grandma quote
Posted on by Debbie

Why involving Grandma in your pregnancy is a good idea – written by a Granny (obviously)

Granny Debs and Gundoo

I can’t believe there was a time when I wondered if I would ever become a grandmother! 🙃

But just a few years ago I was there, watching all my friends proudly showing photos of their gorgeous and clever offspring. I was faintly envious.

I’ve now joined them and I insist that they look at all my photos, as I once looked at theirs!

Huge news!

In huge news you may have missed – I’ll become a grandmother for the third time in March 2020!

My youngest daughter Eliza and her husband Shawn have found out they are having a baby girl, so that’s 3 grand-girls from our three girls – obviously girls rule in our family! And yes I was given permission to share this news 🙂

Gundoo is growing well and has exceptionally long limbs – not surprising considering her father is very tall and lean!

I’m so excited to see Eliza early next year, (she lives a long way away unfortunately) for her Baby Shower, and then the Mathematician and I will be driving north to be around when she is due.

Baby Gundoo scan
Gundoo scan 22 weeks

Becoming a Globetrotting Granny

I became a grandmother for the second time just a few months ago in August, although she wasn’t due to arrive until late November. We welcomed little Dottie into our family, but her birth, and my emergency trip across the world, was a tad stressful.

She is growing now and I’ll be back to see her soon which I’m looking forward to immensely. And I’m keen to help out our daughter and son-in-law get sorted and ready for when she’ll come home from NICU – so far it’s been 85 days in hospital…and counting.

Granny Debs meeting Dottie
Granny Debs meeting Dottie

I became a grandmother for the first time last year when Emilia was born and loved every moment of the experience. It was something I hadn’t thought would have such a profound impact on me. It’s nice too that we live relatively close (a 3 hour drive) and can see her growing up.

Granny Debs and Emilia
Granny Debs and Emilia

Did you get that? 2018, 2019, 2020 – 3 from 3!!

While pregnant, my daughters have all called their baby a special name – Emilia was called Spud; Dottie was called Wombat and Gundoo will be called Gundoo until she is born. It is an Aboriginal word for young child.

Baby Gundoo

I’ve been fortunate to be given access to a pregnancy app which allows me to follow along with Gundoo’s progress as she grows. I also had access with Emilia and remember being enthralled just as I am now. It is fascinating and I’m learning so much despite the fact I’ve had three children of my own!

The app is great for me to see what Gundoo is up to each week, what size, what developments and what my daughter can expect to be going through. As I live a long way away, it is a really good way for me to be involved. This week (24 weeks) Gundoo is the size of an eggplant 🍆 but without such a thick skin.

“Gundoo is starting to develop taste buds, which means that before long, she will be able to taste some of the stronger flavours of the things you eat through the amniotic fluid she still swallows regularly……Gundoo’s lungs are developing significantly now from all of her practice breathing, and she is making cells that will produce surfactant, a material that will help her lungs expand and operate once she reaches the air…..Gundoo is probably about 33cm long, the size of an eggplant, and weighs about 1.5lbs (680g). “

It also gives interesting links to readings like this one – Getting Grandparents involved in pregnancy

If they’re offering to help, use Grandma or Grandpa to help you out with everyday activities that new parents just might not have enough hands for, like taking pictures, running errands, and cooking. They’ll feel like they’re contributing and you can get some alone time with Baby when you need it.

Grandparents are notorious for loving their grandbabies, so make sure you get your parents or in-laws involved in Baby’s life! You may be a grandparent yourself one day, and then it will be your chance to play the role of the wise matriarch.

Source

Support

My daughter is going quite well, and is mostly enjoying the journey, although some days are harder than others! I think first babies are quite tricky as it’s all so unknown. But thankfully there seems to be so much more support and information around these days, with apps like Ovia making it easy to stay up to date with what’s happening. In my day I suppose it was books rather than apps.

One of the best things for her is having the support of her two older sisters, they are such a helpful resource for her and I’m so proud of them all for supporting each other as they do. We are all spread around the world and use technology to stay in touch, usually daily! “A sister is worth a thousand friends“, as she has two sisters that means two thousand friends!

I’ll be honest and say that it’s not always been easy becoming a grandmother and as I get older I see so many more problems with childbirth than I ever did when I was pregnant with my own three daughters. It’s not a risk free event at all, no matter that we live in a country like Australia or England, with excellent health care.

It’s quite strange seeing your daughters become mothers, and I mean that in a lovely way. I enjoy seeing their growth and then falling in love with a new generation they have created.

Grandmother rewards quote
Grandmother rewards quote

I’ve just finished a book called I Looked Away by Jane Corry and this quote jumped out at me:

‘Grandchildren feel like your own children, yet they have an extra hold on your heart,’ she tells me. ‘There’s a bond that you can’t really describe until you are one yourself.’

It says it all!

What do you think?

Can you relate to my post in any way? I’d love to hear your experiences.

I must say I love being involved in my daughters’ lives (usually from afar due to distance) and I’m looking forward to meeting my newest little granddaughter next year!

Granny Debs x

grandma quote

Linking up with other great bloggers at the weekly Midlife Share the Love linkup #mlstl

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52 Replies to “Why involving Grandma in your pregnancy is a good idea – written by a Granny (obviously)”

  2. Granny, you don’t sound happy or excited at all…lol! Interesting how there’s an app for everything, including pregnancy! Having my parents around certainly helped when I had my son. Whenever I felt overwhelmed, they were there immediately and I was so grateful for them.

