EXCITING...Mandy asked me to be in the room for the birth of Mackenzie!

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
I have spent most of the night looking for used baby stuff. I wasnt as worried before because Jamie and them were supposed to bring down a ton of stuff from their house but now I have no idea if that is going to happen or not. Billie has this really bad habit of lending her stuff out to her friends even though she knows Jamies brother is going to need it in a month. Even though none of the stuff she is lending out is stuff she bought.

Im praying we are still getting the pack n play because that means I can use it as a crib at my house and we only need to find a crib for Cory's house. I had thought they were going to give him Mikey's crib too considering Mikey will now be two when the baby is born and two is quite late to still be in a crib but they are again late in getting him going on milestones. They want him in the crib until he is at least 4. I even offered to buy his first big boy toddler bed. I figured if he picked it out himself he would want it.

Mandy has already found a high chair and I have a circular bouncy chair that Keyana used and then a walker that Keyana used and I passed them on to Billie for her kids and she never used them. She gave them back to me for Mackenzie. We will gladly use them.

Someone on freestyle has offered me a bouncy chair and I am gonna go get it this week sometime. It is pink and vibrates...lol. Keyana had one of those.

Once I get everything in my house I can see what we really need. I know she needs an older dresser to use for clothes and as a changing table. One place I emailed today had one of those along with some baby shower stuff...lol.
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
Changing from crib... we bought a new mattress for the new baby, and built (literally) a new bed for the old mattress...
Somehow, the fact that it was the same mattress made a huge difference in the transition.
The kids are 18 months apart... but as we had a cradle, the first kid didn't have to leave the crib until the second one was 3 or 4 months old. So he switched back and forth between the beds, in the same room, for weeks. He was done with the crib before she was a month old... but if we had forced the issue, he might still be wanting it!
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
I'm glad she asked you. I've missed only two, and I'm sad that it happened. Evan couldn't be helped, didn't even know about him until he was two. Connor I missed because sister in law wanted him to be just him and easy child.......and later regretted it, as did easy child.

It's such a unique and special way to welcome a new child into the world and reminds us what a true miracle each birth is.

I hope Billie gets in gear and causes no issues with the baby things. I wish her luck keeping Mikey in the crib until 4. I'm thinking she doesn't want to chase him when he wakes up. She'll find it won't be long until he climbs out of it himself and it won't matter crib or toddler bed. Travis was early, he started at 9 months. lol
 

hearts and roses

Mind Reader
How very exciting!! I hope I get to be there for one of my grandkid's births - it's blowing my mind just thinking about how exciting that would be!
 

Mattsmom277

Active Member
Fantastic Janet :) I think its great of her to ask you, I bet you'll make a great cheerleader and how wonderful to see the baby brand spanking new!! You take grandma to a new level as it is, she's lucky to be having you by her side!
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
Janet, that's so cool that you will be able to witness the birth of your grandchild! I had plans to be there when Ethan was born but it didn't work out that way. I was still working then and had to go through the process to get off, make all the arrangements for the pets, etc., then make an 11 hour drive. Then the little booger decided to come three weeks early so I waited till she got out of the hospital to make my visit whenI could be of help to them at home. I'm sure Cory will appreciate having you there too. Allison ended up having an emergency c-section and my sister in law was there all by himself, scared half to death!

And good luck to Billie if she thinks she's going to keep Mikie in a crib until he's FOUR! That's just plain LAZY on her part! Before my son ever turned two, he was threatening to bail out over the side. He'd stand up, sling one leg over the rail, then give me this riviting look that said, "Get me out or I'll jump!" I was scared to death that he'd fall out on his head and that was when he got his first "big boy" bed! It is scary when they first get out of the crib, when you know that they can get up whenever they want to and roam the house unsupervised, but that means that you actually have to WATCH the child, something that Billie is obviously inexperienced in.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
It is truly amazing to be there as a new life enters the world outside of the womb. I am just thrilled that you will get to see your grandbaby being born!! I invited all of the Gma's to be there when Wiz was born and actually, if my mother in law and stepMIL wanted to travel to where we lived when Jess and thank you were born I would have invited them in also. StepMIL and father in law only married a few weeks before Wiz was born (I didn't get to go as I was in the hospital with premature labor but insisted husband leave me and go to the wedding - he was the best man and I was sure the baby wasn't coming.) and stepMIL didn't feel comfortable coming. It truly was wonderful to have my mom there and husband's mom there. It actually is the only positive memory I have of her and I feel it is important to pass on as many positive memories of her to the kids. (She isn't dead but is nuts and refuses to see us. NOT because anything we did/didn't do, she just is that way. Part of it is that haveing gkids makes her "old" in her own eyes.)

Anyway, this will help create a bond between you and Mandy and also between you and MacKenzie.

