Letters to my Grandchild

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...

Great news! Tammy felt you move today for the first time! What were you doing? Changing position? Stretching? Sneezing? It was Tammy's birthday today and Mark treated her to a day at a SPA. It was there, while she was relaxed and being pampered that she felt you kick. It will be a while yet before anyone else can feel those movements. I remember when I was pregnant and could feel Greg, or Mark, kicking, I would lay Finn's hand on my tummy and say, "There! Did you feel that?" I was always so frustrated when he said no. Babies move about quite a lot in the womb and it always surprised me that Mark didn't sustain any fractures whilst he was curled up in that awkward position. Many babies with brittle bones fracture in uetro, some have dozens of fractures during delivery. Mark's was an easy birth with no fractures. He was a calm, happy baby and hardly ever cried. We only found out that Mark had brittle bones when he was about 3 ½ months old. I broke his leg ...

Dear Grandchild, Welcome to my world. You are the last thing I expected to happen in our life. When Mark (my son - your father) told me back in March that he had something to tell me, I did not for one moment expect him to say that Tammy (your mother) was pregnant. Pshew!! Although they'd known each other for a long time - each had different partners when they first met and Tammy had moved away to Gauteng. They had only started dating 6 months earlier so this was a shock! My first reaction was one of panic! Mark has a genetic order called osteogenesis imperfecta - brittle bones - and there is a 50% risk that his children will inherit the gene for OI. There is no test for Mark's type of OI and the only way they might be able to diagnose OI before you are born is through ultra-sound. The memories of caring for a baby with brittle bones flooded back and I thought, "It's not fair to bring a child into the world knowing that it might be facing years of pain and traum...