Joining the Ranks of Being a Grandma in My 70s

It finally happened. My 37-year-old daughter gave birth to a baby boy! He is my first grandchild. I also gave birth in my 30s but my mother was in her 60s when that happened. I am almost 71.

Her doctor wanted to induce labor at 36 weeks for reasons I’m not clear on so he came out slightly less than 5 lbs. Wrapped up he looks like a burrito but is in great shape and came home after only 2 nights in NICU.

Giving birth is so much more high-tech than when I had my two kids. They can track everything. I was there for the birth and watched the monitor that showed the baby’s heartbeat, his movement, my daughter’s contractions, and her vital signs. It was amazing!

I had two natural births without drugs and breastfed my kids for 23 months each. Some may call me an Earth mother but when I told my daughter’s nurses I didn’t have drugs, they thought I was crazy.

Natural births were a big thing in the 1980s and I chose an OBGYN that practiced the Bradley method of deep breathing as opposed to panting. All went well except that both kids had the cord wrapped around their necks and were taken to the NICU for quick monitoring. They were fine and I went home the next day.

After my cord incidents during my kid’s birth, I was glad I was in a birthing room at a hospital rather than at home without support.

The induction

My daughter’s induction was the hardest part, and I was sure my daughter was being set up to have a C-section which I tried to avoid at all costs. They gave her a pill to soften her cervix on the evening of her first day at the hospital. Then, they inserted a balloon in her cervix to open it. OUCH!  

My daughter opted right off the bat for an epidural, so she was pain-free during most of the labor. My fear, when I gave birth, was that an epidural would slow things down making a C-section necessary.

I know I may sound paranoid about C-sections but like dentists who upsell you every time you go in, I have always felt some C-sections could be avoided. But, what do I know? I’m not a doctor.

My daughter went on like that until the next day. I arrived at the hospital at the crack of dawn because I had not heard from her and her husband and thought they might be in the middle of it. They were still asleep, but my daughter was at 4.5 centimeters.

They gave her Pitocin to start the contractions. The doctor said she hoped it would work otherwise a C-section was imminent. It was Halloween, and I thought she might want to get out early and take her kid trick or treating.

The contractions became steadier. At one point my daughter started shaking, which was alarming, but the nurse said it was normal.  By 2 pm the nurse asked her to start pushing. It was only a matter of about 20 minutes when his head started showing and the doctor arrived.

The little guy arrived soon after and I cut the cord because her husband looked a little faint. The baby let out a little cry and was whisked off to the NICU.

Later the NCIU doctor came in and said he was doing great! Phewww!

Old school birthing or new school?

I wish the doctor had let nature take its course, so my daughter didn’t have to be tortured with all the invasive tubes, catheter, shots, and the balloon in her Vajayjay. She was swollen so there may have been a risk of pre-eclampsia. I was never told. She had to wear thigh-high compression socks during the entire labor. But, I was happy that she skated by without a C-section and won’t have to deal with its aftereffects.

Even though the baby was late term rather than premature, he was still tiny and would require extra nutrients in addition to breast milk.

In many ways, I’m glad that doctors can track every little blip during pregnancy, but I wonder how Neanderthal women and women centuries ago survived birthing a baby. Getting the placenta out alone requires skill.

One of my very favorite TV shows is Call the Midwife on Netflix which is going into its 14^th season. It is about midwives and nuns in the East End of London during the 50s and 60s and deals with every aspect of birth during that time. Up until the 1960s most women in the East End gave birth at home with the help of a midwife, many in dire circumstances.

The characters in the show are wonderful and it’s such an engaging series. I highly recommend it.

Now, on to being a Grandma!