The whimsy and wonder of motherhood multiply when your mom becomes a grandma. It happens in an instant, leaving you both forever changed.
My induction date was set, and I began to prepare to bring my first son into the world. I knew I was having a boy. I knew I would be induced on December 11th, and I knew I had a pretty high pain tolerance. I had not gone to any labor and delivery classes, so beyond that, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I also knew I wanted to be alone with my husband, the nurses, and my doctor. I did not want a waiting room full of people anticipating his arrival for hours and hours. I was ready to take it on with just my husband and announce the baby’s arrival once he was here. My mom and mother-in-law quickly let us know that was not going to work for them. I was okay with their desire to meet their grandbaby and told them I would call them when it was time.
As the evening progressed, and so did I, my mom kept checking in. When I was eight centimeters, she decided enough was enough, and she and my mother-in-law came to the hospital together. They waited patiently in the waiting room and stayed appropriately out of my space. After several more hours of adjustments and pushing, my baby boy arrived, and my mother was welcomed into the room to meet him. She beamed with pride for both him and me, and I reciprocated her joy as I soaked up her first moments as a grandma to my son.
The moment I became a mother is something I knew I would never forget, but I was shocked by the significance of the moment my mom became a grandma to my son. I immediately saw her in a new and brighter light. Her consistent and unwavering love for me became even more apparent as she loved on me as her daughter and a new mother.
I was a pretty independent new mother and managed most of the aspects of the new-mom world with a positive outlook. However, when I needed a hand, my mom was there. When I mentioned that he was too tiny for all of his sleepers, I received a call an hour later to tell me there were appropriately sized new sleepers on my porch. When my son did not sleep for months, she accepted my daily phone calls to discuss all the methods I tried to get that child to stay asleep in his bed while I snuck out of his room in a strategic ninja-like fashion. She gave him his first Christmas gift, ordered him his personalized Easter basket, and helped plan his first birthday party. We stayed at her house when my husband traveled, and she fed him in the middle of the night while I blissfully received my first stretch of sleep in months. While I was fully expecting to take on this mother role by myself, I didn’t have to. When I became a mother, my mom became a grandmother and she continued to show her gift for unconditional love and the desire to care for her loved ones.
While nothing can replicate the moment of becoming a mother, my mom showed me that becoming a grandma would be as close as it comes. She beamed with her pride for her grandson and me. She stepped up in ways I did not even know I needed. As I became a mom,
my mom became even more special to me. Motherhood is great, and as far as my mom demonstrated, being a grandmother will be pretty special, too.