I would be truly shocked if Billie passed anything on to you. She feels such intense competition with Cory and Keyana that no way would she truly welcome another grandbaby into your life. It wouldn't be a shock at all to learn she had all that baby stuff in her own house and she still refused to pass it on to the new baby. It seems like it would be more in character for her to take an axe or saw to it rather than to let MacKenzie have it.

It isn't safe to keep most four year olds in a crib. They will be past the weight limit unless they are so little that a doctor needs to see them to rule out malnutrition due to neglect or another problem that is keeping them from growing. It is also stupid to keep a 4yo in a crib. They are so mobile and vocal and getting out should be no problem at that age. Unless they plan to put some type of lid on the crib there is little that they can do to keep him in the crib if he wants to get out. Plus there is the back strain from lifiting him into the crib (and out if they have convinced him he cannot get out on his own) - who would want that? 4yo's are heavy to hoist into a crib - esp if they don't want to go! I am surprised that they are not having problems keeping him in it now - Jess was flipping out of the crib before she was 9 mos old!

Is there a Birthright group or another anti-abortion group in your area? Often they will help an expectant mom with a crib, baby clothes, and lots of other stuff. Also be sure to check with Habitat for Humanity's ReStore and other thrift stores for cribs. the one we used for Wiz had the bars spaced wider than the current standards but it was not a real problem. first Wiz had a giant head - not due to any problems, just a big head - bigger than more than 99% of the population. So it would have been far harder for him to get his head it. We also used bumper pads, those things that go around the inside of the crib so the kids don't bang against the railings, and they helped. I used two sets of bumpers and sewed them together edge to edge. The I fastened them to the crib at the top and bottom so he couldn't get to the railings. Figuring that cribs were used for decades before this new standard was set and the kids survived, I elt it go at that.

If they don't have a wipe warmer, that is a MUST - nothing like a cold babywipe to upset a baby!
 

klmno

Active Member
How sweet of her and great for you! It is very exciting!

They want him in the crib until he is at least 4.

Seriously? My son was crawling out of his crib at 18-19 mos old. I had to get him out for his own safety. I skipped the toddler bed and just got bed rails for the twin bed I already had in his bedroom.
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
I told them they were lucky he was as laid back as he was and he wasnt his daddy. Jamie was flipping over the sides of his crib at 6 months old so he could see his daddy make his lunch in the mornings and he would land in the laundry baskets I kept there so he didnt get hurt. Then he would scootch himself to the edge of the basket, laugh till his daddy went and picked him up and put him on the floor and he would crawl all over the place. I had to take Jamie completely out of a crib by 9 months and put him on the floor with just a crib mattress.
 
L

Liahona

Guest
Tonight is easy child 2's first night in a big girl bed. She is 2. She started climbing out of her bed just a few weeks ago and we had to figure something out. I didn't want her getting hurt climbing out. Its hard on both of us; trying to get her to stay in bed. I let her stay in her crib as long as possible.

I bet having the same bed he has had will be good given the transition he is about to go through. I always find that my kids regress a bit after big life changes.

Congratulations on getting to be there. Its exciting!
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
I talked to my daughter a few days ago and I forgot to ask her if Ethan is still in his crib. He turned two in May so I'm guessing he's not still in it. No way could they keep him in there till he's four unless they chained him to it! He has one of those really neat cribs that convert into a regular double bed. The two sides of the crib become the headboard and foot board and they've already bought the rails to convert it, just needs the mattress and box springs. I love his furniture! It's heavy dark wood, not really 'baby' furniture. He has a big dresser with a bookcase on top, the crib converts into a regular bed, and the padded top comes off of the changing table making it into a small chest. He can use the same bedroom furiture until he's grown!
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
Donna...I wish I could afford to do that for them but I cant. I wish I hadnt gotten rid of Keyana's old crib but I did when she was about 2. She was in a toddler bed by then and it was just taking up room in my house. I was using the mattress from the crib for the toddler bed. Now Keyana is in my old queen sized bed in the room I turned into her room. She is such a wiggler that she would wiggle right out of the toddler bed when she was in it...lol.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
I remember being scared silly the first night my son spent out of the crib! We lived in a big apartment complex when he was little. We had chain locks and a dead bolt on the door, both too high for him to reach. But I had myself convinced that he could get up very early, somehow manage to unlock the chain lock and dead bolt, wander by himself all the way to the opposite end of the complex where the pool was, and fall in!
 

DDD

Well-Known Member
Janet, I'm excited and happy for you. I'm also happy that i have never been in a delivery room since l964, lol.

I truly hope that the experience is everything you hope it can be and results in a bond that continues on for life. Hugs DDD
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
It will be the first time I have been there for a grandchild's birth too. Tony just kind of turned green and said he was glad he wasnt asked...lol. I am probably going to have to keep Cory upright.
 
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