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| 1.Q |
Tell me
about the first time you can remember being thrilled. |
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| 1.A |
Running
and falling in the snow when I was a toddler. |
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| 2.Q |
What's been your most frightening
thrill ever? |
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| 3.Q |
What's the smallest or slightest
thing to have thrilled you? |
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| 4.Q |
Tell me
why you're not a sensible person. |
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| 5.Q |
What were
you doing the last time you were really bored? |
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| 5.A |
Sitting
at my computer at work, just before I started this questionnaire. |
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| 6.Q |
What's
the most uninhibited thing you've ever done? |
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| 7.Q |
What things
have you considered doing for thrill, but were too concerned
about the risks? |
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| 7.A |
Rally driving.
Taking drugs. |
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To answer
these next 14 questions, you should think about a particular
time you were thrilled. |
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| 9.Q |
Describe
this thrill in a nutshell, in one sentence. (there's time to
expand later) |
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| 10.Q |
Where and
when did it take place? |
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| 10.A |
In a maternity
ward, in the early hours of the morning |
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| 11.Q |
Tell me
a bit about yourself around this time. |
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| 11.A |
I was physically
well, mentally prepared, and very excited. |
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| 12.Q |
How did
the moment arise? Was it planned? |
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| 12.A |
The pregnancy
was planned (my second), I had 9 months of preparation, plus
I was two weeks overdue, and had to be induced, so I was feeling
more than ready for the event. I was determined to register
every feeling and moment, as my first labour had been very druggy
and out-of-this world, and this was likely to be my last. |
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| 13.Q |
List the
sequence of events leading up to your thrill, and how you felt
at each stage. The smallest detail could be important (this
is your chance to expand). |
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| 13.A |
A After
a very long wait I went into hospital in the early morning
to have labor induced. Things got underway, then I was told
that the delivery suite was full up and that they wouldn't
let me go to the next stage, I'd have to stay in overnight
and hope things were quieter the next day. In the middle of
the night I was woken and told that there was finally a slot
for me if I wanted to go for it, which I did.
The hospital was a different place at night, no noisy visitors,
low lights and hushed voices - much more exciting. The midwife
inspired confidence and talked me through each stage so I
felt in control. She and my husband discussed course fishing,
watched a football match, David Attenborough talking about
monkeys with subtitles, and other bizarre programmes that
are only shown in the early morning, and contributed to the
feeling of being in a parallel universe. I felt more and more
detached from the other people in the room.
The labour pains and experience felt so personal to me and
so all-consuming that my world closed in, time expanded and
contracted. To get through the peaks of pain I found myself
concentrating on the smallest and closest things, my glitter
nail-varnish, the sound of my breathing. Every effort meant
I was closer to seeing my baby, and relief. |
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| 14.Q |
At the
exact moment of thrill, how did your mind and body feel? |
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| 14.A |
When the
midwife told me I could feel the baby's head for myself it was
the most wondrous moment and the culmination of the escalation
of pain and physical exertion, I was shaking and emotionally
overwhelmed. |
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| 15.Q |
What thoughts
were going through your head? |
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| 15.A |
Unbelievable
love. Enormous relief that the tremendous effort was over, but
no thought for the physical condition I was in, the pain seemed
to have vanished in the massive release of endorphins. |
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| 16.Q |
What did
you do immediately afterwards? |
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| 16.A |
Held my
baby close and laughed and cried. |
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| 17.Q |
What were
the most likely things that could have put you off going through
with it? |
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| 17.A |
Nothing,
certainly not the pain, which I think is an integral part of
the momentous experience |
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| 18.Q |
How
were other people important to your thrill? |
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| 18.A |
My husband
and the midwife were there and obviously helped practically,
but the experience was personal to me, they were essentially
spectators. |
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| 19.Q |
What do
you imagine other people were thinking throughout your thrilling
episode? |
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| 19.A |
Family
knew I was in labour. I imagine they were thinking of the possible
complications, and also seeing the new addition to the family.
Not the physical sensations of giving birth. |
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| 20.Q |
Some people
probably don't understand how such a thing can thrill you; explain
it to them. |
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| 20.A |
Nothing
is more life-changing and miraculous. It's certainly painful,
but it's a pain you've chosen to experience, and you know it's
finite. |
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| 21.Q |
Why were
certain objects or equipment important to your thrill? |
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| 22.Q |
If you've
done something like this before, how does the last time compare
to the first time you did it? |
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| 22.A |
My first
labour had problems and was lengthy, so physical exhaustion
and drugs meant that I couldn't focus inwards and felt out of
control and desperate. |
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| 23.Q |
If
you did it again, what things could be added or changed to make
it even better? |
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| 23.A |
Nothing
about it could have been more thrilling. |
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