How were you told about the birth of your first grandchild?

[aprilgail]

My mom was at the hospital waiting for her first and only grandchild to be born- in fact she held her and fed her before I did -I was knocked out for the birth then they took her directly to the NICU, I saw her for the first time 2 days later.

 

[Pooh2]

For each of our sons first daughter's, we were gathered with the other set of grandparents for the sex to be revealed at a nice dinner.
By grandchild number 5, we got a text after the ultrasounds to reveal the sex.

One son was living in Florida when his first was born.
We jumped on a plane and met the baby in the hospital when she was 12 hours old.
Their second baby, we flew down when he was 2 weeks old.

The other three grandkids were born locally.
Two we were able to meet within 12 hours at the hospital.
One was born in the height of covid and grandparents were not allowed to visit so we met him in the driveway when they got home!

Congrats OP!! You will fall in love within seconds!

 

[TLSnell1981]

Congratulations on becoming a grandparent. It's the BEST title in the whole world! We were fortunate to be at the hospital for each of the grands except our COVID babies due to restrictions. The families passed time together while waiting for the new baby...tradition. Current waiting for #12.

 

[WDWJDS]

Ok, I may be way off here, but it kind of sounds like you’re wondering if it sounds equitable that your daughter’s in-laws will be told first via phone call from your son-in-law and you two will have to wait until you get to the hospital.

Not trying to be a Negative Nancy , but if that’s the case, I can totally understand feeling a little sad to have to wait a while.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

Ok, I may be way off here, but it kind of sounds like you’re wondering if it sounds equitable that your daughter’s in-laws will be told first via phone call from your son-in-law and you two will have to wait until you get to the hospital.

Not trying to be a Negative Nancy , but if that’s the case, I can totally understand feeling a little sad to have to wait a while.

I also got that vibe. IF that’s the case, I hope the OP will keep in mind that 1) it’s not a competition with the other grandparents and, 2) it is important to their daughter, for whatever reason, that she get to tell them in person. They can either embrace that and do their part to help their daughter have this special moment she’s envisioned, or they can “make a thing” of it, which will only serve to sour the moment. Frankly, this is a situation where it’s really not about them as much as it is about the baby and new parents, so I would be deferring to their wishes regardless of my feelings in the interest of keeping this a happy occasion. And, FTR, my feelings would probably be to feel pretty darn special that my daughter wanted to include me in-person for what she perceives as an important moment.

 

[lovesmurfs]

Congratulations! I think it totally depends if it's your DD or DDIL. DS and DDIL had their baby on Halloween. DS texted me to say they were going to the hospital, and after the baby was born. We were able to visit at the hospital -- Covid was going around DDIL's family, so they weren't able to visit in the hospital.

Totally understand my role as mother-in-law and am not wanting to push. But Halley's our first grandchild, and like #8 or #9 for DDIL's family. Her mother also raised a number of her grandchildren, and is pretty tired of it all, says DDIL.

 

[kyton]

Our eldest was our in-law‘s first grandchild, my parents’ 3rd. We told both sets of parents when we were on the way to the hospital but no one else was allowed to know. My husband rang both sets of parents twice during the day to let them know how things were proceeding but they were not allowed to come up to the hospital.

Daughter was born at 8.30pm - we then phoned and let everyone know however we told them they were not to visit until the next afternoon’s visiting hours. This gave us time to spend time as our new family unit.

The next two grandparents were told once I was leaving for the hospital (especially MIL as she was babysitting the older siblings for us) - again family were told to stay at home until the next hospital visiting hours (both times were 4pm that afternoon, boys were both born in the mornings).

 

[nw6675]

My son called us. When I found out we took ny parents to a fancy restaurant and the opened a gift showing boy or girl. We all thought is was a boy lol

 

[tvguy]

Our son called us, but it was a schedule C-section, so no surprise. He and our DIL wouldn't give us any details other than everyone was doing fine. No idea the gender or the name until we went to the hospital to meet our Granddaughter.

