diva cup

I Just Had A Baby And My Period Is Already Back Because Life Is Full Of Surprises
BabiesParenthood

I Just Had A Baby And My Period Is Already Back Because Life Is Full Of Surprises

by Jill
written by Jill

I’m not going to bury the lede here. This post is about how I got my period back when my baby was only 2 months old, and how that sucks. Do with that information what you will now. This post is about periods and it’s only going to get more period-y from here.

Okay, if I still have you, YOU GUYS OMG WHAT.

I stopped bleeding postpartum right before my 6-week checkup. It wasn’t heavy at all toward the end. That probably only lasted a couple weeks, but then I started bleeding again around 8 weeks out. It had been at least 2 weeks of nothing, so this totally surprised me, but it was within that 10 week timeframe when you can expect to bleed postpartum. So. Okay, whatever. I thought maybe I just… had to get more out.

That lasted for, like 4-5 days, not super heavy, not super light. When it stopped, I thought surely that was it.

I haven’t started my period after the last three kids until at least a year after having them… I think? Details are fuzzy, but it’s definitely nowhere near the first few, or six, or even eight months of their lives. I get a nice long break! I love not having my period!

I guess it’s worth mentioning that I’ve exclusively breastfed all of them. They don’t start solids until 6 months, and I nursed them in the middle of the night for a long time, too. I am also breastfeeding Wallace, and, given that he just turned 3 months old yesterday, I’m breastfeeding him quite frequently. He is certainly not sleeping through the night. Not even close.

Welp, I guess none of that matters this time because I had an actual period last week. It lasted 5 days. It was not crazy heavy like my usual 2nd postpartum period is. (Naturally, I have blogged about this phenomenon a couple times before.) But, I did have to dig around and find my old Diva cup. 

This was about 3 weeks after that last round stopped, and as much as I want to believe it was my body just… still… postpartum bleeding, it’s not, is it? This is it? It’s back? It will be back next month?

Ugh. I’ve been meaning to try a new menstrual cup because the Diva cup is just not the most comfortable thing for me. I’ve been using it since before I got pregnant with Lowell, and I mostly love it, but I feel like it could be a more comfortable (and less leaky) experience, and cups have come a long way in the last few years. So after that last period, I went to PutACupInIt.com and took their quiz and found out I should get a LENA cup. I ordered it from Amazon, and it should be here tonight, in plenty of time for next month.

LENA cup for periods after baby | BabyRabies.com

But if the universe wanted to be like, “Oh, you just bought a new cup? Well, now you won’t get your period again for another year!” I’ll be fine, that would be great. Can someone arrange that? Ugh. Periods.

*Okay, but more about PutACupInIt.com– 1. This is not sponsored. 2. Put A Cup In It is run by a couple friends and I just love what they are doing. I have long been a menstrual cup convert, but there is still such a stigma around it. I love that they are not putting up with any shame surrounding using one, or any period shame. Period. They are super informative, and they’re funny. If you’re at all intrigued by switching to a cup from pads and/0r tampons, I think you should plan to have a drink and spend an hour on their site. Take the quiz to see which one would work best for you. Read their blog. Watch their videos. Empower yourself. Go team! 

 

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The Case For A Menstruation Hut
BabiesParenthoodPopular PostsPregnancy

The Case For A Menstruation Hut

by Jill
written by Jill

I’ve been through this 3 times now with the same results, so I think I can consider myself an expert at this point. The 2nd period postpartum, for me, is something I’ve learned to fear and respect. It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced in all of my time as a woman.

Let me pause and state the obvious for a sec. This post is going to be ALL about woman stuff. And blood. Lots of woman blood.

With my first two kids, I got my period back when they were both 9 months old. I figured that was a pretty good run. This time around, it didn’t show itself until my baby was 14 months old. It was like winning the lottery. I didn’t have a period for almost 2 years. GLORIOUS.

Each time, the first period back is pretty average- heavy. Nothing insane. It’s a bummer because, obviously, I enjoy it’s absence. But, I settle into the 7 day routine quickly and accept my fate.

Then the 2nd one comes, and I’d be wise to just not even leave the house. (Though there was that one time I had to, complete with undies full of toilet paper.)

Can I just get one of those menstrual hut things? I can totally see the appeal. Banish me to a private room for a week, call me unclean if you must. Just give me wine, chocolate, Hulu Plus, and 5 gallon orange bucket from Home Depot for me to hover over. Any other method of collecting and disposing of this situation is futile.

The seclusion appeals to me mostly because I don’t have to try to hide horrific blood stains and splatters from my children before I have time to clean them. Yes, I could be, like, a really in-touch, honest mom and explain bodily functions to them. But, no, I don’t want to. It just comes down to that.

I’ve moved on to the Diva Cup since I had my 2nd baby. I mostly like it more than tampons. I did a very poorly lit video review of it (talking only, I swear, no demonstrating) years ago.

Part of the appeal for me was it holds more.

(Note: I have deleted several very descriptive sentences that make me laugh out loud because I think they might make a percentage of you vomit. I’m losing my edge.)

But I don’t think it would matter if I could shove a red Solo cup up there, I’d still have to deal with a homicide scene every. hour. The weird part about a menstrual cup is I get a VERY clear idea of just how much I’m expelling from my body. It’s a pretty precise visual.

