03 July 2011

He's here!

Jon and I are overjoyed to announce that Stanley William Todd was born on Wednesday, 29 June 2011 at 10.45am at King’s College Hospital in southeast London.  He weighed a healthy 7 lbs 13 oz, and according to our measurements is about 20 inches (51 cm).
I have heard a statistic that only 5% of babies are actually born on their due date.  The results of our “When will TTT be born?” poll show that a slightly above average 9% of you (3 people) thought Stanley would come on time.  21% thought he would come early while the remaining 70% thought he would come late.  The results were heavily skewed both by Americans voting for a 4th of July birthday and by the desire of a few British voters for Stanley to share their 26 June birthday, and I think Stan very diplomatically chose to arrive on time!  Several people have also commented to me that Stanley’s punctuality is a testament to my great organisational skills ... which has caused Jon to wonder why people have not made the same comments to him!
Birth story (summary):  My waters broke early Tuesday morning but I did not get contractions until 10pm that evening.  Jon and I went into hospital around 3.30am on Wednesday to discover that all that intense pain had resulted in a mere 2 centimetres.  But because my waters had broken, the hospital let us stay which was lucky because by 5.30am I was 8 cm!  However Stanley’s back-to-back positioning slowed things down from there, so not until another 5 hours and 2 cm later was he born serenely in an “Olympic size” water birthing pool.  I honestly could not have done it all without the help of my two fantastic midwives, Dorisilla and Stacey (pictured below), or, of course, without Jon, who gave just the right encouragement and played just the right music throughout the whole experience.
We came home from the hospital on Thursday and had a lovely visit with Grandma and Grandie Todd on Saturday.  Stanley now looks forward to meeting each and every one of you too! 


x Stanley William Todd x




 

Water birthing team


Olympic birthing pool


Labour is exhausting work!


Daddy with newborn son


We're going home!


Resting with Grandma


Stanley's first outing: a walk around East Dulwich with mom & dad, and Grandma & Grandie Todd



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9 comments:

  1. Tale Pleym3 July 2011 at 12:22

    CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! Ahh, Stan is so beautiful - lovely pictures:)
    Hope all's going well - crazy how much your life changes when you become parents, just wait and see!
    Enjoy yourselves with your cute, little baby - and hopefully we'll see you three in Spain in July or in London in August.
    Good luck - love from Josh, Joe and Tale:)

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  2. Michael3 July 2011 at 23:25

    Wonderful news! Welcome to planet earth Stanley! Well done Todds! -Michael xx xx xx

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  3. Katie5cts6 July 2011 at 04:48

    Love love love this! Congrats. Pls email me your address. Xoxoxoxo from Uganda

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  4. Anonymous6 July 2011 at 10:21

    lots of love mons & jon! WELCOME TO THE WORLD STAN THE LITTLE MAN! (Riki - aka Stanley - loves the name selection indeed).
    CONGRATS Todd Fam. Can't wait to meet him.
    -Jackie B

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  5. Anonymous6 July 2011 at 12:42

    Bienvenidos and yahtehay ...from your Arizona family...what a joy!!! Congratulations Monica and Jonathan...Monica you look fantastic...and much love and welcome to your little angel :)...please post an address, thank you...Kathleen, Tucson, AZ

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  6. Anonymous6 July 2011 at 15:05

    Granny and Pop couldn't be more delighted for Jon and Monica. He is a beautiful baby and worthy of the name Stanley William Todd. I can just see his monogrammed shirt sleeves "SWT". Here-here,old man, or is it Hear-Hear?

    PS: Does he have raven black hair like his Dad?
    2PS: Will he be able at Christmas to play ping pong?
    3PS: Does he cry in a British accent?

    Pop

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  7. Monica and Jonathan7 July 2011 at 04:58

    Thanks for your messages everyone! Further bielow is our address in London.

    Dad, Stanley does indeed have hair like a raven's wing! I think ping pong may have to wait a few years, though he will certainly watch you play and think on his game plan in the meantime! And I'm not sure if he crys with a British accent ... this is a funny idea, though. It reminds me of learning Old MacDonald's Farm in french class in 6th grade. Who knew that pigs in the USA say "oink oink" but in France they go "groin goin"!

    Jackie, tell Riki that Stanley seems to be quite a popular name in Britain at the moment. I have heard of at least 5 other Stanley's beeing born in the past year. Jon thinks there is a resurgence in Edwardian names, like Arthur and Henry. But our Stanley is named after his Polish great-grandfather - naming him Stanislav felt a bit too far to go though! xx

    Todd Family (!)
    Flat 2
    215 Lordship Lane
    London
    SE22 8JF

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  8. Anonymous15 July 2011 at 05:52

    Stanley is certainly blessed to have you two as parents. With love and warmest wishes to the three of you. Ellen

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  9. Anonymous16 July 2011 at 16:33

    Congrats on the birth of your beautiful son. Johnathan love the Papooooose! Best wishes to the entire Todd family. Sincerely Dale and Mary Helmer

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