I saw the movie "What to expect when you're expecting" last night. It was fabulous, although I couldn't have watched it a couple of years ago. It's about having a baby and chronicles 4 different women and their journeys. I saw so many facets of our journey in the movie...
One young girl falls pregnant after a night of passion with someone she's not even dating. She tells the boy and after some trial and tribulation they reach a space where they are together and even celebrating the pregnancy. She wakes one night and is miscarrying. At this point I started crying (and my beautiful movie-date friend, sensing why I was crying started crying too). It was because of the face. This young actress has either miscarried or knows someone close who has because she nailed it. The look of knowing in your head that you are miscarrying while hoping against hope in your heart that you are not. The movie caught her in the moment between realizing that she was bleeding and the confirmation from the doctor that she was miscarrying. That suspended period of time where you can keep the reality at bay because it's not confirmed. The moment where hope is fiercely ablaze even while the rain drops start falling.
Then there was another face. This was the story of a couple of could not conceive and had decided to adopt. They traveled to Ethiopia and in a beautiful ceremony, the new mother was handed her child. I know her face too and again I just cried. The face where awe and reverence are tangled up with relief and breakthrough. Where a love ignites, beyond anything you imagined. The face of a lioness emerges who will protect and nurture and encircle. I loved seeing her face. For me this was a private face, between my boy and I.
And finally there was another face. A face at the end of childbirth where the mother was handed her child. And I know that face too. The face of utter physical exhaustion, endurance and pain. The look of triumph and knowing the power of your body. The moment where the pain is forgotten and a sweet love floods your soul. Of knowing you would do it all again just to reach this moment. The moment you held a tiny, newly born baby. For me this was the face of healing & completion. No tears watching this, just a pure unfettered joy. Our family was complete. How we had got there, adoption or egg donation, was irrelevant in this moment. We were a family and my face says it all.
8 comments:
I saw this recently and loved it too! I agree that she nailed the miscarriage scene - I was sobbing. Funnily enough, for a woman who has given birth three times, it was the adoption scene that moved me most. I cried (and cried) when she was handed that child. The birth scenes didn't have the same effect. Was a great movie!
Lovely photos of you. I was interested to read what you thought of the movie just seeing the posters and the actresses they had picked I was already turned off - it looked like it would be a complete american cheese fest (that's not to say I don't like American movies but some seem very removed from our kiwi culture or reality in general) prepared to think about it again now
Aw Sammy thanks for sharing your experiences with us again, so unique, so personal to you and your amazing journey to motherhood. Beautiful xx
Thank you for sharing with us your "moments" and "faces".... just awesome!
I haven't seen the movie, but definately want to, and I'm sure I'll have a fair bit of sobbage going on!! haha.
I too loved the movie and yes the adoption scene was the most moving too. They portrayed all the areas so well and covered everything. Good movie to see, although it was very much a mass group of actors, but they managed to pull it off well.
oh flip, you did it to me again Sammy.
More goosebumps.
Wow.
Sounds like a movie I need to see.
Beautiful moving post.
xx
you brought tears to my eyes friend
so beautiful
so very very beautiful
family has so many faces...but the look of a mother...there is nothing else like it
I loved this post
thank you
love and light
like someone already commented previously - although i haven't experienced adoption, & have experienced giving birth - the adoption scene was definitely the most moving part of the movie for me. & i agree with the actress nailing the miscarriage scene - for a 'light' movie, there were some very poignant (& heartbreaking) scenes in there.
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