More deleted stuff about Carrie and buckets…

It’s A LOT.

I was going to type something about how I had to have lost 5 lbs in uterine lining alone over the last 2 days, but then I just jumped on the scale and saw I’ve actually gained a pound. So I’m just going to stop tying now and go cry and eat some more Halloween candy.

Is this a thing other women experience? Is your first or second period postpartum just plain terrifying? I feel like this is something we need to talk about more, especially so expecting moms can secure a menstrual hut for themselves. Perhaps add it to a registry of some sort… along with a Home Depot bucket.

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ParenthoodReviewsVideos

The Diva Cup- A VLOG

by Jill
written by Jill

Oh yes, it’s as weird as you might imagine. I vlogged about a menstruation cup.

It’s a poorly lit video because the only time of day I can find to do this is when everyone else is sleeping. It’s also the only time of day I can be sure my 3 year old won’t ask me what it is, try to take it and turn it into a snack trap.

Sure, I could have just written about it, but then you wouldn’t get the full effect. I wanted you to feel what it’s like to be one of my girlfriends, face to face, as I talk about the cup I shove into my vagina in the middle of my period. Really, you should feel special.

Do not be afraid. I didn’t actually demonstrate anything.

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ParenthoodPopular PostsStuff

Because Nothing Says Welcome Back To Fertility Like Toilet Paper In Your Undies

by Jill
written by Jill

People, this is your warning. This post is all about menstruation, in gory, graphic detail. Feel free to click away now…

we’ll wait…..

Alright, moving on.

At almost 9 months postpartum last month, I got the first period I’ve experienced in 18 months, nearly exactly as long as it took to get it back after having Kendall. However, unlike last time, there was no “nice” period to welcome me back to the world of menstruation.

No, I just went straight to the horrific murder scene in my toilet bowl as I soaked through a super plus tampon and super plus maxi pad every hour.

Only now, after looking through my archives for period related posts, do I recall describing the ordeal in such fantastic detail last time.

I did a little research last month on the Diva Cup because, just by looking at it, I could tell it would hold a hell of a lot more… stuff than a super plus tampon. Lots of my readers on Facebook had fantastic things to say about it, but everyone kept warning about a “learning curve.” I had every intention of getting one to try out before I got my period again. But, well, you know… time and chaos and life and excuses.

Whatever the reason, when my period showed up last week for the 2nd time since having Leyna, I was utterly unprepared. Sure, I had a handful of tampons left over from last time. I had a couple pads. But, I’d planned on getting a Diva Cup, and didn’t bother stocking up on other supplies because, well, it’s easy to forget to do that when you haven’t had to for 18 months.

As I mentioned earlier, it started like a full on tidal wave of menses. By the time Scott got home from work, I was down to my last tampon. I’d soaked through every pad.

I was doing that thing where you roll up toilet paper and shove it in your panties, and then you do the Super Soaker Shuffle back to the bathroom to replace it every 15 minutes because WHAT THE HELL KIND OF SUBSTITUTE FOR A MAXI PAD IS TOILET PAPER?!

I couldn’t go to Target with toilet paper in my panties. My God, what if it fell out? Suddenly, I remembered the kind folks at Luna Pads sent me some cloth pads to try out after I had Leyna, but by the time I got them in the mail, I was pretty much done with bleeding, so I never used them.

They sent me several types. Some that doubled up, some that went in a special pair of undies. I didn’t quite understand how they all worked, but I  got resourceful, stacked all those bad boys on top of each other, shoved them in the special undies, and shimmied into that. I was sporting quite the package.

I never intended to use them on such… er… messy days, but I have to say, it was nice to have a backup stashed away in my underwear drawer.

As I was trying to escape to Target, Scott (who was leaving to take the kids to the park) kept rattling off other things for me to get.

“Scott, I have to go. Right. Now.”  I said while glaring at him with my very serious eyes as Kendall tugged at my pants, begging to go with me.

Meanwhile, Leyna started crying… and I started lactating. Oh, but guess what? I was out of breastpads, too. So I had to change out of my shirt,  and shove a couple cloth breastpads in my bra (which I normally can’t use for a great amount of time because, in case it hasn’t already been established, I was a dairy cow in another life, and make milk like it’s my fucking job).

Now, I still want to try the Diva Cup, but this was not the time to a. search for it at a local retailer or b. get elbow deep all up in myself, trying to overcome some sort of “learning curve.” So I was on the hunt for more super plus tampons and super plus pads (because, yes, I absolutely needed both if I ever wanted to leave the house anytime in the next 6 days).

I can’t imagine how hard it was for the hipster male Target cashier to keep a straight face as he scanned the items in my cart:

Halloween Oreos (What? They were on the end cap across from the tampons.)
Super plus tampons
Chocolate ice cream (I’m on my period. It was a necessity.)
Super plus maxi pads
Breastpads

I couldn’t have been more clear that I was hormonal and could leak and/or spray bodily fluids at any moment if I screamed it over the intercom.

Honestly, I was happy to make it out of there without hearing, “Clean up on aisle 9. Bring the biohazard kit.”

Kendall is 3 1/2 years, Leyna is 9 months, and I am 3 days away from needing a blood transfusion.

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