Who on earth is "Giggsy?"

If you don't know me, let me introduce myself. If you do know me, I'm sending you a virtual high-five.

Baby Charlotte, a fresh cut, and a messy bathroom. (Let's also note the over extended neck - what on earth!)

This girl Giggsy is ready to share the good, the bad, and the hilarious.

Why the name – Giggsy and why would I want to hear about her life? Well, it has been my nickname for more years than I would care to admit and is the go to name my husband uses for me - unless there is an Amazon package at the door....then he uses "Amber". (I swear those packages just rise up out of nowhere.) I like to describe myself in this way - as a daughter, sister, wife, mom and friend. Why? Well, it’s a pretty clear outline of my life’s sequence.

Daughter.  I consider myself blessed to be the daughter of Rich and Prue Richardson.  My parents shaped me, loved me and supported me into becoming the woman I am today.  My father passed away in a road rage car accident several years ago – my world as I knew it ended on June 24th, 2007 and a new world, without my father in it, began.  My mother is the strongest woman I know.  She is a mighty force in a little body and has taught me how to move forward in life with my head high, to be loyal to my family and to laugh at the ridiculous.

Sister.  About 18 months after I was born, my little brother Derek made his arrival.  (Clearly my parents were celebrating my birth and ended up with a gift that kept on giving!)  My brother is incredible – hard working, focussed, driven.  He knows what he wants and he goes for it.  He and I have a typical ‘brother/sister’ relationship.  We squabble, we push each others buttons, we laugh and we defend each other at no cost. (Remind me to tell you the story about flicking Adrian Henke’s ear, defending my brother from Adrian's bullying ways – it’s actually hilarious.)

Wife.  In 2009 (or was it 2008? We never remember correctly.) I was lucky enough to marry my best friend – Ashley Allinson.  He challenges me, he supports me, he cooks for me, he makes me laugh every day, and he understands my crazy ‘type A’ behaviour (which now is likely identified as anxiety....but we will touch on that later.) I really could not have found a better partner in life. Here is an example of the type of guy Ashley is;  Ashley is allergic to cats.  I had two cats when we started dating. Every time Ashley slept over, he would wake up with a swollen – yes SWOLLEN – face and a complete inability to breathe.  He knew that the cats were not going anywhere, so he suffered through it for about 6 months and then started to develop an immunity to my cats.  He always jokes that my happiness is secondary to his health – but seriously, his face was SWOLLEN.

Mom.  This is the title I cherish most in life. I am a Mom.  Our first daughter, Molly Piper, was born on May 1, 2013 and her arrival was the catalyst for my very first blog.  I adore her and fall in love with her more every day.  Our second daughter, Olive Harper, was born sleeping on January 9, 2015. She is very much a part of our lives and I strive to ensure that awareness and support is given to the late term pregnancy and infant loss community. Our rainbow baby, Charlotte River, was born on April 9, 2018. No words can truly describe what it is like to be granted such a miracle - she is our gift from the angels above.

I know that becoming a parent is not all roses, as much as people love to tell you it is.  Fertility is like having a second job that you can't talk about and that one day decides to promote you and the next day demote you. Becoming a new parent is shocking, becoming a parent to an angel baby is life altering, and being given the miracle of a rainbow baby is joy inspiring, and to be honest, someone needs to write about the truths and that’s what I plan on doing.

Friend.  A friend is the family member you get to choose. I consider myself blessed to have the kind of friends around me that I can laugh and cry with, and get into some trouble with from time to time. I am the kind of friend that is up for anything; sitting on the couch watching Grey's together, visiting Walmart in the late hours of the evening for fun, or dancing our shoes off at some dive bar.

I love to chat.  I love to tell stories.  

Pull up a chair and get comfortable.

x

Giggsy