For the Love of a Cup

No, don't you dare laugh at the title of this post. I really do love my diva cup. It has changed the way I feel about menstruation. At one point, far too long ago, I promised to tell you about menstrual cups. Well, recent events have reminded me about that, so here we go. (yes, you interpreted that correctly, I finally have good ol' AF back!)

Answers to the Frequently Asked Questions:

• Yes, I know it looks like a funnel. I promise, it's not a funnel--there's no hole in the bottom. That 'stem' is a handle that facilitates getting it back out...
• Yes, it looks pretty wide, but yes, it will fit in you, even if you're a tiny little thing. I promise. Just think about what else can fit in there...this is not any bigger. I promise.
• No, it's not hard. Geesh, do you think I'm a masochist?! It's soft and bendy...like surgical tubing or, um, I dunno. Something soft.
• No, it won't give you a massive hickey when you pull it out. Just give it a little squeeze on the bottom and it breaks the seal and slips out quite easily.
• No, it doesn't invite infection--you wash it off in warm water between uses, and many women boil it for a few minutes after each period.
  

And, in case you ever tried "Instead" no, it's not like those. Those never worked for me. this works like a charm.

So here are some real reasons to make the switch:

• Most women experience shorter periods (mine went from 8 days to 3-4).
• It's eco-friendly
• It's economical ($30 will last you 10 years)
• It requires less attention than disposable options (it only needs to be changed once every 12 or so hours)
• I can't feel it--I could always feel tampons
• It will never slide down when full...it might leak after 14 hours on the heavy day of your period because you totally forgot it was in there because you couldn't feel it (not that I would know of course), but it will not slip down and become painful.
  

I have only one caveat about menstrual cups: if you are uncomfortable with sticking your fingers in yourself, well, this is probably not a good choice for you.

The official menstrual cup reviews page includs reviews of, and links to the diva cup, keeper, moon cup, luna cup, lunette, femmecup, and lady cup. They are all very similar, with the diva, moon cup, and keeper being the most common. (The former two are made with medical grade silicone, and the last of laytex rubber.)

Here is another useful review of the diva cup. (The author is highly amusing, she just favors the use of certain euphemisms for her girly regions, that I, um, don't...)

If you've got questions, post to the comments...you know I have no shame and I'll answer them all!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Answers!
Q~Why the shorter periods?
I don't know of any hard science on this, but I suspect two things: one, the cup collects, rather than absorbing. A tampon can absorb only so much, and then it becomes a dam, holding back any additional flow. The cup allows everything to come down as fast as it wants to (the first day especially). I don't know that the total volume of blood is any different, but it seems to be released more efficiently.
The second thing is that I have heard the hypothesis that disposable menstrual products actually contain chemicals that increase bleeding. Whether this is intentional (to increase sales of the products) or unintentional (because the manufacturing process simply creates a toxic product to begin with) I don't know. I have not been able to find evidence to back this up, but I have heard it repeatedly, and everyone I know who has switched to a cup or to cloth pads has reported a shorter period afterward.
Q~Does it really last 10 years? The site says to replace it yearly.
Well, I've had mine for about 3 years...of course, I only used it for about 6 months before getting pregnant. I had heard 10 years from several sources...I've never heard 1. I suspect there is some potential for the cup to wear or crack or something, so they recommend replacing annually as a preventative measure...but I sincerely doubt that it's really necessary to replace that often. For myself at least, I fully expect mine to last 10 years or more...but that's partly because I won't be using it every month during that time due to babies. :)
Q~ What do you think of the diva wash they offer on the site?
I don't know, I've never tried it. I am pretty happy with warm water and a little mild soap + boiling it occasionally...
Q~what if you have a IUD to prevent pregnancy. Do these interfere with those at all (as in knocking them out of place)?
I'm not 100% certain where the IUD sits...but I believe the IUD is "intra-uterine" right? So no, it would not be a problem. The cup sits below the cervix, in the vagina--not up in the cervix and certainly not in the uterus. ☺

