Octuplets grandmother: 'I'll have to be there for them'

The rest of the world is still looking sideways at Nadya Suleman, the mother of the nearly month-old octuplets. And her own mother was plenty angry as well saying that her daughter's pregnancy -- on top of the other six children she already had -- was too much.

Well, granny has had a change of heart. And all it took was one look at her eight new grandchildren. "After I saw them, you know, I thought, 'My goodness, these are my grandchildren ... I'll have to be there for them,'" Angela Suleman said in a CBS Early Show interview Monday. More of the interview was slated to run today.

Those babies certainly need someone, that's for sure. But while Angela Suleman calls her daughter "a very good mother" -- "she had a good example," she added -- she does admit that taking care of that many children has taken a toll on her. Her "retirement check goes every month. It's just gone."

Mommas, we know we depend on our own Mommas for care, love and support. But this feels like too much to ask. Angela Suleman is doing the right thing by her grandchildren but she needs to continue to encourage her daughter to get some psychiatric help because these kids won't have a chance with a mom who has not displayed any common sense to this point.

-- Sherry Robinson

[Photo: Associated Press/CBS News]

Another baby -- already? Are you crazy?

A well-meaning relative called recently to wish me happy birthday and to ask if I’d forgotten the pains of labor. What she really wanted to know was if I was ready to get pregnant again. Normally, I would quickly push such insane and inappropriate queries out of my mind. But because she was the third person to pose this question in three days, I allowed myself to ponder the possibility of getting pregnant again just five months after giving birth.

It took me about two seconds to come up with an answer:  Um, no.

My daughter is only five months old. Yes, I still remember labor pains. I’m still nursing and pumping at 4 a.m. even on the blessed occasions when the baby sleeps through the night. I’m just learning to juggle a full-time job with motherhood. I’m tired. I’m tired. I’m tired. And most doctors will tell you to wait at least six months to two years though these moms have a differing opinion. I want my pre-preggers body back. So another baby? Not happening. Not now. I reject the reasoning that it is best to have all members of one’s brood in diapers at the same time.

Admittedly, one look into my daughter’s eyes is all is takes to make me fall in love over and over again and to realize that my husband and I do want more children. We already feel our little girl slipping through our fingers. She’s growing up fast. She’s had her first hairdo. She’s eating cereal and pureed fruit. She’s giggling, teething and making determined screeching sounds. She grabs my hair and necklaces and scoots backwards, a sure sign that crawling is right around the corner. And just this week, we removed the infant carrier from her stroller and let her sit up, big-girl style.

Yes, we want another baby. But right now, we’re satisfied with the one we’ve got. So, bring on the birth control!

-- Sherri Day