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Daughter 39 weeks pregnant

(16 Posts)
Overthemoon Mon 05-Jul-21 15:43:29

My daughter is due this week, first baby - fantastic! She's very nervous about how labour is going to start. Any ideas on a few words of reassurance from any experienced Granny's? She's a planner and likes control so difficult time for her. Thank you

DiscoDancer1975 Mon 05-Jul-21 17:24:22

Awww, congratulations ?. It’s such a lovely time, especially the first grandchild. Are you going to be with her at the birth? Husband/ partner? It’s perfectly fine and normal to be nervous, but no matter how it all goes, it will have been seen before. Hundreds of times.
I used to worry about waters going in the shops. They never did for me, in fact with all my four...the waters were broken!
Just take each day as it comes, perhaps don’t venture too far away from home / hospital, and make sure you and her partner? are easily contactable.
All the best and hope it goes well for you. Do come back and tell us.

annsixty Mon 05-Jul-21 17:38:18

Just make sure she is managing her expectations.
Things don’t always go to the plans you have made, this doesn’t mean there are problems, but babies are not tied down to the timetable or even the venue the expectant parents have made.
It is a very exciting time for you all and I wish you all well and happy times ahead.

B9exchange Mon 05-Jul-21 17:39:02

I would advise her not to focus on the date, but to look beyond it and plan a few things beyond it, which she can cancel if need be. Otherwise the date may come and go and she will be left feeling disappointed.

Have a bag packed with snacks for her and her partner. Warn her that she may have the most organised birth plan, but things may not go according to her wishes and it really doesn't matter. No birth is the same as another, but as long as a healthy mum and baby is the outcome, then it has been a wonderful success and something to be very proud of. No birth is a failure, and if help is needed that is absolutely fine.

MawBe Mon 05-Jul-21 17:46:33

It’s a bit late but I hope she (and her partner/husband) have been going to ante-natal groups/classes- NCT, hypnobirthing, bump and baby, whatever. The companionship and support you get from these peer groups is invaluable - and dare I say it, possibly more relevant in these times than what we Grans can add, given that it is probably 30: or 40 years since we were in her position!
Good luck

Grandmadinosaur Mon 05-Jul-21 18:01:38

Can’t really add any further advice but just to say I hope all goes well for her . Such exciting times for you all. When my DIL was in labour I didn’t know what to do with myself such a strange but lovely time! When that baby is here you will be smitten that’s fine sure.

Grandmadinosaur Mon 05-Jul-21 18:02:08

* for *

Witzend Mon 05-Jul-21 18:37:48

How exciting! ?for all going smoothly. I’m sure she knows that perfect labour plans don’t always run to order, esp. with first babies, so it’s not a ‘failure’ if there’s a deviation from the plan.

Must confess that when dd’s first was due, I told them I didn’t want to know until it was all over - I’d have been in a terrible tizz otherwise. She had her dh with her, of course - Mr Super-Reliable - he even changed the first nappy, when dd wasn’t sure how to do it!

Hithere Mon 05-Jul-21 18:53:01

As a planner, I had to realize that child birth is unpredictable but I still had a call on the medical care i would receive - epidural or not and when, asking for explanations to their medical terms, etc

Congratulations!

Izabella Mon 05-Jul-21 18:59:28

Congratulations, but don't make plans. Babies have their own agenda.

3nanny6 Mon 05-Jul-21 18:59:30

Congratulations on the new baby which will be here very soon.
Make sure she has her hospital bag packed and she will be ready to leave at short notice if she has to. Babies often decide
when it is time to arrive and the best thought out plans get pushed aside.
My sons first baby is now two weeks old and he is thriving well.
DIL had been fussing about a water birth although I said to my son I was not sure about that as she only asked towards the end of pregnancy. So she started pains on the Friday morning and went to the hospital but two hours later they sent her home saying she had a long way to go and it was best to go home. By 5p.m. her waters broke and she had mild contractions so my son took her back to hospital.
Apparently the rules in the labour suite do not let birthing partner in until the labour is more advanced. They sent my son away and they decided to get the birth moving by inducing her. My son was phoned at 9.30 p.m. and told he could come back to the hospital where labour was progressing, the baby was born at 4.0.clock on the Saturday morning mother and baby were both healthy and well. My son was okay but I think it was a bit of an eye opener for him.
(ha ha).
I am sure everything will go well good luck.

V3ra Tue 06-Jul-21 00:32:46

Try and encourage her to think of her planning as a wish-list rather than a must-do.
As long as she and the baby come through safe and sound it's a good outcome.
Congratulations to all of you ?

Whiff Tue 06-Jul-21 06:36:39

Overthemoon as you know yourself by having your daughter. Babies come in their own time. I have always been a planner. But both my children arrived early. Emergency c section with my daughter and should have had an elective c section with my son but that was also an emergency. I am going back 38 and 34 years.

It's not how the baby arrives or when. But that they arrive safely. Also as you well know babies don't come with instructions and everyone one is different. I well remember coming home with my daughter after being in hospital for 11 days and looking at my husband and saying what do we do.

You already know the right things to say you are her mom. So nothing anyone can say here is any different to what you probably have already said and know.

Wishing her and her partner all the best. And just give what all babies and children need love , understanding and attention. Enjoy being a Nannie you will find the love for a grandchild is different from the love you give your own. Being a nan is lovely enjoy every minute.

Sarnia Tue 06-Jul-21 09:01:50

Congratulations. I worked as a ward clerk on a busy Delivery Suite. Please tell your daughter to go nowhere without her notes. They are a comprehensive account of her pregnancy journey and hold important information for the midwife who will deliver her baby. I lost count of the number of times ladies would come to my desk and tell me they didn't have their notes because they had just popped out for a moment. Babies arrive on their agenda. Enjoy your grandchild.

Gwenisgreat1 Tue 06-Jul-21 10:31:12

Congratulations! Tell her not to hang about!! I was desparate for my 2nd baby to come early, she was due 21st December! It was on the 11th dec. my 1st child was sick all over the place, so I had no alternative but to scrub the carpets on hands and knees, baby arrived on the 13th December? Did the extra exertion do it?

watermeadow Fri 09-Jul-21 20:42:01

Nine months waiting seems far too long but don’t assume the baby will arrive this week. All of mine were very late, as were all my mother’s and most of my grandchildren. Even our cat’s babies were late!