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Eileen "Leenie" Cabrezi (Vanessa Redgrave) is a middle-aged mother of 3 teen daughters and happily married to fireman Joe (Joseph Campanella). As her children got older, she went back to college and became a teacher. As she is struggling to cope with the recent death of her beloved mother, she feels certain she is pregnant.

Her brother-in-law, a physician, refers her to Dr. Berensen (James Naughton). Berensen assumes, due to her age and recent bereavement, that Leenie's just a head case. He quickly dismisses her as not pregnant, prescribes some medication and hurries her out the door.

Devastated that she is not pregnant with the child she very much wanted and still grieving her mother, Leenie spends the summer feeling sick, tired and depressed and growing withdrawn from her loving husband and family. She's also frequently popping the pills doctors and family members have pushed at her, none of which are making her feel better.

During x-rays following a minor car accident, doctors realize that she actually has been pregnant all along. A new gynecologist breaks the news that the medications she's been ingesting, combined with her radiation exposure during the x-rays, leave very little chance that her baby will be born without serious birth defects, if it even lives.

The rest of the film shows Leenie's anguish over the decision either to have the baby or to get an abortion. As strong Catholics, she and most of her family don't believe in abortion, but Leenie also can't bear the idea of the child she already loves suffering. Redgrave is beautiful, vulnerable and heartbreaking as she plays these emotional scenes.

This made-for-TV movie certainly has its corny and melodramatic moments and there are some aspects that seem dated, but there are enough laughs and enough good acting to make up for it.

Anna Kramer (Colleen Dewhurst), a busy 46-year-old homemaker, has a lot on her plate: planning a trip to Vienna with her husband (Warren Oates), finding out that her middle child (Al Corley) has been kicked out of college and is living with a girlfriend she's never met, trying to keep the peace between him and her husband, dealing with her critical mother, and more. In the midst of all this, she's feeling "weird." A pharmacist gives her a wink when she describes her symptoms and a visit to her doctor confirms her suspicion that she is pregnant.

Something of a family crisis ensues after this news spreads. Anna's dumbfounded best friend (Allyn Ann McLerie) is no help. Her husband Michael states unequivocally that he does not want another child and instructs her to have an abortion. Sharing his opinion is their oldest child, Elizabeth (Maggie Cooper). Elizabeth and her doctor husband pressure Anna, claiming health concerns, as does Anna's mother Serena (Mildred Dunnock). Her older son is supportive, but admits he thinks having the baby is a crazy thing to do. Timothy Hutton (as younger son Jason) is Dewhurst's only equal in this movie, and his character is the only one who seems to care about his mother's feelings.

When Anna gets past the initial shock and has a chance to think about what SHE wants to do, she finds she is inclined to have the baby. She is able to see the baby on ultrasound (fairly newfangled when this movie was made) and after that, she is sure she can't possibly have an abortion. Michael, who is ready to have all the kids out of the house and his wife to himself, gives Anna the ultimatum of the baby or him. Not wanting to see her marriage end, she decides to get away by herself to think and doesn't tell anyone where she's going. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as the cliche goes, and this holds true for Anna's family members, who see the error of their ways during her little hiatus.

Will they find her? Will she come home? Will she forgive them? Aaaahhhh!! The suspense!! Not really. It is pretty obvious that this movie is destined leave viewers with a warm, fuzzy feeling when it's over. But, that's OK. At least this is a show that isn't trying to be any more than what it is.

Anna, who's the kind of mom everybody wants, is smitten with her husband (even if Oates does portray him as largely an insensitive jerk) and crazy about her kids. She's also the kind of gal who appears to get her own way most of the time. In spite of this, she's a highly likeable character, Ms. Dewhurst plays her with great sensitivity and depth, and there's enough humor in the script to offset some of the trite and hopelessly sappy parts. The film raises some interesting issues and the characters rise above the usual cardboard cutouts on TV. A young Timothy Hutton definitely deserves an honorable mention as the kindhearted but somewhat offbeat youngest kid in the family.

Anna Kramer, the "heroine" from And Baby Makes Six, a quirky housewife with a penchant for quoting literature, returns in Baby Comes Home and is again portrayed with depth by Colleen Dewhurst. Warren Oates also returns as Anna's classical music-loving husband, Michael, as does Mildred Dunnock as Anna's prickly mother. The rest of the major characters are portrayed by different actors in this film, an irritation in and of itself.

In And Baby Makes Six, the primary focus was Anna fighting tooth and nail, over the objections of her family, to have her menopause baby. Now she is dealing with the upheaval of having the new baby at age 47 and wondering if she has taken on more than she can handle. Many sequels are not as good as the original and this tv-movie is no exception. And Baby Makes Six, which came out the year before, had its flaws, but is a couple of levels above Baby Comes Home. Baby Comes Home picks up on the way to the hospital to have the baby, which is a bit before where the first film ended.

Now that she has the much-anticipated baby Sarah, the formerly self-assured Anna, though very happy at first, becomes increasingly concerned about her looks and aging. She is too embarassed to have sex with her husband and he does not help matters by giving her a membership to a health club. Before long, she cannot even bring herself to leave the house.

Her husband, mother, best friend and three older children do what they can to try to snap her out of her funk, but have little effect. Besides, her family members are all dealing with their own issues. Jason, her 17 year old younger son, an aspiring filmmaker, is beside himself about his SAT scores. So is his best friend, a key player later on. Serena, Anna's mother, who has always been critical of Anna's choice to stay home instead of having a career, does not like getting older any better than her daughter.

Michael is feeling neglected and he probably is. However, he tells an employee that Anna is obsessed with the baby and putting her ahead of him. We see no evidence of this, unless you count Anna interrupting a smooching session with him to go feed the crying baby. Really she is neglecting everyone but the baby, including herself, because of her depression. Eventually, a crisis arises and Anna has to decide to either snap out of her malaise or give in completely.

Both this movie and its predecessor were intended as pilots for a series, though the original aired on NBC and this one was on CBS. Having different actors playing Anna and Michael's three older children and Anna's OBGyn is a bit of a distraction, but can be overlooked. The fact that Shelley List scripted both films lends itself to a welcome continuity.

What Baby Comes Home lacks that And Baby Makes Six had in spades is humor. There are a few laughs, but a better sense of fun would have helped this movie. Where And Baby Makes Six tended at times to lapse into dialogue that Anna Kramer would call "maudlin and soppy," Baby Comes Home spends a lot of time wallowing in the corny and melodramatic, particularly in the delivery room scene, which we were blessedly spared in the first film, as well as in the "turning point" scene.

One thing I prefer about this sequel in comparison with its predecessor is Warren Oates's much more sympathetic portrayal of Michael Kramer. His voice and behavior were gratingly harsh in And Baby Makes Six. Fortunately, he has toned it down here and you can identify with how he is feeling. The actors portraying Elizabeth, Franklin and Jason, the older kids, are pretty flat compared to the ones from the first movie. I particularly missed Timothy Hutton, much more compelling as Jason than Christopher Marcantel.

Mildred Dunnock is good fun as Anna's mom, who does not seem to know how to show her daughter she cares. One cannot say enough nice things about Colleen Dewhurst, who is always delightful. She is clearly raising the level of the entire production with her abilities. A large and imposing figure even in her bare feet and towering close to 6' in heels, it is hard to imagine she could feel insecure.

These are good, interesting characters, but they needed some better things to say and do. I basically enjoyed this film, but I had a sugar high when it was over.