“Most parents have 9 months to plan for this blessing. We had 30 minutes,” summed up Michael Jaegers, the husband of Stephanie, in reference to the surreal fact that the American family is living.
It’s been an interesting few days for Stephanie Jaegers and her husband, Michael. It all began Tuesday night when Michael got a call from his wife, who said she was having ᴀʙᴅᴏᴍɪɴᴀʟ ᴘᴀɪɴs and needed to go to the hospital.
Stephanie was admitted to the hospital after being told she had ᴋɪᴅɴᴇʏ sᴛᴏɴᴇs. It was only in the ᴇᴍᴇʀɢᴇɴᴄʏ ʀᴏᴏᴍ that everyone discovered, astonished, the true cause of the sᴇᴠᴇʀᴇ ᴘᴀɪɴ she was feeling: in the middle of the 38th week of pregnancy, she had gone into ʟᴀʙᴏʀ!
“There are no words to describe the range of feelings associated with being told that you’re having a baby in 30 minutes,” Michael said. Thirty minutes later, at 3:50 a.m. on Wednesday, Stephanie gave birth to Shaun Jude Jaegers, a healthy and beautiful baby boy!
So how did Stephanie make it through an entire pregnancy without ever knowing she was pregnant?
Michael explained in a Facebook post, “Here’s what we can gather based on the information given to us from the doctors here at Piedmont Henry Hospital. Steph was diagnosed with ᴘʀᴇ-ᴍᴇɴᴏᴘᴀᴜsᴇ awhile back, which would justify the ʜᴏʀᴍᴏɴᴇ imbalance also associated with a pregnancy. Shaun was also ʙʀᴇᴇᴄʜ throughout the entire pregnancy, which prevented him from moving around to indicate to Steph that he was in there, and his position made it so that Steph didn’t “show.” The most bizarre part is that she continued to have a ᴍᴇɴsᴛʀᴜᴀʟ ᴄʏᴄʟᴇ, which the hospital tells us is rare but can happen. Lastly, Steph ʙʀᴏᴋᴇ her ankle a couple of weeks ago and was laid up for the last couple of weeks, limiting her movements. All of this combined ruled out even the remote possibility of a pregnancy in our minds.
The couple were already parents to three children: two boys, ages 16 and 11, and a girl, who turns 3 later this year. As they welcomed the arrival of little Shaun with a happy surprise, mom commented, “I believe that everything has a reason for being. We appreciate him being here! He’s a sweetie!
Michael said the two boys are taking the news of a new addition to the family in stride, but said it was taking his daughter some time to get used to not being the youngest anymore.
Other friends and family were equally surprised by the new bundle of joy, but Michael said the way they’ve come together to help his family has been encouraging. “This experience is really appreciated because it shows the kindness of humanity and the outpouring of support from not only friends but complete strangers as well,” he said.
