Memories

Sarah at the Grenglish blog wrote a beautiful post about the memories she would buy. If buying memories were possible. You can read the post here.

She has created a linky for others to get involved and share their posts on the memories they would buy. I totally fell in love with this notion and was eager to get involved. It's not often I actually sit down and really think about the beautiful moments I have shared with my loved ones. This linky has provided the perfect opportunity to do just that.

First of all I would hands down buy the memories of when all three of my children were born. There are times I wish these moments were filmed so I could track every step of the process. From those first twinges, to the super quick births I would give almost anything to see my facial expressions and analyse how well, or not so well I handled labor and delivery. Yes, you get told you were amazing by the midwives and your birthing partner, but to really be able to see everything for myself would have been phenomenal.

Another memory I would buy, would be when the OH and I went to Dunn's river falls in Jamaica. The whole holiday was wonderful, and getting to visit family and taste the real JA was priceless. One of the highlights of the trip was most definitely going to the falls. Climbing the rocks from top to bottom was exhilarating. I particularly loved my achy limbs the next day. A fabulous experience and a workout all at once.

Another awesome memory was when my parents, siblings, nephew and I went to Barbados, together, for the first time. It was 2004 and I had been through one of the most harrowing experiences of my life. But going to that gorgeous island and meeting my beautiful grandmother for the first time did a lot to heal my soul and strengthen me.

I would without a doubt buy the memory of the OH's proposal along the Thames at Tower Bridge at dusk. It was so romantic and he completely caught me off guard. I would love to relive that moment in slow motion.

As giving birth to my son was the most recent of my labour experiences, that memory shines brightly, so I have to share. It's nice to be able to write it all down too (I must do the same for the birth of my daughter's at some point).

I vividly recall being in triage at the early stages. I had been feeling dull period like pains on and off for at least a week. But this day felt different as there was more of a rhythm to the tightenings. We were living in Leeds at the time and luckily the OH's mum had come up to stay with us as I had a sneaky suspicion this bubba would come early and quickly, just as his big sisters had. Mum is always right.

So on the 15 June, just under two weeks before my due date the tightenings niggled away at me all morning and afternoon. When the OH came home from work I told him we'd better head out to the hospital, as things felt different. I was secretly terrified of leaving things too late like I did with the girls. With both of them, I contracted heavily in the car on the way to the hospital and the whole journey consisted of yelling, screaming, writhing and feeling completely out of control. Awful.

This experience was very different. As we made our way to the hospital the period like pains continued and were completely bearable although difficult to ignore. I chatted away to OH, and even worried that it might be a false alarm and we'd get sent home. That's how at ease I was.

We got to triage and signed in. It was all very pleasant and relaxed as we waited for a bed to become available. There was another lady who seemed to be in established labour because she was groaning and rocking back and forth on her chair. My back was achy and the twinges were there, but I still felt Ok.

After about 40 mins we were given a bed and shortly after I was examined. The midwife said I was 1-2cm dilated. Sorry what? I couldn't believe it. She was about to send me home with some painkillers, but when I explained to her about the continuous tightenings and the fact that my previous labours had been so quick and I was scared of a repeat performance, she agreed to let me stay a bit longer for monitoring. Thank God she did, otherwise my story would have been very different.

So 15 mins after my examination the contractions started to pick up pace and become a bit more painful but still manageable. I was offered gas and air, and almost felt like a fraud for accepting it, because the pain wasn't out of control, but I wasn't really that comfortable, so I thought why not? I do love the stuff after all. So there I was puffing away on the gas and air and getting really giggly (did I mention I love the stuff?) when suddenly I felt a trickle. I alerted the midwife still grinning from ear to ear, she had a look and told me it was my waters, I wondered why it had a green tinge and she told me it was meconium. As I went to get up, more water trickled. This was it. I was quickly wheeled off to the delivery suite as the contractions began crashing in one after the other and the grimacing began.

Up until that point the midwives on triage didn't believe I could possibly be in labour because I was laughing and joking soooo much. Twenty minutes after being carted off to delivery suite, lots of groaning and whimpering, waters gushing and two pushes later our precious son was born. It was 10.30 on a summers night. I remember looking out of the delivery suite window and seeing the pinks, greys and blues of a beautiful sunset. Breathtaking and priceless.

On the flip side of all this magical loveliness I'd happily forget the pregnancy part. They were certainly not my best moments, although the creation of my children was and always will be nothing short of amazing.

So there you have it. Some of the memories I would buy. There are plenty more I could add and I know there are plenty more still to come. Life is such a wonderful gift isn't it? It is all too easy to forget, until you remember precious moments.

If you would like to join in with the linky. Just pop on over to the Grenglish blog.