What would you do?
Here is a little bit of background:
My baby shower was supposed to happen August 25. I ended up in the hospital from August 8th-20th because my kidneys went all wonky on me. I had kidney surgery on August 10 and again on August 13, then an emergency c-section on August 16- My due date was September 24. Since DD was 6 weeks early she required a 2 week long NICU stay.
I was insanely swollen for weeks because of the kidney issues (I put on 36 lbs over two days in fluid retention) and just felt like absolute hell physically and emotionally, so we decided the best option would be to cancel the baby shower.
Yesterday my neighbor (the shower host) told me she still wanted to have a shower. She said she's getting the new invitations together and she wants to throw a shower in 2 or 3 weeks. I'm sort of torn. As excited as I was about having a shower I don't know if it's appropriate to have one since DD is here and will be almost 2 months old. We bought all of the major things (bedroom set, stroller, car seat, etc) before anyone even offered to throw a shower and I picked up some of the essentials that were on our registry (breast pump, bottles, bathtub, etc) before she came home from the hospital. I guess we can always use clothes and diapers and all and we'd be totally grateful for anything we get. Plus, a few people on the guest list already gave us gifts since she came early and we canceled the shower. I don't want those people to feel obligated to bring another gift but I would love for them to come to the shower to hang out if we go through with the party. I don't know.
I also don't want to seem gift grabby or tacky. I don't know. Do you think a shower is appropriate? Would you still go through with it?
Re: What would you do?
Definitely! The health issues you had are completely a legitimate reason to postpone a shower.
A friend of mine had a shower planned but ended up going into labour two weeks early and they had to postpone. They rescheduled her shower for when the baby was about a month old or so and lots of people still went.
Perhaps if you call it a meet the baby party instead of a shower, everyone can still attend but don't have to bring a gift which would work out for those who already gave you their gift.
I would definitely have the shower- I think given your situation, people would be very understanding, and it would be great to celebrate now that everyone is home and doing better.
Just talk to your pedi about whether it's ok for LO to be around a crowd- you might not want to get peoples' hopes up about visiting with baby if she's not ready for so many visitors- maybe just stick to a shower and bring some pictures to pass around.
Wow...what a situation! Glad it all worked out and your DD is now home.
You can certainly have a shower if you want. What I would do, since many people have already given you a gift (most likely what they would have given you at the shower), is to maybe ask your neighbor to host a "meet the baby party" instead of an actual shower. That way people that already gave you a gift won't feel obligated to do so again (which they would if you called it a shower - at least I would) yet some people may bring gifts. Certainly they would get to see the baby!
I was adopted and the social worker called my parents the day after I was born. My mom had to take I guess, emergency maternity leave, and her coworkers threw together a shower for her/me. I was present at the shower, and everyone got to meet me.
I agree with pp. You could call it a meet the baby party if you are uncomfortable with it being a shower.