I Have A Beautiful New Grandaughter!

Last Updated on: 23rd February 2025, 11:43 am

In late September, I became a grandma again—the job I love doing more than anything (except being a mum). Baby Femke was born in The Netherlands and now Zoë has a baby sister to love and cherish. I never thought I would be a grandma again, I was content giving all of my grandma love to my little Zoë. She is my world. But when Amber announced she was pregnant at the start of the year, we were all so excited. And now I do have a beautiful new grandaughter to shower with love.

One morning in September I woke up to pop to the loo at 4 am. I picked up my phone to check it and it was ringing with a video call. I was so lucky that I woke up because my phone was on silent. So I answered and little did I expect, it was my first video call with baby Femke. Hopefully, the first of many!

I woke Tilly up to see the new baby. I knew she had school in the morning, but I didn’t want her to miss this moment. She came into my room, half asleep, and cherished the moment. I love that Amber shared those first few moments with Femke, with us. My heart melts that although we were in another country, we were part of Femke’s first moments.

Becoming A Family

A grandma’s instinct is to go out to see your grandchild straight away. But I remembered how hard it is to go from having one child to two. And it can take a lot of adapting. I wanted to let them become a family before I came to visit. It is so nice having people to visit in the days of having a baby, but it is different when someone comes to stay.

In the Netherlands, they also have a nurse to come in every day for the whole day after you have a baby. This lasts for about 7 to 10 days after you leave hospital. I guess it’s the benefit of having a system where you pay for health insurance! In England you are lucky if you stay in hospital for 12 hours after you have a baby, Then you are even luckier if the midwife visits you once or twice after you have had a baby.

I got lots of photos and I loved seeing how much in love Zoë was with her baby sister. She was so protective of her, and I know she is going to be the best big sister to my new beautiful grandaughter. I know she is going to look out for her sister, and I know she is going to be so protective. Seeing the bond between them reminds me of the bond Zach had with Beth. After Beth was born, he would sit by her Moses basket and hold her hand for hours. He was only 18 months old at the time.

Visiting Femke, My Beautiful New Grandaughter.

We finally were able to jump on a Flixbus and travel to Antwerp where we then took a train to The Netherlands. It is the cheapest way we find to travel and as we still had days left on our Interrail pass from the summer, the train was free! The FlixBus was £30 for both of us, so when it’s this cheap it’s so easy to travel. When we arrived in The Netherlands at 7 am, we were met by a smiling Zoë, who was so happy to see her Tills again.

When you have a new baby, the older child often feels left out. So you need to shower them with love and gifts. I did this with my older kids when a sibling came along. So we took so many gifts out for Zoe, like grandmas do. In fact, we took too much, but I just left my suitcase where she could see it, and she helped herself to something when she wanted a gift. It was like grandma bought a toy shop for her.

My beautiful new grandaughter, Femke was 3 weeks old when I met her for the first time. She looked so small and fragile. I was too scared to hold her. I forgot how to hold a baby! And I didn’t want to walk around with her because my knees are so bad and painful. (arthritis and inflamed tendons). I was scared of dropping her, she was like a little doll.

She is so different to Zoë as a baby. Zoë liked to be wrapped up and cuddled, whereas Femke likes to stretch out and have her hands free from the swaddling.

Falling In Love With Femke

When Amber was pregnant, my heart was so full of love for Zoë, that it made me worry that there wouldn’t be enough love for 2 kids when my heart was filled with so much love for Zoë. But the moment I held her, in the words of Dr Seuss ‘The Grinches small heart grew three sizes that day‘. There was so much room in my heart for 2 beautiful little Dutch girls.

I cannot wait to get back out there, I cannot wait to see Femke grow into the sassy, beautiful little girl that Zoë is. Femke has been born into the most amazing family, her big sister already watches over her, like big sisters should do.

I am luckier this time because we are not in the middle of a global pandemic and there is nothing to stop me from going over there. With Zoë, I saw her when she was born, then had to get to know her through video call. Then when Boris opened the borders 5 months later, we jumped on one of the first planes. It was surreal.

I am incredibly lucky to have two beautiful grandaughters that I can see whenever we want to go and see them. I am lucky that Zach and Amber have given us 2 perfect little girls to love and cherish. And I am so proud of Zach and Amber for the family they have built.

Having a new grandaughter is the best gift in the world.