Saturday, January 28, 2017

Welcome to the world, baby girl!

I'm delighted to announce to the Table that we are the proud new grandparents of a beautiful baby girl! Our youngest daughter Vered gave birth late Thursday night (or rather, early Friday morning) in Jerusalem, with her husband Pini by her side.

We  drove up to Jerusalem on Friday midday in a terrible storm, but there's no weather that can prevent us from seeing a new grandchild! And we enjoyed the unique pleasure of holding a new grandchild in our arms.

I'm still getting my head round the fact that my baby has had a baby! 😃
Here is the princess in all her glory  Blonde Princess Crown Smiley Face, Emoticon (weighing in at 3.6 kg, about 8lbs).


Contractions started last Sunday (!) and they were in and out of hospital from then until Thursday afternoon. From the moment Vered told me she'd started I hardly slept a wink. You can see I'm struggling to keep my eyes open in that photo!

In the end labour was straightforward thank G-d, and Vered is making a good recovery. 

And of course the baby is beautiful. They will be moving in with us for a couple of weeks until they get the hang of looking after a baby. I know I'm going to have a hard time letting them go home afterwards!

Interestingly the new baby (still nameless) was born on the 1st birthday of our last granddaughter! So now the two cousins can have a shared party and fight over the presents! 😃

Coincidentally – or maybe there is no such thing as coincidence – the baby (and her cousin) – was born on International Holocaust Memorial Day.  What better way to deny victory to the Nazis who wished to destroy us than by producing more Jewish babies, especially when they live in the Land of Israel.

May this birth mark the beginning of lots more good things for all the comrades here. Mazal tov!


24 comments:

  1. Mazel Tov Anne! What wonderful news. She is beautiful, thank you for sharing your joy with us. We are joyful for you and your (ever expanding) family.

    Hugs and kisses from Canada to the one without a name (yet!).

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  2. What a joy, Annie. And this:
    "What better way to deny victory to the Nazis who wished to destroy us than by producing more Jewish babies, especially when they live in the Land of Israel."

    Amen. And Mazel Tov to you and all your family, especially including the one who is not named, yet

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    1. Thanks Dances. I will update here when the baby gets a name, probably next Saturday in the synagogue. Even though they've had 9 months to think of a name, they now have to rethink it... All my kids have done the same, LOL.

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  3. Oh happy day!!! Welcome to the world sweet baby! She's beautiful (and so are you!).

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    1. Aww, I'm blushing Lady Red :D.

      I could hardly keep my eyes open! I forced myself to stay awake all the way home (an hour's drive) because the weather was terrible, high winds, sleet, rain, (yes, even in "sunny" Israel!), and the road down from Jerusalem is steep and curving. I didn't want hubby to fall asleep at the wheel - he had just landed from England - so I kept nattering to him. Probably drove him mad but at least we made it back safely!

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  4. Thank you all for your good wishes.

    We're still on a high here. :) It's been a while since someone had a first baby in our family so we're not used to it. (It's a wonderful feeling). Our eldest daughter's firstborn is 13 already! Our son's eldest is 8 though he has a 15 yr old step-daughter too. Before we look round we'll be great grandparents!!! :))

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  5. Oooohhhh! Baby pictures! There is hope for the world yet!

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    1. Indeed Matt. G-d keeps filling the world with new hope and we (the living) keep using it up.

      May it please G-d that His replenishment continue for many generations to come, fallen though we all remain.

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  6. May G-d watch over you in love and bless you with health.

    Mazel Tov to Vered and Pini, grandma annie too!!

    Beautiful baby, lovely nana.

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  7. The baby was given her name in the synagogue last Saturday (i.e. when she was about a week old). She is called Shaked Mazal. Shaked is pronounced Shah-ked and means Almond. She is named for the almond tree that bursts into blossom in the Hebrew month of Shvat which began the day she was born. (I write a post every year for Tu BiShvat, the birthday of the trees, when the kids sing a song about the Shkedia, the almond tree).

    Mazal means Fortune or Luck, and was the name of our son-in-law's late mother, who died about 7 years ago.

    My brother, bright spark, says the baby's name translates to Lucky Almond, which sounds like a racehorse. :))

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    1. Well, she *is* fortunate to have a song already named after her.

      Congratulations again, annie, I'm so happy for you all - your baby has a baby :-)

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    2. your baby has a baby

      That was the hardest thing for me to get my head around. But the minute the baby was born Vered took to motherhood so naturally. More easily than I did that's for sure! She's so calm and confident, and it's nothing to do with me being around. I can see how she handles the baby, how she doesn't stress out when the baby is crying (and crying and...). And she thinks it's hilariously funny when the baby poops through her 10th outfit of the day... :D

      I think part of her confidence is from her experience working in the maternity department of a Jerusalem hospital during her National Service year. And of course babysitting a dozen or so nieces and nephews...

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    3. And give credit where credit is due, you and Mr. annie raised a wonderful group of kids. You both must be so proud, I can tell that from your words and rightly so.

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  8. A great name for the new one, Annie. Again, my best wishes for all of you, especially for Lucky Almond

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  9. Scrolling through TCKT posts about fear, sorrow and anger. Then this appears. Thank you, Annie, and thank G-d for the joy of a new fresh and innocent life

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    1. Hey Dances, how are you doing? I'm always glad to be able to cheer you up. Baby Shaked indeed is so beautiful and so lovable, she is a blessing in our lives - though there is another story to tell about her. I'll write in a separate comment. And I'll post pictures. :)

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  10. I've been weighing up whether to update about Shaked, and actually I think I'll post on a new thread so that the comrades can find it later. And I'll add those photos too, never fear!

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  11. I just wrote a long long long post about Shaked and it's completely disappeared.

    I give up.

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  12. I was fine until Monday, Annie, when I got notice from my insurance company that they decided at least 2 months after the fact, that they were not going to cover my therapy for the prostate cancer

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    1. Whaaat? They can do that? How can they decide retroactively not to pay? What is a patient supposed to do? Is there an appeals process? OMG, what a mess, I'm so sorry for you.

      Is this a new feature of Obummercare? Or is it something that was always a possibility? I can't get my head round this.

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