Letters to my Grandchild

You love swimming and playing pool games.  You are Ariel and I am the Queen Athena. We stay in the pool for so long that our fingers and toes get all wrinkly.  Usually I run a warm bubble bath for you afterwards to get all the chlorine off your body.  Then we'll have a drink and some biscuits or popcorn.  By the time you go home you are wiped out!   When I visit your house, we often play dress-up and have a concert.  "Ladies and Gentlemen - I now call EMILY....NILSEN!!!!"     I am the smart lady in the audience who cheers and claps and shouts for more!  

Good morning Little Em, Last Saturday we had a 'Baby Shower' for you and your Mom and Dad. Usually only women go to Baby Showers but Mark wanted his friends to be there too, so we had a few Daddies and wanna-be Daddies and a few guys who seemed bemused by the whole thing! Lauren brought her precious little 5 week old Taylor. I kept looking at her and wondering if you would like like her! The party was at lunch time so we served a light lunch. Patty and I found Polka-dot plates, place mats and serviettes so the theme was Polka-dots - just like some of the accessory in your nursery. You got so many gifts Em - I don't know where they are going to put them all. You have already got enough clothing to last you three years at least! It was a lovely party and you were the main attraction! You are going to be welcomed into a community of friends and family who all love you alre ady. On Monday your Mom went for another scan and it showed that you have moved sides. They h...

Hello dear Em, I said hello to you yesterday. Mark and Tammy came to watch the rugby and you were 'moving up a storm' your Mom said, so I put my hand on her belly and I could feel your little butterfly movements. Then I bent down and spoke to you. "Hello Em," I said, "This is Silly here. You must remember my voice because I am your grandmother." I'm sure you heard me. When Tammy had her last scan they saw that you have really grown into a big baby. 2kg already!! Mark said that you could be a 9lb baby - which is over 4kg. Wow!! That is big for a new born. Big, but beautiful. You will have a head start on all the little underweight babies the same age. Everything was fine with the examination and scan. They even saw you drink! Mark said that they saw you swallowing - that is so cute! The radiographer measured your femurs, checked your skull size and your spine. There are no abnormalities - thank heaven. I have a feeling that you do no...

It is my birthday tomorrow Em. I will be 61 years old. That means I am 3 172 weeks old! And you are about 28 weeks old! I was beginning to think that I would never be a grandmother. We always thought that Greg, being the eldest, would get married and have children first. But Greg isn't close to being married and having children yet and we thought that Mark might not have children until it was safe to go the IVF way. But, out of the blue, Mark and Tammy fell pregnant and in a few weeks time, Finn and I will be grand parents. It still sounds very strange to say those words! Is it only a few weeks time? I think you are about 27 - 28 weeks old now. What does the website say? Baby's Growth, 25 - 28 Weeks Your baby is beginning to develop a layer of fat beneath the skin. Hair continues to grow and the baby's eyes (which now have eyelashes) are able to open. The lungs are continuing to mature. The baby's sucking is well developed. By 28 weeks, your baby is about 3...

Good morning little Em! I tried to feel you kick the other night but you were tired and although Tammy could feel you moving, I couldn't feel anything. I am writing to tell you that I bought you a rag doll yesterday. Now, this might not seem like much but if is a first for me. I only had boy babies, so even though I bought Teddies and other toys, I've never bought Dollies before! It was quite exciting buying a doll. She is a sweet little rag doll with yellow hair and a cute dress. I made sure that I bought one with no buttons for eyes and no hard or loose bits that a baby can pull off or chew. I also bought your Mom a recipe book for birthday cakes, as well as a recipe book for preparing food for infants and children. Now I know that you won't be eating solid foods for a while after birth, but it will be useful for your Mom and Dad to have a recipe book just for you. Tammy said that she won't be having a scan at her next check up but will be booking for th...

Hello Emily-Ann!! Yes, we now know that you are a girl and we are over the moon!! I had a feeling all along that you were a girl and even thought of you as Emily. You are the first girl in our family for many years. I have two sons, Patty had Shawn, and Jeff and Gail have got three sons, Richard, Craig and Brian. How WONDERFUL it will be to have a little girl in our family. When Mark phoned to tell me, I got quite emotional and could hardly say the words when Finn asked me what was wrong - I was grinning from ear to ear but also tearful! (He hasn't seen me with tears for at least 10 years!) I collected Patty and we went straight to the baby shop and I bought you all sorts of pink things - little vests, dresses, jackets, baby-grows, leggings, little caps and so on. Patty bought you 100 new born disposable nappies and two lovely baby blankets. Your mom and dad came to have dinner with us and showed us the video of the scan. Emily, it was amazing to see you moving about,...

Hello my darling grand-child, Yes - this is a picture of your mother and father's hands, with an engagement ring on Tammy's ring finger - they got engaged in Cape Town ! They couldn't get to the top of Table Mountain because of the wind and the weather but Mark proposed to Tammy that evening and she accepted and we are so thrilled! I'm sure you are too because it must make you feel more secure knowing that your mother and your father are planning on staying together to care for you. They are very much in love and are so excited about having you. I have been thinking of you today because your mother isn't well. She has a sore throat and a cold and was put off work for a few days. She can't take anything stronger than Panado and that is because whatever she takes will filter through to you. I read today that you could be developing a sense of taste and I don't think you would like the taste of Panado anyway! Today when I was in the Davenport Centre doi...

