A Second Guest Post from Kevin Bampton - BABY……

Like the baby this post is later than planned.

My partner Sally gave birth to our fourth child, Elsa, at 4.33 on 6^th May this year.

As ever the Midwives of Portsmouth excelled themselves with their level of care and understanding. They dealt with Sally and me with care, understanding and respect for our wishes. Sally had very specific ideas for the birth and had birth plans for pretty much any eventuality, from the preferred home birth all the way through to an emergency caesarean section.

As with the previous births we have not been straightforward or ordinary in our approach, but after some initial eyebrow raising, and a bit of pushing and talking to the right people on our part, our ideas were honoured and respected.

99% of the people we dealt with were behind us 100%. Thumbs up for that!

Labour was all over the place during the weekend, with contractions coming and going at random intervals and intensities and, with three other children around, ridiculously exhausting. The decision was made by Sally that she couldn’t continue. She was physically and mentally drained and felt she needed a caesarean section.

We contacted the midwives who immediately agreed for her to go in to Queen Alexandra Hospital.

We dropped our other children off at their grandmother’s house and went on to the hospital.

We found she was in a queue for surgery and had several hours to wait before the doctors could get to her. During this time she was in the care of Lisa and (I think) Merida.  They respectfully did their job, not getting in the way or bothering us unnecessarily.

Finally the anaesthetist arrived to discuss the operation with Sally. Our daughter decided this was the moment she would begin to put in some serious effort into being born naturally.

The next hour was the most amazing feat of human endurance I have ever witnessed.  With gentle but firm coaching to my exhausted partner from Lisa and Merida Sally delivered Elsa safely and naturally, to much joy in the room.

A big thumbs up to Lisa and Merida for their amazing care and incredible professionalism.

Elsa was welcomed home by her brother Seth and her sisters Freya and Astrid.

With the cutbacks on staff and resources within the NHS this is a valuable reminder of the kindness, compassion and humanity of the staff who have contact everyday with the people they signed up to help.

