From experience, George and Darlene Herrman of East Peoria know good things come in small packages. And on April 23, they received three in one day
At 7:22 a.m., the Herrman’s daughter-in-law, Emily Herrman, gave birth to the couple’s eighth grandchild, a boy named Caden James who weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces.
Emily and her husband, Cary Herrman, live in Santa Monica, Calif. Caden joins brother, Corbin, 7, and sister, Cailin, 6.
George Herrman said the family was expecting Caden’s arrival, but they were about to receive a couple more surprises.
That same morning Karina Herrman, another daughter-in-law of the Herrman’s, began feeling sick. She was in Chicago and pregnant with twins. She went to the hospital and found out she had the beginning stages of preeclampsia. For the safety of the twins, they needed to be delivered.
About seven and a half hours after Caden Herrman’s birth, Karina, who is married to the Herrman’s son, George Herrman III, delivered grandchildren number nine and ten via cesarean section.
“The twins were two or three weeks early,” George Herrman said. “We weren’t expecting them yet.”
The twin boys, Christopher John and Ryan Matthew, were born at about 3 p.m., just hours after their cousin, Caden, came into the world. Christopher weighed in at 5 pounds, 6 ounces and Ryan, or “the little guy,” as his grandfather lovingly called him, at 4 pounds, 9 ounces.
“They’re not identical,” Herrman said. “One looks like Karina and one looks like George (III).”
Karina and George Herrman III live in Andalusia. Christopher and Ryan have a sister, Breanna, 12.
“It’s kind of an unusual thing to happen,” Herrman said, of having three grandchildren born the same day. “My wife was really giddy.”
The Herrmans recently had the chance to meet their twin grandsons.
“When we met them, I thought ‘Wow, are they small,’” Herrman said. “Grandma and I had a hard time handling them at first.”
The couple is planning a trip to California to meet Caden.
“We’re looking forward to it,” Herrman said.
The Herrmans have a third son, Ethan, of Creve Coeur. He and his wife, Carrie, have four children: Claybourne, 10; Madeline, 8; Owen, 3; and Natalie, almost 1.
“Every year we have to get a calendar and write down all of the birthdays,” Herrman said.
He said that both mothers and all three babies are doing well.
