I’m a Grandma!
My Lily gave birth to Amelia Ray Davidson via C-section in George, South Africa on 7/7/2023 at 11:30am. Both mother and baby are well. Amelia weighed in at a healthy 3.625 kgs / 7.9 lbs. and she is 51cm / 20.0787 inches in length. She is sheer perfection and absolutely beautiful.
Lily was a trooper I am so proud of her she did such a brilliant job. Today she is a bit sore but that is to be expected.
I arrived in George last Sunday. I booked my flight in a panic once we had confirmation of the birth date. Lily had her last scan and the OB told her that the baby was still breech and would need to come via Caesarean and the date needed to be near her actual due date so she requested Friday the 7th as it is her Father’s 70th birthday. The 7th day of the 7th month. It was also a special year in numerology, so this year is a Triple 7 year, an Angel Year.
It was also a crazy storm the night before she was born, like our ancestors were welcoming her into the world. Today we had hail and thunder!
Fortuitous!
I booked the flight in such a hurry I did not do my usual spreadsheets of comparisons, I just booked the 1st link that came up.
Norm drove me to the airport.
However when I arrived at the desk to check my bag, I was told I had not actually paid for a seat, just the flight. The dodgy airline had booked a 1st class seat for me and paid for the flight but did not pay the airline for the seat, even though they charged me for it. As the flight was fully booked I had to pay again for the same 1st class seat I had already paid for.
I realised exactly what had happened from a technical system point of view. My relationship was with the website, not the airline’s fault I was an idiot. So as I understood it, I stayed completely calm. I just paid for the seat and thanked the agent.
I got on the plane and that is what matters.
Next issue was my incredibly heavy carry on (thankfully they did not weigh it due to the seat kerfuffle). I batted my eyelashes and put on a southern accent so thick my breath probably smelt of mint juleps and asked the man across the aisle to please put my case in the overhead storage area. I did not want a hostess to do so or she would have realised it was overweight and chucked it in the hold. Or whatever the place is called where they send naughty bags.
Then when we landed in the tiny George airport, they rolled up a flimsy metal staircase to the plane exit door and expected us to traipse down this like a flipping mountain goat. I managed by sort of throwing my bag down each step and as I was in the front row everyone on the plane had to wait for me. Except for the guy who had helped me, he legged it quickly as he did not want me to ask him to carry it all the way down the stairs because it was so heavy.
When we got to the bottom I shouted to the staff, ‘well that sort of welcome was just rude!!’ I think they thought I was some serious American stroppy madame but I was giggling inside. I was also sweating like a lady of the evening in church from the exertion.
Once my bag finally arrived in the baggage hall I tried to message Lily and Josh but I had no data. I tried to ring but nope no airtime. I got onto the George airport Wi-Fi but there was no internet so I could not get online for me to top up my phone. I did not know how to get hold of anyone. Lily and Josh had parked outside the airport because parking is so expensive so they had told me to message when I arrived. But obviously I could not do so. I thought they would phone if they saw the messages were not coming through. Nope. Eventually about an hour after I landed they drove in and came to find me, just as I was about to start sobbing hysterically.
My friend Annette was down in George this week too and on Tuesday she and her lovely Mum came to collect me and we went out for a late lunch at The Deacon House. Annette had the fish cakes with salad and I had a chicken mayo, bacon and halloumi wrap with fries. It was all tasty and they had a gorgeous fire so we were happy to chat for ages.
Annette dropped me back at Lily and we realised we did not snap a pic so we did so in the drive!
Then on Wednesday I had a Facebook memory pop up to remind me it was mine and Norman’s anniversary! We have now been married for 26 years! That is just amazing is it not?
He messaged me later that day and sent pics of the presents he had bought for me. Both were complete surprises but both were things which I needed. I needed a basket to hold all of my yoga mats and my yoga cushion and we have been looking for a bench to go by the pool. He will put a nice seal on the bench and it is the exact size we need. He is such a sweetheart. I have no idea what I did to deserve him.
We had a quiet week and superwoman Lily insisted on cooking dinner every night with me assisting where I could. She made a roast chicken with roast potatoes, broccoli and carrots. She made Mexican style mince burritos and spag bol. She is an amazing cook! Josh is a lucky man.
On Friday morning Lily and Josh had to go into the hospital for 6am. I worked until Josh came back to get me once Lily was scheduled for the operating theatre. There were 18 babies born at the hospital that day! There were so many moms that Lily was put into the surgical ward until after she left the recovery room, then they brought her to the maternity ward. It was so warm in there! Perfect for little Amelia. When the nurse needed to change Lily’s bedding and bandages I got to hold Amelia.
She was fussy at first so I made the ‘Om‘ sound deep in my chest and she fell straight to sleep. She would fuss, I would omm and she would nod off. She is just so beautiful and I could stare at her forever.
They tested Amelia’s blood last night and discovered she is jaundiced so she is having to stay in a little cot with UV lights shining on her. That means that Lily cannot hold her except when she is feeding so she is a bit sad about that but it is for Amelia’s health so she is coping well.
Amelia is the 4th living generation of our matriarchal Cherokee lineage. I have decided she is going to call me Elisi which is Cherokee for Grandmother. I have seen it spelled a few different ways, but this is so close to my own name it will hopefully be easy eventually. At first will probably be just the ‘Leesee’ part but that is fine too! I am just going to be happy to get to see her.
My son Trevor collected me for a very late lunch but first we popped in to buy Lily a few more nighties because it is so hot in the ward her PJs are too hot. We then went to Nina’s Café.
We both ordered the chicken schnitzel and chips. It came with an amazing sauce of creamy mushrooms, plum tomato and feta sauce, chips and creamed spinach. This was divine! I give it a solid 5 Kitten Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ as it could not have been improved upon. Now I know why my kids say they always have the same thing.
After lunch we popped into the hospital to see our girls. I am trying to give Lily space to find her own way, while simultaneously being on the sidelines ready to jump in if needed. I do not want to overwhelm her.
I hope you all have a brilliant weekend and week ahead.
Kisses from the Kitten xoxoxoxxo
Kitten in the City 