Keaton Week 3

Keaton 3 Weeks

So in the 2 week update I was questioning whether we had really lucked out with a mellow baby or if it was just a matter of time before he started becoming more vocal...unfortunately in the last week I've discovered that it was just a matter of time :-(  He's still a pretty good baby but he's staying awake more during the day and he will stay awake and content for a little bit but then after awhile he thinks it's time to eat, even though it's only been an hour or so.  We've also noticed that every night around 7pm he wants to stay awake but is really fussy.  I vaguely remember Alexa being the same way.  I guess the fact that I only vaguely remember it is a good sign that it must not have lasted that long!  Overall, I still think he's a pretty good baby and I just have to keep reminding myself that things will go back to normal soon :-)

Not a whole lot new this week other than him becoming more and more alert each day.  I've also noticed how strong his neck is and when we do tummy time he holds his head up for several seconds.  Tonight I got pooped on for the first time.  I've been peed on once already and I guess I didn't learn my lesson.  I took my time getting the new diaper on and as I was doing so projectile poop came at me and got me all down my leg.  For those of you with breast-fed babies you can imagine how that looked!  All I could do was laugh!  I'm sure it won't be the last time :-)

2 Week Check-Up

Keaton had his 2 week check up yesterday, which just happens to be his due date!  He was up to 8lbs 1oz.  I didn't get his length measurement so I'll have to update that with his 1 month update. 

One thing I forgot to mention in the last 2 week update is that we've moved him into his crib.  I know it's early, but I wanted to get him used to it.  We're also only swaddling him at night.  Alexa had such a hard time transitioning out of the swaddle so I wanted to make sure he could fall asleep without being swaddled.  So far he's doing pretty good!  We also haven't really used the pacifier or swing that much.  He doesn't really seem to be a fan of the pacifier.  I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing!  I'm sure we'll get more use out of the swing as he gets older though.

Here's his 2 week picture:

Keaton Week 2

I can't believe it's already been 2 weeks since Keaton was born...and that I would still be pregnant right now if he waited till his due date!  Last Friday we went to the doctor for a weight check and Keaton had gained a pound since the week before.  He was up to 7lbs 4oz so I think he's getting plenty to eat!

Last week he (and Mommy) had a couple of rough nights sleep but each night seems to get a little better.  He's had a couple nights where he's gone 5 and 6 hours but 4 seems to be more the norm.  It's funny how 4 straight hours of sleep can seem like a lot!  He's still pretty sleepy most of the day but he's starting to be more alert.  He usually stays up for an hour or so in the morning, another hour in the afternoon, and another hour in the evening.  When he's awake he just stares around contently.  I am wondering if that will change soon though!  It's been a much different experience than the first time around with Lex!  I'm not sure if it's him or if it's because I know what to expect and what not to expect.

We've gone on a couple of excursions in the last week including a couple of trips to Target, a trip to Hobby Lobby, a trip to JCPenny, the Pumpkin Festival, and a bridal shower for Aunt Jess.  So far Keaton has done great!  Usually just sleeping through the whole thing but content when he does wake up.  Next week is Aunt Jess and Uncle Kyle's wedding so it will be his first major outing.  I think I'm only going to bring him to the reception for a little bit though.  He's still so young and I don't want him exposed to too many germs!

Keaton Week 1

I was pretty bored at the hospital all by myself (Brian had work appointments and was taking care of Lex) so I took a few pics of Keaton in these cute hats I got from Etsy.

We got to go home from the hospital on Thursday (September 8th).  He did great on the car ride home!  When we got home Lexi wanted to hold him.  She only holds him for a few seconds though and then she's ready for us to take him back!  She saw me nursing him and then later that night she decided she wanted to feed him too!  Too funny!

Lexi "feeding" her brother

The first night at home Keaton did pretty good sleeping, up every 2 hours to eat but then right back to sleep.  Then Friday and Saturday night he didn't want to sleep at all and pretty much just wanted to eat all night long! I think that's because my milk came in Friday so I think he was hungry and his digestive system was adjusting to the new food.  Sunday night and last night were much better.  He's still up every 2 to 3 hours but then goes back to sleep.  I haven't been the best about taking naps though during the day so I'm still pretty tired!

I can't believe he's already a week old!  Lexi seems to be adjusting well to him and I think he's pretty used to her.  Oscar seems to know there's a new baby but doesn't seem to mind at all.  It definitely is easier with the second because I think you know what to expect and what not to expect!  You do forget pretty quickly though how rough it is the first few weeks trying to get your schedules adjusted!

We took Keaton into the pediatrician last Friday for a check-up and his weight was down to 6lbs 4oz.  Not a huge concern but he goes back this Friday for a weight check to make sure he's getting enough to eat.  I'm pretty sure that won't be a problem though!


He seems to be pretty mellow, unlike his sister!  We'll see if that changes though over the next few weeks as he becomes more alert. 


I've been trying to make sure I spend a lot of time with Lexi too so she doesn't feel left out.  I think so far it's been going pretty well.  I missed her bedtime one night since I was feeding Keaton and I felt so guilty!  Hopefully I won't have to do that too many more times.


I just love seeing Lexi's little personality develop and I can't wait to see how Keaton's develops!  I do think he's going to be the opposite of Lexi though :-)

Lexi meets Keaton

On Wednesday morning (September 7th) Brian brought Lexi into the hospital to meet Keaton for the first time.  Some nurses were in my room when she first got there so I think she was a little unsure what to think about everything.  But then she hopped up on the bed with me and seemed to really like him.  She even gave him kisses!  We got a couple of presents for her from Keaton too :-)

Keaton has arrived!

