Michael’s Birth Story + Mom’s Unexpected Hospital Stay

Things have been pretty quiet around the blog and for good reason: our Michael Stanson made his grand entrance into the world last Thursday, September 20^th! Alleluia! Not only is Mom breathing a sigh of relief her sweet boy is here to join our crew, life has been, well, anything but normal since then. Besides reminding myself every day there truly is no new normal [or at least it will take 6+ months to get there], we are blessed beyond belief not only to be Michael’s parents but to have 3 other children to parent and love as well.

Fun fact: Stanson is the combination of the names Stanley and Nelson, and is also Ted’s middle name. Stanley and Nelson were Ted’s grandfathers’ middle names.

Alright alright! So let’s get to the big BIRTHday for Mr. Michael. And in case you’re curious, here are the birth stories for Anthony and Lily. Joey doesn’t have one documented on the blog. And honestly? I’m glad. That 35+ hour birth is not something I want to relive any time soon!

Michael’s Birth Story:

I walked into my 40-week appointment last Monday thinking, “girl, you’ve got another week to go!” because my babies tend to go over their due dates, but was pleasantly surprised to hear from the doctor that I was dilated to a 2 and things were definitely progressing, “down there.” After my check-up, things started moving and grooving and I was feeling contractions consistently, not painful though, about 5-8 minutes apart. Because I have had 3 other vaginal deliveries, I was sent to triage to see if we were having Michael on his due date! The result? Nope, despite the timing of the contractions, I was still a 2 and was then sent home. Tuesday? The SAME thing happened. The gals in triage were getting to know me. Fast forward to Wednesday and ahhhhh, yep, things were SIGNIFICANTLY different. Not only was I feeling contractions consistently, the contractions were THOSE kinds of contractions. But because I refused to be sent home from triage yet again, I stayed home and powered through them.

That brings us to 3 am Thursday morning. “Ted, it’s time to go.” “Where are we going?” “TED WE ARE GOING TO THE [swear word] HOSPITAL!!!” I love my sweet Ted. But sometimes the reminders like that send me over the edge. Clearly!

So off we went to the hospital at 3 am [my parents took the kids the afternoon before because Nana could sense a. I was losing my marbles and b. Michael’s delivery was on the horizon]. Once I hit the bed in triage, I was elated to hear I was dilated to a 5 and was NOT leaving the hospital without a baby! After that, things are kind of a blur. I was transferred to labor and delivery, had my epidural around 5 am, and two pushes later Michael was delivered at exactly 7 am [8 pounds, 1 ounce, 21.5 inches long]. All I know is I was the crazy lady dilated to 10 screaming at her husband, the nurse, and the doctors, “I CAN’T DO THIS!!!!”  Clearly, I could. But man, when that epidural wears off and it’s time to push, that was one heavy reminder Michael is our final chapter. And I’m glad I won’t be doing that again!

Consider This:

• I’ve had the baby that slept all the time, hit milestones 1-2 months past the recommended timeframe, and barely said a peep until the age 3 [JOEY].
• I’ve had the baby that never slept, screamed like colic was FUN for all of us, and hit milestones 3 months earlier than his older brother [ANTHONY].
• I’ve had the baby that was, “good,” cried like any baby, “should,” and NEVER. TOOK. A. BOTTLE [LILY].
• As for Michael? I’m trying my best not to give him a label or baby title, just because I know he’s our last baby. Ugh. Hormones. Why was it so hard typing that?! It’s not hard imagining never having to go through labor again [can I get an AMEN!], it’s really hard knowing I’ll never leave the hospital again with a newborn. I’ll never have that first night home with a newborn again. I’ll never see that double line or plus sign on a pregnancy test again.
• Ok. Stopping there because if I continue I might just change my mind [pretend like you didn’t read that Ted].

BUT, the thing is, I’m looking forward to all the memories our family will make with Michael. Newborn days and beyond!

MOM + Magnesium:

Ok. So this post is about to get even longer because I want to share yet ANOTHER story of what happened post-delivery with the hope that my story will help or educate someone else. After I was discharged and sent home with Michael, I felt really off. Headaches, short-tempered, shortness of breath kind of weird. I followed-up with my doctor that Monday [I was discharged on Saturday] and come to find out my blood pressure was crazy high. Like 144/110 kind of high. SO, off to the ER I was sent [thankfully with both Ted and Michael], and the verdict was I was experiencing pregnancy-induced hypertension. Nothing I could do or did, nothing anyone else did [hello- who doesn’t have higher blood pressure with a newborn], just something my body experienced as a result of my pregnancy. Side note: I’ve had higher blood pressures toward the end of each pregnancy, but NOTHING like this.

So after the doctors consulted with each other, here was the blood pressure game plan: 24 hours of intravenous magnesium, 4 hours of monitoring, and then hopefully discharged to home. And that folks, is what happened! Not an ideal situation with a newborn, but Beaumont Hospital did everything possible to make sure he and I were comfortable. And so did Ted. Dad was a champ giving Michael bottles, handing Michael to Mommy to nurse, changing poopy after poopy while I was on bedrest with the magnesium [no joke- that stuff is awful and makes one feel like a limp noodle with a massive headache]. I also want to give a huge shout-out and thank you to my in-laws and my Mom, for holding down the fort, taking care of our other children while Mom and Dad were MIA yet again. I truly have no idea what we would’ve done without family here for us. I am forever grateful for them.

I’m happy to report we are NOW home. I’m bumping into one child after another when I turn around because they are afraid Mom and Dad are leaving [my heart, that’s been the hardest to stomach], but again, keeping things in perspective, we are all doing well. Especially Michael! And Mom’s blood pressure.

Ok, guys. That was a super long blog post. Apparently, I had a lot to say. If you have any tips or tricks for handling jealous siblings who act out with a new baby I’d love to hear. That’s a story for another day. But I’ll give you one guess as to who is giving me trouble… A to the NTHONY.