These people are why we should resist any attempt to privatise our NHS. 

~~~~

Also, Everdayfolk would like to make an apology; this post is even later than Kevin intended due to a "hiccup" our end.  

Kevin Bampton - Portsmouth 

 http://kevinbampton.wordpress.com/

@Hoodedman_art

Guest Post From Lucy Barlow - RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS

It is a long time since I first came across the idea of random kindness…I was working in a solicitor’s office as a conveyancer…it is a lifetime ago…I think it may have been linked to a Dave Gorman project…perhaps I will google that sometime & see if there is still something out there…

Whether the original seed for RAOK can still be traced, it  remains a large part of my life…and RAOK don’t need to be flamboyant gestures or have deep meaning and global significance…

This week, I have been touched by many moments of RAOK…

My husband, Lee, was knocked off his bicycle when hit by a car…the driver stopped, and thank God my husband is limping, sore & bruised but in one piece & still with us…my heart opens to those people who stopped their rush to work and helped him out of the road and called the ambulance and waited with him until paramedics arrived……I don’t know who they are, but I thank them for their kindness…

The paramedics deserve thanks too, although theirs is less random, their act of kindness in dedicating themselves to working in service to humanity is no less than superhuman… 

My step-brother, Alex, for stopping when he saw my husband with the paramedics and put his own working day on hold to be with my children so that I could get to the hospital to be with my husband…and then returned after a long day at work with his wife to support him whilst I had to teach…I thank them for their kindness…

the Mason Gang

Our friends the Mason Gang who made my husband the subject of their weekly RAOK “Make my Wednesday”, praying for his speedy healing, and presenting us with a goodie bag for Lee…I thank them for their kindness…

My sons, for their quiet concern (“I am sad Daddy hurt his head”, “I am worried Daddy might have another accident”) and their independent decision to draw pictures for Daddy to wish him get well soon…and their recognition that Daddy needs gentle right now & so wrestling & climbing are off the cards for a while…I thank them for their kindness…

the end of the road

A man sleeping rough at the end of our road, I wanted to show kindness and so on the school run, I stopped with my children to give him money for a warm breakfast at the cafe around the corner…when I spoke to him, a second head emerged from his jumble of coat & sleeping bag…embarrassed apologies from the small woman there, who explained nothing untoward was happening…they were clearly doing nothing but trying to stay warm & rest…I assured them they did not need to apologise…she told me that the man had simply been kind enough to offer her a warm place to sleep and to keep her safe after someone else had given her a black eye the night before…I thank him for his kindness to her…I pray that they have found safer, warmer places to rest…

On the walk to school this morning, a young woman spotted an older gentleman who needs a walking stick and has limited speed…she spoke to him before running ahead to stop the bus for him & asked the driver to wait…the old man got his bus, the young woman continued her walk on her way…I thank her for her kindness…

I am sure that if I think longer, there are more moments of kindness than that, I know there are…fundamentally, people are kind…when they are not, it is usually fear that clouds their judgment and diverts their actions…this is still a beautiful world…stop and look around you…watch people…there will be more kindness, more compassion than you expect…smile at it, let it warm your heart or allow it to draw warm, salty tears to cleanse your sorrow and make way for more joy…and then make a resolve…to be kind…small things…cook your partner’s favourite meal or buy them that offensive smelling cheese they crave…tip double when you go for coffee…pick some litter…smile at someone…

The more small, random acts of kindness in the world, the less time & space for greed and fear to take hold…they don’t have to feel like grand gestures and world-changing actions…but in their own way, that is exactly what they are…

May we all be happy…
May we all be healthy… 
May we all live in peace… 
May we all be free… 
May we all be loved… 
May we all be kind… 
OM x *

P.S. you are now reading this via everydayfolk.blogspot.com and that is the result of yet more kindness @hoodedman_art for connecting me with @14NC on Twitter…I thank you both for your kindness…Let’s spread the love!

* I sign off on my blog  with OMx because I am, after all, simply an Ordinary Mama.  And also because in Yoga, Om is the sound of the Universe, of God, the original sound, the seed of creation and because it is a powerful vibration for peace and for tranquillity of heart & mind. Just in case you wanted to know.

This blog first appeared in a slightly different from at ordinarymamaextraordinaryjoy.  We would like to add some thumbs up to from us to Alex, the paramedics, the man sleeping rough and the young woman at the bus stop

Lucy Barlow, @PortsmouthYoga can be found at the website for yoga portsmouthyoga.co.uk and also blogs at ordinarymamaextraordinaryjoy.wordpress.com/ on mothering through yoga and at pregnancyyogaportsmouth.com/  about pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding & beyond

A guest post from Kevin Bampton - CHRISTMAS IS COMING! (Ahem. Sorry.)

It’s become much more exciting now that I have children.

It also requires more planning.

There are lists to be compiled from the seemingly random requests and suggestions from my 6 year old boy and four year old girl. Then there’s the question of what do we think our two year old girl would like that is not currently amongst the hand-me-downs from her older siblings.

Once we have our three lists we thin them out. The plastic tat and passing fads carefully removed, in what is nothing less than parental censorship, we are left with a collection of presents that will not drive us mad in the coming year. The items are then distributed by cost, availability and suitability to the various parties who will be spending actual money on these things.

Over the past six years the ‘problem’ of making it as easy as possible for my elderly parents to obtain said items has been solved by limiting the shopping to one store. So, armed with a printed and illustrated list they head off to Knight and Lee in Southsea.

Knight and Lee are owned by John Lewis and have been there as long as I can remember.

Each year they have approached a member of staff with a sheaf of A4. It has been taken from them and chairs found for them to sit, whilst various members of staff have set off through the toy department to find the required items of joy.

Once found (or ordered, with a promise of a phone call once in stock) and paid for, staff have carried the goods to the ground floor and helped obtain and load a taxi.

Each year it has been someone different doing this, so I have no names or photos. But each year the service has been consistently wonderful.

So, thank you staff at Knight and Lee for helping make Christmas shopping a lot easier for my parents and the whole process less of a worry for me.

I look forward to a similar tale from my Mum this year.

Have a fabulous festive season.

Editor's note - so a thumbs up to Knight & Lee from us too.

 Kevin Bampton - Portsmouth 
 http://kevinbampton.wordpress.com/

@Hoodedman_art