to see to term, the life I carried within my womb...
Sex, procreation and bringing forth life from ones own body is... simply, extraordinary.
The Miracle of Birth is a marvelous documentary hosted by Dr Robert Winston, a most unassuming 'nerdy' type professor, who will always remain memorable to me, especially after showing a sample of his own semen under magnification, his sperm swimming madly about, with words that went something like, "..and there's approximately sixty million of them... and I'm nothing special..."
This brilliant episode is from a series of documentaries, made by the BBC entitled, Intimate Universe. It's a fascinating, up close and personal depiction of life, via the human body from conception through to old age and death. The Miracle of Birth follows a British couple Jeff and Pippa, their nine month pregnancy through to the birth of their child. It also includes the amazing use of time lapse photography to show that nine months in mere minutes and the extraordinary changes to her nude body. It talks about the marvel of conception, how the human body becomes sexually aroused and how it prepares for pregnancy. How and why pregnancy can be a 'hit and miss' and actually quite difficult for some couples to achieve. It shows in vivid color the growth of a baby from mere cells to a living, breathing, independent life outside it's mother's womb, and it really is nothing short of a... miracle.
I was so impressed with it, that I bought the documentaries in New Zealand, after following the series on TV, but unfortunately they don't work here in the States. They remain my favorite series for the beauty and honest captivating portrayal of life, death and the human body.
I was pleased to notice, after we'd moved to America, that it was coming on TV and made a point of staying up to watch it... Imagine my bewilderment when 'spots' kept appearing over everything. I truly thought there was something wrong with my television set and was most indignant about missing the show, so went in search of husband to 'fix it!...
He came in and stood there for a few moments, watched, then snorted a laugh...
"What's so funny?" I grumbled..."please do something, I'm missing it..."
Now he really laughed... but promptly stopped when he got a load of the storm cloud brewing over my head...
"Welcome to America my love, where you'll never have to deal with anything as nasty and natural as a baby sucking from it's Mother's breast, or have to look at someones genitals in an educational documentary about childbirth..."
He stopped when I still looked back at him blankly...
"I beg your pardon!?!"
What was immediately as clear as glass to him, was about as clear as mud to me. Completely unfathomable...
He finally took pity on me...
"There's nothing wrong with the TV. The spots are there to protect people from viewing something as unsightly as childbirth..."
And knowing me rather well, as I am a rather passionate woman, about everything it seems... He prepared for the unleashing of my storm...
"Excuse me!?! Are you really telling me that when people sit down in the privacy of their own homes to watch an informative documentary about childbirth....that what??? They have to guess which part of her it's actually coming out of??? Because all her...bits...are covered with spots???"
He grinned, but didn't reply, merely settled himself comfortably, after switching off the telly to watch me 'entertain him' with my indignant wrath... He knew I was barely getting warmed up after all... He reached for my wine...
And away I went...
"I can just imagine some poor idiot who's knocked up his girlfriend, watching this poppycock and trying to figure out if the babe is coming out the intake or the exhaust!"
He roared, choked and sprayed wine... served him right for pinching my glass!
I glared at him, daring him to make a comment... He pretended to take great interest in mopping up the mess he'd made, while peering surreptitiously at me over his reading glasses...
"How ridiculous!" I continued, "I was watching an episode of those plastic surgeon Doctors...ohhh, you know the one! And the good looking one, the big one who goes around dipping his wick in anything that moves, -I mean seriously... you SEE e-ver-y-thing!"
"Yes dear...ahh, but that's cab..."
But I was getting into my groove now...
"Would it be too much of a shock to ones, American sensibilities do you think?? Makes you wonder how the hell anyone gets pregnant in the first place!?!"
"You're an American now" he reminded me, "Married to an American and you've given birth to an American..."
I ignored him...
He was leaning back in his chair now, eyes sparkling with mirth, that smirk of a smile still playing on his face... Hidden slightly by his cupped hand over his chin and lips...
"And don't even get me started about women and breast feeding in this country. Good God man! You'd never know that half the population has tits! Except when they're on show as... as man candy! Remember when we were out the other day when it was over 100F and we saw that woman cover her babes head with a blanket...a blanket!! While she breast fed... unbelievable! How the poor kid didn't die of heat exhaustion is beyond me!"
He's a very smart man my husband... he let me rant and rave until I started to run down... then said, "Come here..." just quiet like...
I tried to glare at him... "Why?"
"You know why..."
"So... have you finished your little tirade against Americans or was it just idiots in general?"
I sighed dramatically...
"Don't even get me started on all the poor kids fighting and dying overseas for this country that aren't even acknowledged in the news or on TV" I said
"So... should we go back and live in New Zealand then?"
But that wasn't the answer either. I understood that. Nowhere was perfect...
"No... but I want our son to learn more tolerance..."
He laughed at me! Again! Bloody cheek of it!
Eventually he managed to drawl...
"Hmmmmm.... Good idea" as I finally began to notice that he'd all but undressed me on his lap...
"What are you doing? We can't...do that here??"
He laughed again.... He certainly was in good humor!
"Why not?" he said...
"You'd be surprised what people do in the privacy of their own homes..."
Hee hee! I really enjoyed this one & you are so right on, as usual you pick up on the stuff that most of us let slip by, noticed but unremarked! I think we're so used to big brother that we forget to complain!
ReplyDeleteIt was a fantastic series, I too watched it avidly in the UK, if you thought you knew what was what before it blew you away!
Thanx Pearl, it's always fun to find fault with The USA, as they often seem to feel they have it 'all sewn up'!