I'm A Grandma!!

Here's our little Charlotte Harper with her Daddy! She's so precious. Charlotte was born at 6:26 p.m. on Sunday, April 19th. She weighed in at 9 lbs. 5 oz., was 20 1/2 inches long and has lots and lots of black hair. I'm pretty sure she'll have dark eyes as both her parents do. It was a long day for Mandy and Jim. But the results was worth every minute of it.

Jim called me on Saturday afternoon and told me what was happening. I packed a bag and took off for Barbie's. She was in Nebraska at a gymnastic tournament but coming home that evening. I got into Barb's about 10:15 and waited for her to get home. After a little conversation we decided the best plan was to get to bed. I'm still having some problems with my left knee and leg but made it up the stairs and into bed! We got up around 9 (I love sleeping in). We picked up a CD that Mandy wanted, grabbed some breakfast and headed for the hospital. Half of Mandy's family was already there so we visited with them for a bit. Barb and I finally went to the maternity desk, got our visitors pass and went to visit the prospective parents. Mandy's Mom had come in that morning and was with them. Mandy was going okay. They had had a long night! We were in and out all day. As a group went to lunch together. For me it was a long walk, but they fed me when we got to our destination!! It was a long afternoon but at 6:26 p.m. Jackie came out and said 'She's here!" and gave us the particulars! What a wonderful event to experience (I'm not sure Mandy would agree with the whole thing being wonderful, but she did a fantastic job and gave me a precious granddaughter!

It's like having your second baby. When I was pregnant with Jimmy I had doubts about being able to love another child as much as I loved Barbie. When he came into this world I couldn't believe the fantastic feeling of love that I had for this little creature that I had just birthed. Having a grandchild isn't much different. Only I didn't have to go through the whole process -- it was Mandy's turn. I'm in love all over again. I got to hold her for a bit and have my picture taken with her a number of times. These are some of them, Barb has more, so do Jim & Mandy, Jackie, Linda and Misty! Charlotte already has a fan club!!

I stayed at Barb's Sunday night and come home early Monday morning. Now that I have a granddaughter I need to focus on getting my knee and leg in order. I'm on pain pills, that really don't seem to do much for me. I told Barb last night my leg had a fever!! I've been using ice as much as possible and doing some exercises to help strengthen my leg and knee. We shall see what happens next. I'm tired of complaining about it, missing work because I just can't walk and being in pain. We have our baby now so . . . guess I'll get this fixed!!

I'm scheduled to be in Des Monies again on Thursday so planning on going down Wednesday and staying with Barb and paying a visit to my new granddaughter. I talked to Jim late this afternoon. He still sounded tired and said they didn't get the greatest night's sleep but will be working on a schedule. All are doing well. There were some questions about Charlotte's blood sugar and Mandy's blood pressure, but looks like all have been okay. God Bless our newest family!!

I'm a very proud grandmother and can't wait to go and see them very soon.