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  3. Congratulations Deb! I hadn’t heard of the pregnancy app, but I love it. Being a grandmother is absolutely the best. There is no relationship quite like it. And as you mentioned, it is so strange (in a lovely way) seeing your children become parents. My grandchildren range from 10-19, and I’ve finally gotten used to my daughters as mothers, so that it just seems normal now. A new wonderful normal. #MLSTL

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  4. Hi Deb. I’m so glad Dottie is doing well and I know you all will be relieved when she gets out of hospital. I’m so happy for you all that you’ll be welcoming Baby Gundoo in March. My daughter and her husband will be welcoming Baby Olivia in February. We stay in touch, and check with our daughter Sarah’s progress through Skype calls. It’s amazing how much information our children get through those apps, about their pregnancies. I don’t remember knowing nearly as much, but then it also seems like they have so much more to worry about. Congratulations to you and your family! Wishing you all the best!

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  5. Hi Deb, what a wonderful quote and I’m going to share that one! You have certainly had a full year in the grandmother stakes and not without it’s challenges that is for sure. Still, the love we feel for our grandchildren and the joy they bring is something we just can’t describe but other grandparents certainly can identify with. Congratulations again for another grandbaby on the way and enjoy time with Dottie over the next few months. Thanks for sharing at #MLSTL and sending love to you all. xx

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    1. Thank you Sue, it’s not ben easy at times but it’s a wonderful feeling being a grandmother and I just wanted to share that. I know you understand the love we feel for these little ones! I’ll be following you while I’m away and look forward to staying in touch xx

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  6. Hi Deb,
    How wonderful about the gundoo. We are only grandparents X1 with a step-grandchild that came with her mom when she got together with our son Jason. Other kiddos are taking their time and that’s ok…although I am anxious for more grandbabies.
    Being a grandparent is special…spoil ’em rotten and send ’em home!

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  7. Congratulations Deb on 3 from 3. I had missed your exciting news. Being a grandmother is both exciting and challenging. Like you I do tend to worry about them but differently to the way I worried about my own children. I have three grandsons. It seems boys reign in this family. I’m fairly sure three is my final total. But they are a very special three }MLSTL Sharing

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  8. Hi Deb,
    Hearty congratulations!
    Lot of fun and excitement coming your way. Wishing your daughter the very best.
    It’s some time away for me to reach your status!
    But I can imagine how exciting it is to be involved.
    #MLSTL. I have shared this on my SM.

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  9. Congratulations. I think it’s a long way off for me, but I truly hope that when the time comes my daughter involves me as much as you have been. I also hope that I’d know where the boundaries are… although knowing Sarah she’d be very quick to tell me!

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  10. Congratulations Grandma! How exciting to get a granddaughter each year for 3 years! Very exciting news for March next year, and also exciting to be heading back over to see Dottie soon. I don’t have any grandchildren yet and considering none of my three kids have partners at this time, I think it could be quite a long while off. But I do look forward to it!! 🙂 xo

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  12. I almost feel guilty for loving this grandmothering gig so much. It almost feels disloyal to my daughters. But it is delightful. Like you, we are having a third granddaughter in 2020. Ours are spread out more than yours, 2010, 2016 and now 2020. Each one such a blessing. Congratulations, my friend. Love the quote about the icing. Pinned!! #MLSTL

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  21. Love the teenager quote Deb, probably quite accurate for a few people. We don;t have any grandchildren just yet but the arrival of any will be when we sit down and re-evaluate our nomadic lifestyle. We so want to be involved in their lives that it will be a time of planning what our future holds as well as our sons. Not for a while though.

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  22. Hi Debbie 😊 thank you yes, it’s the grandma and icing image and the Jane Corry quote. So thank you for allowing me to share it. I’ve followed you on Instagram and look forward to further posts. Have a good day. Cindy

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  23. Wonderful and congratulations!! I recently became a grandmother for the first time in January of this year, a grandson, and I can ABSOLUTELY relate in every way. I too followed my daughter’s pregnancy via the ovia app and it was fascinating. How exciting to have 3 grandchildren…..you are blessed. I’ve written dozens of blog posts and charted his progress virtually every day from when he was born, but I have yet to post them 🤔🤔💙👶🏻 I shall have to get going with that since he’s nearly 10 months old already. Oh and we called him Peanut 🥰 Lovely to read your post. I hope you don’t mind, but I’d love to borrow the quote and image…..

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    1. Hi, I’m so glad you enjoyed my post! It’s been a while in the making due to lots of reasons but my daughter is happy for me to share, as I’d written posts about her sister’s babies and wanted one of her own!! I love the Ovia app, it is so good the way the information is at your fingertip isn’t it? I am blessed and I’m also lucky my daughters want me involved in their lives as some people don’t have that luxury. Which quote and image, if you mean the grandmas with icing one, that’s fine!! Lovely to have you join in.

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  24. I wasn’t as embroiled in my grandbabies pre-birth (no app for me) but I enjoyed the pregnant mum pics and then the arrival, meeting and ongoing love that comes with the Nanahood. I sent my DIL the blackboard quote last week (because we could have cheerfully strangled our son in his teenage hoon driving days!)
    I must say that I’m in love with being a Nan – it ticks all my boxes for getting the good bits of parenting with none of the tough times. My only caution is to not overstep our roles and their boundaries – an interfering grandmother is the bane of some young mum’s lives and I have no intention of becoming one!
    Lovely for you to have your three for three Deb – and those littel girls will be best buddies despite the distance xxx Bon Voyage for Brittania too xxx

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    1. That’s so true Leanne, I totally understand the need for boundaries and not being an interfering grandmother! You are right it ticks so many boxes being a grandma and there is so much love in it! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and your good wishes. xx

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