I Celebrated by doing what only a Woman can

March 8th is International Women’s day and this year is the 100th anniversary of the very first International Women’s day – well it is being celebrated as the day’s centenary despite the fact that the day was first celebrated on March 19th 1908. It is only since 1977 that International Women’s day has consistently been celebrated on March 8th.

In some countries it is recognised by a public holiday – Oh how I wish Australia would take up this tradition! But even in places that don’t celebrate by giving everyone a day off there are plenty of other events and activities which one can participate in to commemorate the day.

Personally I didn’t know anything about International Women’s day until 1997, a year upon which I celebrated the occasion by doing something only a woman can do  – by giving birth.

14 yrs ago today, after almost 48hrs of excruciating labour I somehow managed to deliver a healthy 10 and a half pound baby boy. He came out looking like a 3 moth old rather than a tiny newborn, but it wasn’t all that much of a surprise considering how huge my belly was.

I was incredibly lucky when I was pregnant as I got to share the entire experience with one of my best friends. She also had a little boy who was born at home in the bath tub after a very quick 3 hour labour. You can see from the photo of the two of us below just how HUGE my belly was compared to her regular sized one. It was taken 1 week before our boys were born1

So Happy International Women’s Day to all my fellow females, and Happy Birthday to my (not so) little baby boy – watching you turning into an amazing young man is becoming one of the greatest joys of my life xx And for any jealous men out there don’t fret too much as there is also an International Men’s day on November 19th.

Violet xx

1. sorry for the crappy quality but the photo was scanned 12yrs ago & I can’t find the original [↩]