John Mendoza Whitney is here!

Born February 24, 2003 at 12:43 a.m.
6 pounds, 9 ounces
20 inches long
(Click any image below to see a larger version.)

Dad holds John's hand just after birth.

John was born after two full days of induced labor. His mom had made it almost to the very end of labor when the doctor decided that it was too risky to proceed. John's heart rate slowed dramatically every time she pushed and didn't recover for a while.

Everyone decided that a Caesarian section was the way to go so that's how John was born. That turned out to be the right decision. John had an "occult prolapse" of the umbilical cord. The cord was up by his face and was being compressed as he worked his way through the birth canal, which only gets smaller.

Mother and son see each other for the first time.

During the surgery, Steve got to bring John to Eleanor and they looked into each other's eyes. Then John went to the nursery to be weighed, measured, bathed, and generally checked out.

Feeling better two days later

Baby and mother were still sleepy, but both were feeling better. Here he is resting on Mom.

Living together in the hospital

All told, we spent a week in the hospital, the last four-and-a-half days with John. It was nice to have so many kind people at Marin General Hospital to answer our questions and to lend a hand when we were both exhausted. Guiding Steve through his first diaper change was a big help. We were also lucky to have Eleanor's mom, who used to be an O.B. nurse with us most of that time.

On Friday we all came home. Baby was healthy and happy, and Eleanor was well on the way to recovery.