 

[easyas123]

My son called us. When I found out we took ny parents to a fancy restaurant and the opened a gift showing boy or girl. We all thought is was a boy lol

That sounds lovely! And fun!

 

[Micca]

We were several hundred miles away at the time of her birth, so it would have been by phone. Not sure who called (likely DD) but we made arrangements to come visit here asap. Then we moved about a mile & a half away to not miss the birth of our second DGD.

 

[mylilnikita]

I was my dd’s person so I was there for her dd’s birth.

 

[Frwinkley]

Ok, I may be way off here, but it kind of sounds like you’re wondering if it sounds equitable that your daughter’s in-laws will be told first via phone call from your son-in-law and you two will have to wait until you get to the hospital.

Not trying to be a Negative Nancy , but if that’s the case, I can totally understand feeling a little sad to have to wait a while.

No that is not the case at all! My daughter wants to tell us in person and we LOVE that idea!!! If that means my SIL’s parents know first via telephone, that is perfectly ok with us. We just don’t want anyone to spoil the surprise for us.

Trust me when I say this—we will do WHATEVER these new parents want.

 

[Frwinkley]

Our son called us, but it was a schedule C-section, so no surprise. He and our DIL wouldn't give us any details other than everyone was doing fine. No idea the gender or the name until we went to the hospital to meet our Granddaughter.

That’s exactly what I think will happen in our situation as well.

 

[princesscinderella]

You will have to update us when the baby arrives if it’s a boy or a girl!

 

[Colleen27]

When my older two were born, DH called both sets of grandparents while I was in the shower getting human again. When my youngest was born my mom was at the hospital with us, since it was a scheduled induction, and we called MIL immediately afterward.

I only have one grandchild so far and my bonus daughter was in the ICU with covid and developed serious complications that led to them delivering the baby 9 weeks premature. So I found out when her mom called me in tears, worried that one or both of the girls wouldn't make it. Fortunately the story has a happy ending - baby is 18 months, healthy and hitting all her milestones, and we're starting to talk about when I should plan her first Disney trip - but I hope the announcements of any future grandkids' births are rather less eventful.

 

[BayouQueen]

As another poster mentioned, the important thing is to be kept informed as to health of mother and baby. Since the C-section is scheduled, you can say prayers or send good vibes or whatever when the time is near.

With their first baby, our DS and DDIL wanted their delivery to be private time for them. They didn’t tell anyone when they went to the hospital. Afterwards, they realized that wasn’t a great idea. Live and learn.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

As another poster mentioned, the important thing is to be kept informed as to health of mother and baby. Since the C-section is scheduled, you can say prayers or send good vibes or whatever when the time is near.

With their first baby, our DS and DDIL wanted their delivery to be private time for them. They didn’t tell anyone when they went to the hospital. Afterwards, they realized that wasn’t a great idea. Live and learn.

I’m curious, why wasn’t that a good idea? That’s how we did it when our kids were born and I don’t have any regrets.

 

[BayouQueen]

I’m curious, why wasn’t that a good idea? That’s how we did it when our kids were born and I don’t have any regrets.

It was a difficult labor and sweet baby had health issues. It caught everyone off guard and they wished they had gone in with everyone already onboard for moral support and for other backup that was needed. I’m glad you had a good experience, Tipsy Traveler. Life throws curve balls sometimes.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

It was a difficult labor and sweet baby had health issues. It caught everyone off guard and they wished they had gone in with everyone already onboard for moral support and for other backup that was needed. I’m glad you had a good experience, Tipsy Traveler. Life throws curve balls sometimes.

No, lol, my first labor and delivery was horribly traumatic, actually, but notifying people that I was in labor wouldn’t have changed that. You said “live and learn” like they had made some obvious mistake and I couldn’t figure out how it would matter one way or the other, that’s why I asked.