WOW! You are 20 weeks old and your mom says that she can feel you turning and stretching all the time. I drove you and your Mom and Dad to the airport today. I was so conscious of having a precious cargo that I drove extra slowly. You are flying to Cape Town for a holiday - and guess what?? This is a secret, but I'm sure I can tell you. Mark is going to propose to Tammy - on top of Table Mountain if they can get up there today!! Isn't that wonderful news? I wonder if you can feel the love of those around you? I wonder if you can feel your mother's love when she holds her tummy and your father's love when he lays his hand on her tummy and tries to feel you move? It's quite strange to look at Tammy and realise that she is carrying our grandchild inside her! Isn't that a miracle!? So, what do yo u look like now? What development has taken place in the last two weeks? 20 weeks - Foetus may suck on thumb. Extremely rapid brain growth; eyebrows and scalp h...

Dear Grandchild, Your mother told me today that they don't like to call you 'it' so they call you Squashy!   Isn't it funny how we call our babies by different names - Junior, Squirt, Dude, Squashy - all because we don't yet know whether you are a girl or a boy. Perhaps they will be able to tell your gender when your Mom has her next ultrasound. You don't have to be concerned with that - an ultrasound examination shows a picture of the inside of the mother's womb - without the use of X-Rays - which could be harmful. It involves high frequency sound waves that are transmitted through the skin and reflected by the internal organs and structures. These "echoes " form a picture of you on a screen which can be examined for any abnormalities. Most pregnancies are now monitored by ultrasound examination to assess the age, health and position of the unborn baby. These are good things to have because if you have a moderate to severe form of OI...

Dear Grandchild,   A baby is such a precious thing. We humans must have a protective, nurturing gene that switches on when we know that a new baby is going to come into our lives. We are wired in such a way that even the thought of a baby switches on an emotional response. I've never really thought about having grandchildren. There didn't seem to be any prospect of having a grandchild in the near future and I didn't even think I wanted one. But, now that we know that you are on the way, I find myself thinking of your arrival as a momentous event! A brand new, never seen before, absolutely unique human being is going to come into this world in a few months time - and it will carry the genes of two parents, two sets of grandparents, great-grandparents, etc etc....... Its awesome!! Scary!! Exciting!! For the first few months of a baby's life it is completely helpless, defenceless and dependent on others. So, how come I feel so nervous about meeting you or lookin...

Dear Grandchild, You are now 17.5 weeks and growing!   I found this picture of an 18 week foetus in the womb on the cover of LIFE Magazine. It is so amazing that I feel as though I have just looked at you for the first time! You are a REAL being, not just a growing mulberry, or a squiggly tad-pole. I think this baby is a girl (I don't see any dangling bits!) so perhaps you are also a girl. We'll just have to wait until the next scan to find out! It is your uncle Greg's birthday today. He was born in 1975 - and your father was born 2 years later in 1977. I always wanted boy children and I dearly love my two boys but it would be nice to have a little girl in the family now. You have another two uncles- your mother's brothers are Brent and Steven. You won't have any aunties but I know that Patty and all our 'girl' friends will want to be your aunty. There are so many people thinking of you, praying for you, caring about you alread...

15th May: Dear Grandchild, It was your father's birthday today - he is 31 years old. I still think of him as my baby and now he is going to have his own baby. We met at their place before going out to dinner and Tammy showed us the latest scan taken of you at 15 ½ weeks. My how you've grown. It was still too early to tell if you are a boy baby or a girl baby but your spine and limbs were quite clear. So far you are developing normally - which is a good sign because babies with OI often have stunted growth and severely affected babies can be tiny - with a form of dwarfism. This is what the Mayo Clinic has to say about your development: Your baby's skin starts out nearly transparent. Eyebrows and scalp hair may make an appearance. For babies destined to have dark hair, the hair follicles will begin producing pigment. The bone and marrow that make up your baby's skeletal system are continuing to develop this week. Your baby's eyes and ears now have a baby...

Dear Grandchild, Last night we went to visit Mark and Tammy and they showed us a scan photograph of you taken at 8 weeks. You now look more like Casper the ghost than a tadpole! I Googled 8 week embryo and this is what I read:   This week, your baby graduates from being an embryo and becomes a foetus. Up to now, your baby's framework has been made up of cartilage. From the 47th day, the first bone cells begin to replace this cartilage. The bones for arms and legs begin to harden and joints begin to form. The face and jaw is formed, but teeth and facial muscles are only just starting. All of the vital organs are in place: heart, lungs, brain, intestines. However, they are all still immature and will develop further. The genitalia begin to form. Your baby will develop webbed fingers and toes this week. Wrists, elbows and ankles are clearly visible, and your baby's eyelids are beginning to form. The ears, upper lip and tip of the nose also become recognizable. As your ...