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"The
Aug 06 mums have been my glue"
Jeni Goodhand says that the friendships she has made through
her babyworld antenatal club have been better than those she made in real
life! Here she describes the first time the club got together after a
year-long cyber friendship.
The date was set for one of the biggest gatherings of a babyworld antenatal
club. A crowd - 40 strong - of mums, babies, siblings and partners met
at the Marina pub in Hinkley, Leicestershire to celebrate our little ones
first birthdays.
We had a really fabulous day with lunch, a birthday cake and even a
"secret birthday fairy" present swap. All the babies got on really well
and it was wonderful for us mums to finally meet each other after sharing
so much over the past year plus.
"It
really was a truly wonderful celebration of our babies first year and
the friendships that we've made through babyworld"
I
organised the event from pre-ordering food with the pub and arranging
decorations/party hats etc and Emma Parsons made a really delicious birthday
cake. It was a two tier cake with a layer of chocolate sponge and a layer
of vanilla sponge. She'd gone to so much effort and had piped the names
of all the babies that made it to the party on it. As a treat Kerry Westworth
held a collection and the following day Emma was surprised by a basket
of flowers, wine and chocolates to say thank you.
It really was a truly wonderful celebration of our babies first year
and the friendships that we've made through babyworld.
What made it so special was that it was a fairly impromptu gathering,
it started with three or four of us meeting for lunch, that grew and grew
and grew into a big party. People travelled from Essex, Brighton, Wales,
up north. Some even stayed in a hotel the night before to make sure they
didn't miss a thing. One of our members, Clairegorrie got stuck on the
motorway behind a nasty accident and didn't arrive until the end of the
party - she had travelled from Watford with three kiddies in the car and
she was 38 weeks pregnant!
About our antental club
In the August 06 forum there were about 80-100 mums to start with. There
is now a core of 25-30 who have become very close.
"The
Aug 06 mums have been my glue…."
I
(that's me pictured left with my baby son Oscar)only found BW because
a friend of mine told me about it when I was pregnant. I wasn't looking
for a forum or anything like that… had never even used a chat site before!
But, I figured I'd give it a go as I was very anxious about my pregnancy
being a brittle diabetic. Straight away I found support and friendship
from the most wonderful group of women I've ever met.
Over the last 18 months or so I have made better friends through BW than
I ever have in real life. We can talk about absolutely anything, no vitos
and you know that you are always going to get support and honesty. We've
had a couple of spats in the group but that's to be expected with so many
hormonal women in one place…. But we've always made up in the end and
carried on.
Our antenatal moderator, Grania, was so supportive and always had a
helpful word to reassure you. Having Grania to offer comfort and support
was fantastic.
"I
get so much from being part of it… BW Aug 06 forum has become a HUGE part
of my life and without it I would have crumbled many times over "
BW Aug 06 antenatal club has become a HUGE part of my life and without
it I would have crumbled many times over. My son had a serious congenital
heart defect when he was born and had to have open heart surgery when
he was just 6 days old, I didn't even see him until he was 4 days old.
Because of that I've had PND and PTSD and have felt pretty hellish for
a long while. The Aug 06 mums have been my glue, held me together when
I've been falling apart, sent me emails/text messages/posts of support
and even sponsored me to help raise money for the charity that helped
to save Oscar's life. I'd go as far as to say that we are one big family.
The Aug 06 forum has shared some terrible heartache too… many miscarriages
and sadly, two still births very close together at full term. As individuals
we were all gutted but as a group we pulled together and between us we
named stars after the babies that were born sleeping. I know the mums
were touched by this.
Now, as we approach the first birthdays, and sadly the anniversaries
of the deaths, we are once again pulling together to help each other through
hugely emotional times.
Where to next?
Let's
get together! Join a BW antenatal club and you never know where
it migh take you as these women found out!
"The
Aug 06 mums have been my glue" 
I
organised the event from pre-ordering food with the pub and arranging
decorations/party hats etc and Emma Parsons made a really delicious birthday
cake. It was a two tier cake with a layer of chocolate sponge and a layer
of vanilla sponge. She'd gone to so much effort and had piped the names
of all the babies that made it to the party on it. As a treat Kerry Westworth
held a collection and the following day Emma was surprised by a basket
of flowers, wine and chocolates to say thank you.
I
(that's me pictured left with my baby son Oscar)only found BW because
a friend of mine told me about it when I was pregnant. I wasn't looking
for a forum or anything like that… had never even used a chat site before!
But, I figured I'd give it a go as I was very anxious about my pregnancy
being a brittle diabetic. Straight away I found support and friendship
from the most wonderful group of women I've ever met. 
