History of Reed Charles
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1999
Late July -- Um, you know !!!
August 8th, 8:00 a.m. -- Linda informs Todd that she is pregnant. Todd convulses all through Sunday School and church.
August 20th -- First prenatal check-up with Dr. Pheifer at the Mayo Clinic. Ultrasound is given and a heartbeat is seen on monitor. First picture of the baby. Fetus determined to be about 5-6 weeks old (gestational age, I think?) Todd feels studly and veril.
September 18th -- First prenatal class at the clinic. Receive a 30 pound book and free food, for the husbands even.
September 30th -- Fly to Colorado for an extended weekend with Todd's parents. Linda deplanes wearing "Millenium Baby" maternity shirt. Mom figures out the news right away, Dad (?) well, soon after that!!
October 2nd -- Linda I and Linda II go shopping in Denver and the first maternity outfit is found, soon followed by the first baby outfit found in Estes Park.
October 5th -- Surprise Linda's parents at the airport in Rochester with balloons and the news. They finally got there (by bus from Minneapolis) at midnight, after trip to Wash. D.C. Their exhaustion is quickly taken over by surprise and excitement. One balloon is ruptured in the airport (the pink one) so I think that it is going to be a boy and we will name him Rasputin...
October 6th -- Linda and I begin to tell the whole world. She finds out, along with the rest of the Schaeffer Academy staff, that she is not the only teacher that is expecting in April. Holy Cow!!
October 6th -- Second prenatal appointment with Dr. Pheiffer. Todd falls asleep waiting for her. See above. The fetal monitor is used to listen to the heartbeat at a steady 150 bpm. Met Ann Windolf, arriving home from an extended bus trip to Nova Scotia, in a parking lot and gave her the news. Todd again feels studly and veril.
October -- Baby gifts start rolling in.
October 21 -- Linda heads to Iowa to get maternity clothes from her sister. Turns out to be an eventful weekend with a parade, a princess, a game, a meal and a lady with a broken foot and three kids. Todd stays home for his choir concerts.
October 31 -- Homepage updated with this crazy stuff.
November 5th -- Todd and Linda go to Mpls. to do some baby/maternity shopping. A crib set is purchased as well as some maternity clothes. We also buy a Graco Pak-n-Play for the young one.
November 14th -- After extensive scructinization, we decide to purchase a crib and changing table set from a Schaeffer family. I guess they don't need it anymore.
November 15th -- We go to the doctor's today to have the 19 week ultrasound done. They took all kinds of pictures of the baby's body and check it over for completeness. Todd sees that the baby has 5 fingers, 2 legs, 2 arms, and a really big belly. Did not see any definitive evidence as to the gender, though it is apparent that we are not having twins. Todd is in awe as to the miracle of creation.
Christmas Break: Linda and I travel to Arizona to be with my family for the holidays. Many wonderful gifts for the baby are received. Receiving blankets, bibs, onesies, books, toys, diapers. All of these are deeply appreciated and our thanks to each of you for your thoughtfulness.
2000
January/February/March: The pregnancy continues as it should. Linda must deal with some extreme bouts of heartburn and swollen feet. The nursery is completed with the generous help of Abbie Jo. A diaper shower is given by the Sunday School class at church. Plans are made for the delivery time.
March 30st: Linda tells Todd that she has experienced 4 contractions this evening. "Nothing to worry about", she says. Todd faints.
March 31st: 5:30 am, Linda tells Todd that we should get ready to go to the hosital. Todd calls work and tells that he is not coming in. We load the car with all the prepacked goodies. The contractions slow down and become irregular. Todd goes back to school.
April 1st: Linda continues to feel contractions thoughout the day.
April 2nd: 2:00 a.m., the contractions are now about 5 minutes apart and and it looks as though an April Fool's baby has been averted. We decided to head for the hospital (again), but by the time we drove past Wal-mart, we decided to walk around there for a while to see what happens. We buy a birthday card for Ben and contractions stay regular, but only at 6-7 minute intervals. We go home.
April 3rd: Linda goes to school to begin her last week of teaching. She has contractions throughout the day at 3 - 5 minute intervals. She calls Todd and lets him know that she is going in to the doctor's. Finds out she is beginning to dilate and goes home to rest. Todd comes home from track practice, looking forward to an opportunity to watch the NCAA Championship game that evening. OH NO!!!
Later that evening: 9:00 p.m. Linda says that it is time to go. Todd loads the car, (again) and we head out to the hospital. We get checked in and the doctor says that she is dilated to 2 cm and we should wait. Todd gets to watch some of the game.
April 4th, early a.m.: We go on a couple of walks around the halls while Linda has contractions every 2-3 minutes. At 3:00 a.m., Linda is dilated to 4 cm and is given an epidural. Within 2 hours after that she is dilated to 10 cm and now it is time to start the pushing. Todd thinks to himself, "I gues this is really going to happen, huh?" After a couple of hours of intense pushing and not as much screaming as Todd would have thought, Reed Charles is born at 7:11 a.m. The rest is history and can be seen on the pages and video of this site. Thank you and goodnight.
Todd, Linda and Reed
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