Well I just knew he'd be early but I wasn't really expecting him to arrive this early!  On Monday night (Labor Day, September 5th) as I was sleeping I felt a lot of lower back pain but not really any contractions.  Then Tuesday morning when I woke up I felt some contractions that were pretty painful but not regular.  I got ready as usual and was planning to take Lex into daycare but Brian offered to take her instead in case I decided to stay home from work.  While he was gone I decided to try to venture into work.  I made it to East Peoria and turned around since the contractions were pretty painful.  I thought maybe if I just laid down for a bit they would go away.  So I stayed home for an hour and laid down and the contractions seemed to subside so I ventured into work for the second time.  On the way I still had a couple of contractions but decided I would continue on.

Once at work I was so busy the entire day I didn't even have a chance to think about how painful the contractions were or how far apart they were.  I do remember being mid-contraction and having people come up and talk to me and just not saying anything, even though I felt like saying "um, I'm kind of in the middle of something right now!"  I worked the whole day and I knew I was having contractions but I couldn't even tell you how often.  Then finally when I left work at 5pm I had a chance to pay attention to the contractions on the drive home.  I have about a 25 minute drive home and the contractions were so painful now that I didn't have anything to take my mind off of them.  Oh, and they were 7 minutes apart!

As soon as I walked in the door at home I told Brian he needed to call his parents and see if they could watch Lexi.  I was crying at this point, half from the pain of the contractions and half because I was stressed out from work!  Brian took Lex to his parents house and I decided I wanted to be absolutely sure it was real contractions so I decided to wait just a little bit longer before calling my doctor.  I took a shower, checked my hospital bag, and picked up the house a little bit.  The contractions were still 7 minutes apart so around 6:30pm I decided to call my doctor.  The after hours service said my doctor would call me back within 10 minutes.  I waited 20 minutes and still no call.  By this time my contractions were 3 to 5 minutes apart! So I told Brian I think we better go!

I called my doctor again on the way to the hospital and a mid-wife called me back about 5 minutes later only to tell me to go ahead and go to the hospital and they'll call the doctor if I'm in labor.  Glad I waited 30 minutes for that!

We arrived to the hospital a little after 7pm.  Once again I didn't want Brian to drop me off at the ER so we parked in the garage.  This time we valeted though so that saved a little time :-) We walked in towards the labor and delivery area and as we were walking I was pretty sure this was real labor.  They put me in triage once we got there and checked how far I was dilated.  I was already 6cm and 100% effaced and they said things were moving pretty fast.  They asked if I wanted an epidural and I said yes, so they said they needed to move quickly if that was going to happen.

Once I got in the labor and delivery room though the nurse said that there was no time to get an epidural because they'd have to wait for labs on my blood work and the anesthesiologist was going to a c-section.  I was really scared at this point because I had no desire to know what natural birth felt like! But what choice did I have?  The pain from the contractions was pretty intense but I was able to breathe through that pain.  My water never broke so around 8:40pm they broke my water since I was fully dilated.  I asked the nurse how long she thought I'd push for and she said she was pretty confident we'd have a baby by 9:30pm.  About 10 minutes later I started pushing.  It was the most excruciating pain I've ever felt before!  You have the urge to push but everything in your body is trying to hold it in because the pain is so intense!  I really didn't think I was going to be able to do it! You see those labor scenes in the movies where the women are screaming and I didn't really understand that because with Alexa the labor was fairly quiet.  But this time I felt exactly like the scenes from the movie...well actually, Brian might compare it more to a scene from the Exorcist because I'm pretty sure I looked and sounded like a possessed person!  Finally though after probably less than 10 contractions and 30 minutes I gave one final push and felt a huge relief as Keaton was born.  The official time was 9:09pm and he weighed in at 6lbs 10oz, exactly the same weight they estimated at my last doctors appointment.  He was 19.25 inches long and has a head full of brown hair!

We think he looks a lot like Lexi when she was born (see below)

Alexa when she was born

He definitely has Brian's mouth and my nose.  We're undecided on whose eyes he has.

I finally got settled into the recovery room around 11:30pm and Brian headed back home since Lexi was there.  The first night is always rough because there's nurses in and out of the room about every half hour so you pretty much get no sleep at all!  The other part I hate about right after delivery is trying to pee.  I don't understand why it's such a hard thing to do!  It's especially difficult for me because sometimes I can't pee under pressure :-) Luckily I was able to go within a few hours...otherwise after 6 hours they do a catheter!

The stay in the hospital this time was actually pretty good.  All the nurses were great and the food was really good too!  I forgot how much I liked having my meals all made for me and someone to get me a refill on water whenever I needed one :-)

Baby Update - 37 Weeks

I had my sonogram today...probably the last time I'll get to see him before he makes his appearance in this world!  He weighed in at 6lbs 10oz, although the doc said that could be off +/-1lb.  He's already ahead of what Alexa was when she was born though!  My guess is he'll be around 7lbs or so when he's born.  I'm also dilated 2cm and at my last appointment I was 80% effaced.  She didn't say the % effacement today, just said "very thin".  Of course she won't say that means I'm any more likely to deliver earlier but I'm not giving up hope!  Brian's Mom said September 12th is a full moon so maybe he'll make his debut then!