Keaton has arrived!

Keaton Samuel Martino officially joined our family on May 28 at 3:11 a.m. He weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces and was 21 inches long. I haven't had a chance to post anything here in part because we have serious computer problems at home and in part because I've been busy with Keaton!

Keaton likes to do things at his own pace. We went to the hospital on May 27 at 7 a.m. I was scheduled to be induced that day. We spent all day at the hospital getting medication without much change. My labor finally started to ramp up later in the evening. I got an epidural around 8 pm (I think). The first one didn't work well, so they took it out and gave me a second one. Fortunately, the second epidural worked much better. The fun really started with the second epidural. I started feeling really light headed and my blood pressure dropped as they were working on the second epidural, so anesthesia gave me some kind of medication to bring my blood pressure back up. After that, both Stephen and I tried to catch some sleep. Some time before midnight, I woke up and there were a couple of nurses watching the baby's heartbeat on the monitor (nurses I didn't recognize). I was a little groggy, so I didn't get too upset. I dozed back off and about 15 minutes later, nurses were back again. They left and I was trying to get myself fully awake, Stephen left the room for a bathroom break and in a few minutes, our labor and delivery nurse was back. She explained the baby's heartbeat was decelerating, so they put me on oxygen.

His heart rate didn't come up right away, so they paged my OB. At this point, I started to get a little upset. They turned off the pitocin (one of the drugs that helps induce labor) because apparently that can affect baby's heartbeat in some cases and waited for my OB to call. Fortunately, he was already in the hospital and came up within about 10 minutes. When he called, he said that he suspected Keaton was just getting himself into position for delivery. Sometimes when babies make that final move, their heartbeat goes down some because their head gets compressed. Sure enough, about the time my OB arrived, it became clear that it was time for the delivery. They kept the pitocin off and kept me on oxygen to help out the baby and everything went very smoothly from there.

Keaton developed some jaundice in the hospital, so we spent several days running him back up to the hosptial for check ups. Luckily, it resolved itself and he didn't need any kind of treatment.

We've been home now for about two weeks and things are going relatively well. Keaton hasn't been gaining weight quite as well as everyone would like, so I took him in for a weight check today. He had gained five ounces in five days, which is just about what he needs. He now weighs just at 8 pounds.

Of course everyone asks how a newborn is sleeping. He sleeps about like most newborns. He gets a couple of good long naps (at least two hours) on most days and he is sleeping for two or three hour stretches at night. Unfortunately, he really likes to be held, so he won't sleep for long unless someone is holding him. I have spent most nights sleeping while holding a baby -- not the most restful sleep. I am working on transitioning him to something else (maybe his car seat), but I haven't had much luck with that at night.

You can really see Keaton's jaundice in this picture. His face looks very yellow. The face is always the last place to improve, or so the doctors tell me. His jaundice is completely gone now and he looks much better.


I posted a few pictures here, some of Keaton and Cate. Cate is a very pround big sister. She loves Keaton and is always giving him kisses and little hugs. She has been a little jealous of the time he takes with mom and dad, but overall she has done a great job adjusting. She's going through a little bit of a whiny stage, but I would probably be the same way if I had experienced all the changes she has in the past few weeks.



Everyone here is happy and healthy!


I forgot newborns are so tiny.