Something Scary

Last night I was sitting on the couch with Wolf, watching a movie. Hubby was in the kitchen getting stuff out to make some popcorn, and Bear was in there with him...dancing or something I guess. (Note that in our little apartment, this means he was two feet from Hubby, and 8 feet from me.) I don't know exactly what he was doing; nobody was looking at him. All of a sudden he fell down and started crying, so I ran over there. He was laying on his face on the floor (the chairs were pushed in to the table, so it's not like he had fallen off anything...) but when I rolled him over there was this big deep gash in his forehead. It was about 1cm wide, but I swear it looked almost that deep too...I could clearly see that it had gone well past the skin. Blood was starting to well up and I thought oh boy we're gonna have a gusher here. I mean, head wound, right? I hollered for Hubby to give me something to put pressure on Bear's head (yes, he was all of two feet away, but you try speaking quietly when your child has a gash in his head!).
Bear was crying but he wasn't shrieking like I would have expected for an injury that looked that bad, and he calmed down pretty fast. It didn't bleed as much as I expected...it actually didn't bleed very much at all. But it was deep, and at first look I was afraid he'd need stitches, so I told Hubby to call 911 (I would have just gone for urgent care if we lived anywhere else, but here there's nothing in the off-hours but 911--which gets the local EMT/health aid from home to come help out). Anyway, so we called her, and she said ok I'll meet you at the clinic in a minute...all the supplies are at the clinic, Bear was clearly fine to be moved, and it only took us a couple of minutes to walk there--we actually got there before her. Meanwhile Bear's head wasn't really bleeding anymore. We had realized by this point that he wasn't going to need stitches after all **sigh** but we didn't have anything fancier than bandaids at home, and we figured this needed some butterfly bandages/tape...
So she cleaned the blood off his forehead, and put tape on (which made him mad and he pulled the tape off). We tried again with the tape and again he was pulling at it...finally she just gave us the tape to bring home, and I brought him home and put him to bed and then put the tape on his head after he was asleep. In the middle of the night he woke up and was pulling at it again so I took it off for him...but his head does seem pretty well closed, it's not bleeding or anything...Really now it looks so small that part of me wonders why I was so worried last night, but i don't think I overreacted at the time. I mean, head wound--that's cause for worry, right?!
He looks ok now. He's acting totally normal and unbothered (he was acting that way last night too--the tape clearly bothered him a lot more than the actual gash!
I guess every little boy gets a scar on his head/face at some point, right? Hubby has one, Wolf has one, my dad does, my brothers all do...(heck, half my sisters do too)...
Still, I'm so relieved that it all turned out ok. It so didn't look like it was going to!

My first bit of handspun yarn...

Thanks to the massive "learn to spin" kit I just from Lamina's Closet on etsy.
Look, it's not even too uneven!

WFMW--Messy Eaters

Every time we go out to eat I am reminded of something: paper napkins are useless when you're trying to clean up a kid. The napkins shred and tear, bits of napkin stick to the kid, and very little of the goomp comes off.
Many families use cloth napkins. This is definitely an improvement, but they're still dry, and still lack the ability to cleanse a child who has truly gotten into his dinner.

[here I was going to put a picture of a really messy kid...but Bear just doesn't get that messy]

So what do I do? Oddly enough, I do exactly what my mother taught me: I have a set of washcloths that I keep in the kitchen for fingers and faces. At each meal I just bring the fresh damp cloth to the table...it's quick and easy to clean up kids, but is also very helpful for mommy and daddy when we get sicky fingers. Also it's eco-friendly, and you all know how I favor that!

Works For Me Wednesday is brought to you by Rocks in my Dryer. Come share your tips, or browse through the brilliance of others!

Movies: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Most of these movies are new (or newish), although a few are oldies that I've just seen recently.

