a new appreciation for mary

Todd Reid
December 7, 2011 at 8:31 a.m.
7 lbs. 7 oz.
20.5 in.

I'll try to be brief and not give any gory details, but I want to tell Todd's birth story as my first post back. My contractions started shortly after midnight, but were not consistent or intense until just before 5 am. Then Chris and I decided to head to the hospital. Once I got up and took a shower the contractions became more intense and were closer together. We left Elle in the care of our wonderful neighbor, Charlie until my mom could arrive. We left for the hospital, but just had to go down the street. We did have to find our way around a train and when we arrived at the hospital there was no room at the inn and ended up delivering in one of the observation rooms. We arrived at the hospital around 6:30 a.m.. My labor progressed so quickly that I didn't get an epidural or any pain meds. My water broke right after the anesthesiologist came in and Todd was born at 8:31 a.m. They put him in my arms immediately and it was so wonderful. Chris was able to get a picture just then and it is so special to us. We spent most of the day in the observation room while we waited for a postpartum room. It was worth it though because the nurses gave us one of the rooms with a double bed because they felt sorry for us. (It was really nice, but during the night it felt a little weird every time someone came in.) All in all I'm glad it happened the way it did. Even though it was a bit more painful and I doubted whether I was going to make it, it was a much better experience going all natural. I had an easier and faster recovery.

Having a baby around Christmas time and without pain meds has given me a new perspective on Christ's birth. Afterwards, I started wondering about all sorts of things. I had two nurses and four doctors, not to mention Chris working with me, but were Mary and Joseph all alone? Chris got to cut Todd's cord. Did Joseph know what to do with all that stuff? A nurse gave Todd a bath and removed all the yucky stuff. What did Mary and Joseph do to clean Jesus? Chris was such a wonderful support through everything. He held my hands and helped me get through the contractions as well as motivating me to keep going when I felt so tired. It was the first time I really thought about Joseph holding Mary's hand as she pushed. It made the observation room seem so glamorous when I thought of Mary laying in the hay. Sorry if this is just a bunch of ramblings, but I wanted to share how Todd has already changed me.

I'll post more about our experience with two kids later. Here's some pics of our early days at home. We have been blessed beyond belief!

We made Todd a birthday cake. This was on my list of baby countdown activities, but we didn't get to it. BTW- that's a fox since that's what the meaning of Todd is.


Todd and I hanging out one of the first nights Chris went back to dorm duty.


Loaded up to take Elle to school.


Getting his street in early with big sis.


Todd about a week or so old.

ossm christmas brunch

Sunday we went to the OSSM Christmas Brunch for faculty and staff. It was at the Frank and Merle Buttram House, which used to be the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. The current owners have lived there about 16 years and are actually the parents of one of Chris' classmates from his days at OSSM. It was pretty fancy and thankfully Elle didn't break anything. They had one of those little people nativity sets out and the hostess also got out some mega blocks for Elle and her friend Andre to play with. Here's a pic of what the house originally looked like, but it still looks very similar. Where the couch is in the far left imagine a GIGANTIC christmas tree.

Here's a couple of pics Lori, our friend and the PR gal for OSSM, took of us. I think it's a pretty good pic of me since I'm on the verge of pygmy hippo!

sparkles and sprinkles

We're still waiting on baby brother, but I'm not in any hurry yet. Here's some more of Elle's baby countdown activities:

"baby" food:
One day we made "baby" food for lunch. We at baby pigs-n-blankets, or piglets, (slice crescent roll dough and wrap around little smokies), baby carrots, baby bags of chips, and baby pies (I found little graham cracker crusts and filled them with cherry pie filling, baked them for 5 minutes and topped with whipped cream.). Aunt Michelle, Uncle Dennis, and her cousins Derek and Ruby got to enjoy this with us when they came for a visit.

big sis shirt:
Elle now has a new "big sis" shirt that I found from Carter's since her head outgrew her other shirt we had gotten her when we were announcing the pregnancy. This is the only shot I could find of her shirt.


big girl pedis:
Elle and I went and got our toes painted. She picked out Going Gonzo blue (her color of choice lately) and I got Gettin' Miss Piggy With It red (both from the OPI Muppets collection. Our toes are so pretty I hate that we have to wear shoes! Elle really enjoyed the whole process and was so good. They painted her toes first so they would have plenty of time to dry before she had to put her shoes on and then she was fascinated by the pedi process. She loves her sparkly toes!


big sister sprinkle:
I threw Elle a "sprinkle" and invited some friends and her unofficial big sisters here at OSSM. It was basically a party to sprinkle cookies and play before a new baby comes and we can't do that as often. I think the big girls had more fun than the little girls!




I made these signs for guests to write whether they were a big sister, little sister, both, or singleton.

christmas and baby countdown

This year I wanted to be extra diligent about getting ready for Christmas right after Thanksgiving just in case I didn't feel like doing it after the baby comes. I adapted a few things into Elle's baby countdown as well.

Last Friday we decided to try and watch the OKC Christmas boat parade. We headed over a little before start time, but really waited too long and go stuck in traffic when the fireworks went off. We decided to head over the Lincoln bridge instead of trying to park near the boathouse and tower. We parked in the boat launch area and actually had an awesome view of the fireworks and could watch the boats line up before the parade. This worked out really well with Elle because it's hard to see what's on the boats anyway and then shortly after the start of the parade it started raining so we were able to get out there quickly.


Then last Saturday we went to get our Christmas tree. Last year was our first year to have a real tree since we've been married. Chris was like a little kid again and we ended up with a 9 footer! We went to Coffee Creek Tree farm last year, but because of the rain and time we decided to try Sorghum Mill Tree Farm in Edmond, which was a little bit closer. Grammy and Grandad stopped by for a little bit and were able to join us. Overall, I think Sorghum Mill has a better selection of trees. We only ended up with a 7/8 footer this year.


helping Daddy cut the tree

Elle enjoyed watching them shake the tree before we took it home

enjoying the yummy free cookies, candy canes, hot cocoa, and cider

That night we got out the ornaments and lights. As part of Elle's countdown I had her put baby brother's first ornament on the tree.


Mops was impressed!


The next day we put up the stockings as part of the countdown as well. Seems so funny to see 4 up there this year!