Grandma’s Visit

After 3 weeks of looking at tiny photos sent via text, I finally got to meet her.  My grandson was watching through the window for her arrival.  He ran to the front door to open it for his parents who were carrying a car seat holding his new baby sister.  He was so excited and touched her tenderly.  His mommy sat next to him on the couch and his daddy put baby sister on his lap.  Such joy!

Next it was my turn to hold my granddaughter.  She may have been 6 weeks early, but she looked absolutely perfect—from her button nose to her tiny toes.  As I gazed down at her, she looked up at me.  I fell in love.  Babies are such miracles.

The next three weeks were a bit of a blur.  I spent many hours on the couch holding baby and often feeding her.  Preemies are not easy.  They sleep a lot.  My little granddaughter was constantly nodding off while feeding so we developed methods to wake her up.  Breast milk alone does not contain enough calories for a preemie, so she needed to be supplemented with formula.  My daughter had to do a lot of pumping along with breastfeeding.

During this time, we were all tired, especially mom and dad.  Initially there were weekly visits to the pediatrician to check baby’s weight.  He was happy with her progress.  There were issues with gas and reflux which complicated her care.  My daughter struggled with her own recovery from her C-section and ended up back in the hospital on her baby’s one month birthday.  This was especially hard on my grandson who worried his mom wouldn’t come home.

I spent a lot of time with my sweet, energetic grandson.  Every morning I fixed him breakfast.  We watched movies, played games, read stories, baked cookies, went for walks, and more.  He had been pulled from daycare/preschool because of COVID cases among the staff.  He missed his friends.  I tried to keep him busy.

One of the benefits of being there at that time was that I got to celebrate my daughter’s 36^th birthday with her, the first time since she was 18 years old.  I watched my grandson make a couple of gifts for his mommy with just a little bit of help from me.  He was so excited to give them to her.  I made her a birthday cake.  My younger daughter and her fiancé joined us for the celebration.  A video call connected my husband to the party.  It was wonderful to be together.

I must admit that I was tired, and I had little time for myself, so it wasn’t easy.  My daughter was so grateful for my help and we had a lot of opportunity to talk.  I returned with photos of lots of sweet memories.

What will I remember the most?  I can picture my granddaughter’s face as I held her, and she drank her bottle.  I would put her on my shoulder, and she would lift her head and look at me before falling asleep.  Every morning my grandson would come into my room to say good morning with a big smile.  I loved my conversations with him.  I loved simply hanging out and talking with my daughters.

I have been home a few weeks and I am slowly returning to some sort of normal.  It is good to be with my husband, cats, and dog, but I miss the rest of our family.  We keep in touch via phone and Facebook.  I will always treasure these special weeks as a live-in grandma.