Schulze Family Story

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A chance meeting at a company wellness challenge was just the spark needed for Waconia-based Jackie and Derek’s love to grow. Not much later, Derek proposed next to the Christmas tree, which was especially meaningful because Christmas is Jackie’s favorite holiday. In May 2020 – in the height of COVID –they were married in their backyard around 10 of their closest family members.

Jackie and Derek wanted to start a family and in August 2021, they learned they were pregnant. But during a routine ultrasound, they were shocked with the results.

“There’s two,” Jackie remembers telling Derek.

“Two what?” asked Derek.

“Two babies!” said Jackie.

Because Jackie and Derek were expecting twins, they had more appointments and more ultrasounds than during a regular pregnancy. In the third trimester, Jackie experienced high blood pressure, so she was visiting her physician, Dr. Grootwassink at OBGYN West three times a week.

During her regular doctor appointment on March 14, Dr. Roach, who was filling in for Dr. Grootwassink, while he was on vacation, gave her unexpected news. Jackie had preeclampsia, which is a complication of pregnancy. Because of these results, Jackie was admitted to the hospital and delivered the twins two days later, one month before her scheduled cesarean section.

“The delivery was better than I could have expected,” said Jackie. “We didn’t find out the gender of the twins ahead of time because we wanted to be surprised.” Things moved quickly, forcing Jackie and Derek to solidify the twins’ names – Carter and Nolan – through a text string.

“That first night, we didn’t know if the twins would be able to stay at Ridgeview,” said Jackie. “It was a relief to learn they could stay here.” Thankfully, Ridgeview’s Level III NICU was well equipped to take care of the twins after they were born. To alleviate concerns, a NICU nurse practitioner also visited with Jackie and Derek in advance of the delivery to walk through what to expect during and immediately after the birth.

The first night in the NICU, Nolan’s breathing tube was removed and a few days later, Carter was also breathing on his own. After 10 days in the NICU, the feeding tubes were removed from their noses and the twins were ready to try bottles. Jackie and Derek were able to take Nolan home after 18 days in the NICU. Carter came home after 19 days.

“We were very fortunate that Ridgeview is a five-minute drive from our house,” said Jackie. “Having that care close to home was huge for us. We couldn’t ask for better care.”

“I can’t say enough good things about the team,” said Derek. “We had a lot of questions, a lot of unknowns. They were all very helpful and made the process a lot smoother for us.”

Now, Carter and Nolan are thriving at home, and Jackie and Derek are settling into a busy life with multiple kids. “Ridgeview’s NICU team and the routine they helped us implement was very nice,” said Derek. “To this day, we stick with it. Having the twins on a routine has helped us a lot. It’s a lot of work, but it’s also fun.”

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