When I had my first child, I knew nothing about babies. D was colicky and cried a lot in the first 6 months. I held her, rocked her, walked around the house, put her in the car and drove around town in my nightgown late at night. I had a pediatrician who was an idiot, I later learned. When I complained about her crying a lot, the doctor actually said, “Why would you reward her for crying by picking her up and holding her?” We moved to another town when she was nine months old and, of course, changed doctors.
I get to babysit my 8-week-old GS tomorrow for about 7-8 hours. He’s so precious!
We swapped pediatricians when S was a bit over a year old. The 1st one was always saying we were overstimulating S because S naturally didn’t want to sleep all that much. He wasn’t cranky or sleepy, just was content to watch.
S was talking a lot from a very young age and could speak a pretty good monologue from before he turned one—he’d always try to talk to the MD, but the MD only spoke to H, even tho I was with S 24/7, not H. The new pediatrician spoke directly to kids and was familiar with a much wider range of kids & their behaviors.
Having a good pediatrician the patient and parents can talk with is very important. I’m sorry we weathered the first bad one.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek Delivery complications are scary… either by Csection or regular vaginal birth. I don’t remember being aware of complications when I was a young mother-to-be but I am only too aware of them now. Hope all goes well with your DIL’s recovery!
@snowball Although most folks don’t wish for a C-section, a planned one is so much a different experience than an emergency C-section after 40 hours of hard labor and a stuck baby. Many women have a quick delivery and a relatively easy recovery from a planned C-section. Hoping for that for your daughter. 
@anxiousmom After attending their childbirth class, my SIL actually said he thought a planned C-Section was the way to go! Not that he was wishing that for my daughter, but he just thought having a scheduled Section instead of not knowing when labor would beginning, or how long it would last.
My DIL’s sister is due a week before my daughter and also is breech; she already has a Section scheduled.
My son (kid #2) was breech and I had a scheduled C-section. With kid #1, my tailbone broke. C-section recovery was much easier than the broken tailbone.
MY DIL had an unscheduled C section because the baby was breech. She had about six hours of labor and then they convinced her. She was disappointed, of course, but it was better than 40 hours of labor first and then a baby with problems. I think part of our role as grandparents is to assure the couple that the C section really really was for the best and that there’s nothing to be disappointed about.
I babysat for the first time yesterday, from 5:00 to 12:45 p.m. My D, who has always maintained she never wants to have kids, drove 45 miles to help me and spend time with her nephew. I enjoyed her company and she was a big help feeding him and helping change his clothes to pjs. I enjoyed visiting with her, too. Baby is so good. Can’t wait for my next gig!
@snowball My physicgeek ds (he’s our 5th child) was breech. The night before the scheduled C-sec he was crazy active and I thought he had flipped. My OB didn’t believe me but agreed not to proceed with the C-sec until he confirmed that he was still breech. He had flipped and he was a VBAC. So, sometimes they do flip on their own at the last minute. (One of his older siblings was a footling breech. That delivery was an emergency C-sec bc I went into rapid labor a week before the scheduled date and his feet were already starting to emerge. Scary. He was totally tangled in the umbilical cord and even with the C-sec the cord was wrapped very tightly around his neck.)
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Well our little breech baby didn’t want to wait for her schedule c section next week; my daughter’s water broke last night. While my daughter was upset/worried that all her plans were not as planned, she had a healthy baby girl and all is well. She was pleased with the OB on call, which was a worry for her as she had recently switched within the group and was afraid it would be her first OB that was on call.
The baby is named after my father, who passed away last week. This baby will be well loved if she is half the person my dad was. The circle of life continues.
@snowball congratulations, how lovely!
Congrats @snowball. How nice that the baby was named after your father. My GD was named after DH’s late father & I know that meant alot to DH.
Congratulations @snowball!! How very sweet!
Congratulations, @snowball, to you and your family! Very sweet of your D and SIL to honor your father.
Very happy for you, @Mom2aphysicsgeek. ? Family ?
A good pediatrician is worth his / her weight in gold. @dentmom4, I have known several babies wearing the helmet in the last five (or so) years. It seems that there is more awareness today. We constantly turned GS’s head while he was sleeping, and we have already noticed that GD has a preference, at one month, so we are doing the same with her.
I am spending a few days a week with D, GS, and new GD. I go over in the morning when GS gets up and D goes back to bed for some much needed rest. GS, GD, and I are getting along well. We do have to wake D when GD gets hungry… I also go over at bedtime when SIL is on call or has an extra long day. GS has a wonderful bedtime routine - jammies, teeth, books (and more books), prayers, singing, sips of water, and snuggling. He has learned to stall a bit… which I find adorable, but D is not as amused.
Going to see GD this Thursday night, watch her Friday, Saturday, leave Sunday morning. DIL is off to a bachelorette party and S works Friday, needs to run a bunch of errands and write a paper for his Ed D class on Saturday so asked if I would stay an extra night. Well, of course I would!
I also watch GD early weekend mornings when I visit so they can sleep. She’s up by 6 am!
Just had a wonderful week with GS. 10.5 months and jabbering away. He took his first waddling steps between me and DD.
5 week old GD came over for the day yesterday. So cute!!!
DD had baby boy on Friday - 7 lb 13 oz. 19 inches long. His due date was 7/7, but MD decided to move up induction from Mon 7/8 to Fri 7/5 (MDs do not like to induce early, but his head was at 99 percentile a week earlier, and according to his in-untero estimated weight last Monday of 8 lb 6 oz, she did not want him too big and an issue for vaginal delivery). DD had a 2 degree tear with the first (who was 7 lb, born May 2018 the day her water had a slow leak break). Evidently the thinking now is to allow a tear versus an epesiotomy because evidently the tear along the muscle fibers heals better. DD was started on a pitocin drip at 6 am, and had the baby 1:30 pm. No tear. APGAR 9 (just like his sister). Strong and healthy. First name is my dad’s (who died a year after DD was born) - he was a wonderful man and a wonderful tribute.
DD also won the M - F Nurse Educator job (versus the 12 hour shifts on the medical floor) which she will start after her maternity leave. Her last work day on the unit was Wednesday, and good she had a day of rest at home before the day of delivery. However as soon as they finished all with baby and her (and baby breast fed), and she was able to have a meal with her H, she fell immediately asleep. So starting this afternoon, she has her new routine at home with H, her DD, and her DS.
Forgot to say, DD did not tear at all this time, so that was another bit of good news.
Congratulations, @SOSConcern, to you and your family! Great news!