Twins! Oh gosh! I’m glad it’s you and not me,'” Sharon Green said. “But I’m glad it’s me and not them.”

• Jennifer and Dusty Wilson are the parents of Jocelyn and Jayded, girls born Nov. 6.

“So far we’ve been pretty lucky,” Jennifer Wilson said. “They sleep through the night and wake together ” one right after the other one gets fed.”

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• Katharine and Darby Ritter are the parents of Hayley and Lauren, girls born Tuesday night.

“We wanted another boy,” Darby Ritter said wryly. “Who knew what to expect?”

• Keri and Austin Rogge became parents to Isaac and Isaiah on Wednesday.

“We should’ve thought about it more,” Keri Rogge said. “Because my dad’s a twin.”

All the children are thought to be fraternal twins, meaning they developed from separately fertilized eggs in their mothers’ wombs.

Lawrence hasn’t become some crazy twin-making town. National statistics suggest twins are born at a rate of four to 12 births per 1,000, depending on whether the twins are identical or fraternal. LMH has had 11 twin births this year, and is on a pace for about 1,100 births overall.

Still, hospital officials rarely expect to have so many twins delivered at the same time.

“I knew we had several twins due around this time, but I hadn’t given it much thought they’d be this close together,” Schmedermann said. “I started plotting.”

The parents had plenty of praise for hospital staff.

“These nurses did a fantastic job,” Darby Ritter said.

Julie Miller, a maternity nurse who has twin boys of her own, said twins bring a “double portion of love,” but could also double the challenges.

The new parents are expecting twice the blessings, as well.

“I think orneriness doubles when you have kids the same age,” Austin Rogge said. “Maybe it quadruples. But I think it’ll work real well. They won’t be afraid of the dark, and they’ll always have someone to lean on.”