Gransnet forums

Chat

Problems with Daughter in Law

(53 Posts)
dragonfly46 Mon 19-Jun-17 15:49:19

My daughter in law and son discovered at their 20 week scan of their baby that he had no kidneys. They were told that if he went full term he would only live for 10 minutes and were advised to terminate the pregnancy which they did. Unfortunately later that week my daughter had her wedding to which my son and daughter in law were invited but of course did not attend. Their little girl was to be a flower girl. After the wedding, however, my DiL defriended me, my daugther and new son in law on Facebook giving the reason that the pictures of it just had her in bits which I quite understood.
We met up with DS and DiL on Saturday for the first time since all this happened as we live a long way apart and after about 10 minutes my DiL stormed out telling us we did not care about losing our grandchild or about her as we were just having fun drinking champagne!
My son told me that she was upset we didn't cancel the wedding and blames us for her unhappiness. In the meantime he is constantly having to spend time with her family and is finding it very hard as he says he needs us as much as she needs her family.
She is making it very difficult now for us to see their little girl who is 2. We already saw a lot less of her than her mum and dad but now I just see it getting worse and don't know what to do or how to handle things.
I sent her a message after she walked out on us and got one back but I am not sure it changes anything.
My son is in despair.

wendyannelilysnan Fri 23-Jun-17 19:19:34

Why not offer to set up a memory box for him. There's a teddy bear company that embroideres names of babies. Google rainbow baby. There's always the woodland trust plant a tree in his memory. His sister may want something to remember her lost brother too. Terribly sad ❤️❤️??l have a small Paddington bear as a reminder of my miscarriage not the same I know. Big love ❤️ and hugs ?

Angelcake79 Sat 01-Jul-17 11:43:31

I just wanted to add another dimension here. Yes she will be grieving and angry but, she lost her baby at 20 weeks, it's not like an early miscarriage she will have gone through labour and birth and held him afterwards, your son and dil probably named their baby (you don't mention) and took photographs and have kept the tiny clothes he was dressed in, they're not obliged to have a funeral at 20 weeks but the majority of people choose too (you don't mention.) Their baby died and part of the pain is that people don't always acknowledge loss, if a dies baby before it's born, as a death or talk about the baby as a real human being in the way that they would if an older baby or child had died, to your dil it feels no different. She probably just can't understand how your daughter was just upset that her brother and niece couldn't be there but could get married the same week her nephew died and that you could appear to celebrate days after your grandson died, I'm not criticising your choices, I understand them, I'm just trying to explain just how mind boggling your dil might find it. I had a baby who died and I couldn't really believe the world was still turning let alone if a family wedding went ahead days after I'd given birth. She may come to view it differently later, I'm certainly more charitable 3 years on to things that angered and upset me at the time, and appreciate the practical difficulties you and your daughter would've faced, but it may always hurt if she feels that her son's death hasn't been mourned.