Grandson's Homecoming

This is Jeh chillin' out at the hospital on the day before he got to go home.  :)

I'm taking a shine to my new role as grandmother!

Jeh came home yesterday when he was two days old.  He opened his eyes and looked around when he had a visit from his cousin, who was born on Mother's Day!  The babies are only 25 days apart.  They seemed to have an awareness of each other.  One of the aunts dubbed them The Beastie Boys!  

Look out world, trouble's a-coming!

First Grandbaby!!!

My grandson (I will call him Jeh for his initials) was born June 3 at 7:40 pm, and he shares his birthday with his other grandmother as well as the daughter of one of my best friends from college!  He weighed 5 pounds 12 ounces and is 18 inches long. I was there to watch his birth, and it was miraculous and joyful.  There really are no adequate words to describe the feeling of watching your child have a baby.  I will say that I got the best group hugs ever from my daughter, her husband, and Jeh's other grandmother!

Six minutes after he was born :)

Footprints in the Bible

In the Level II NICU, he's hanging onto his dad's and his grandmother's fingers!

He's got a grip on my finger :)

About 5 hours after he was born

In the last picture Jeh looks exactly like my daughter did when she was born.  He had some breathing issues because he arrived a month early, so he had to spend some time being evaluated in the Level II nursery.  His pediatrician (my daughter's childhood friend) examined him last night and said he was doing well.  I was told I couldn't take a camera into the nursery, so I was happy I could capture these moments with my iPhone camera.  

In fact, technology served the whole birthing process well.  The face of modern labor and delivery is not compromised with pain; my daughter was keeping up with calls, texts, and Facebook during labor, and she even managed to snooze a little!  :)  Her blood pressure is back to normal, and I'm sure she looks forward to shedding all the water weight she gained.  She went for 32 hours without food, so she really enjoyed the Coke, candy, and sandwich after she delivered!  

Today will be fun; there will be more visitors and more hugs!  Looking forward to getting the first report from my daughter about how Jeh did during the night.  :)

Generations of Love

I'm awaiting the birth of my first grandchild! He's due to make an appearance before the end of June.  On Memorial Day he weighed about 5 pounds 10 ounces according to the ultrasound measurements!  My daughter is now home on bed rest.  She's been having edema plus some problems with her blood pressure and kidney function.  I had the same condition (pre-eclampsia) with all my pregnancies, so I can really relate to her discomfort.  The good news is that it won't last much longer, and she has wonderful medical care.

As a special gift, I refinished my daughter's 30-year old Jenny Lind crib (which was also used by her brothers).  Here's what it looked like, replete with bite marks.

I spent most of one weekend sanding with 180 grit paper and a sanding sponge.  I feathered out all the bite marks and scratches and lightly sanded the entire crib so the paint would adhere well.  It was quite an undertaking because of all the turned spindles!

It's funny how you never notice things like blobs of varnish and dried drips and runs until you actually go over the entire surface.  I've learned by experience that surface preparation is the key to getting a good paint job, so I persisted with getting the surface really smooth.  I had to seal the areas that were sanded down to bare wood.  Here's my painting station in the back yard.

I used a total of 6 cans of spray paint, and buffed between the first and second coats with a piece of white cotton T-shirt.  After several days to let the paint cure, I finished with a final buffing.  The result was just lovely.  The color that my daughter selected is espresso brown in a satin gloss.  I do believe that the finish is even better than the original finish!  I also cleaned up all the metal parts so that they were like new.  Here's a closeup of the finished paint job.

A couple of weeks ago, I delivered the crib to my daughter's house and assembled it for them.  She and her husband were just thrilled that it turned out so nice, and they got a big kick out of the original paperwork that I had saved.  The parts list and assembly instructions were dated February 15, 1980!  Here's what the crib looked like in the baby's room.

A few days ago my daughter sent me some photos of the bed all made up in the new bedding.  She's really happy with it, and I think she did a super job of putting together the nursery!

Finally, here's the real reason I wanted to pass down the crib to my grandson.  :)

My daughter in the crib, 1980.

My oldest son in the crib, 1987.

My twin sons in the crib, 1991.

This baby crib comes with generations of love!  I'm ready to pay it forward!  ♥♥♥♥