GOOD
August Rush--PG--The cover story on this one is a little corny—I won’t even touch on that. What I WILL say is that if you have ever loved music (any type), or especially if you have ever FELT music, this movie will move you.
The Pursuit of Happyness--PG-13--based on a true story (and the real life protagonist was involved with the movie throughout).
The Ex--(not sure)--Admittedly somewhat of a stupid story, but I really enjoyed it--mostly because of the super-hippie mommy's group that the woman joins. The movie was clearly making fun of them, but I love poking fun at myself, and this had me in stitches.
Twelfth Night (this one by Trevor Nunn)--Very well done. I like Shakespeare anyway, but some people really botch it...not so here. This is done in such a way that the non-bard-junkies should like it too. :)

BAD
Nim's Island--PG--The previews made it look fun and funny. I was thoroughly disappointed.
Wall-E--PG--The humans were robotic and the robots were pretty human. The only redeeming factor was that it had some clips (and a lot of music) from Hello Dolly.
Vantage Point--PG-13--I had the strange expectation of an intriguing plot...but there was none. Just brainless action...which, well, I just didn't like it.
Elizabeth: The Golden Age--PG-13--the costumes were as awesome as the first, and the actors are great, but they forgot about the history...and the scriptwriting...

UGLY
Mr Bean's Holiday--PG--*gag**choke**die* Hubby brought it home for Wolf, and wow, it was painful.
Lions for Lambs--PG-13--can we just say propaganda!!!
Munich--R--This was horribly misrepresented in the previews. I thought it would be about the terrorist attack on the Israeli team at the 1972 Olympics, and about the investigation afterwards...um, scratch that. They should have mentioned it was based on the book "Vengeance" that would have been much more informative. For all that it was full of bombs, guns and chase scenes, it also moved very slowly. Go figure.

Ten Steps towards Mother-Friendly Birth

I encourage you to read CIMS's full statement here.
This list is also available on CIMS's website here.
I think it is worth noting that, while CIMS is obviously in favor of natural, unmedicated birthing, their efforts are helping all birthing women by simply increasing the woman's ability to know what her options are, and her right to choose what she wants!

A mother-friendly hospital, birth center, or home birth service:

1. Offers all birthing mothers:
• Unrestricted access to the birth companions of her choice, including fathers, partners, children, family members, and friends;
• Unrestricted access to continuous emotional and physical support from a skilled woman-for example, a doula or labor-support professional:
• Access to professional midwifery care. (References )
2. Provides accurate descriptive and statistical information to the public about its practices and procedures for birth care, including measures of interventions and outcomes.( References )
3. Provides culturally competent care -- that is, care that is sensitive and responsive to the specific beliefs, values, and customs of the mother's ethnicity and religion.( References )
4. Provides the birthing woman with the freedom to walk, move about, and assume the positions of her choice during labor and birth (unless restriction is specifically required to correct a complication), and discourages the use of the lithotomy (flat on back with legs elevated) position.( References )
5. Has clearly defined policies and procedures for:
• collaborating and consulting throughout the perinatal period with other maternity services, including communicating with the original caregiver when transfer from one birth site to another is necessary;
• linking the mother and baby to appropriate community resources, including prenatal and post-discharge follow-up and breastfeeding support.( References )
6. Does not routinely employ practices and procedures that are unsupported by scientific evidence, including but not limited to the following:
• shaving;
• enemas;
• IVs (intravenous drip);
• withholding nourishment;
• early rupture of membranes;
• electronic fetal monitoring;

Other interventions are limited as follows:

• Has an induction rate of 10% or less;
• Has an episiotomy rate of 20% or less, with a goal of 5% or less;
• Has a total cesarean rate of 10% or less in community hospitals, and 15% or less in tertiary care (high-risk) hospitals;
• Has a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) rate of 60% or more with a goal of 75% or more.(References )
7. Educates staff in non-drug methods of pain relief and does not promote the use of analgesic or anesthetic drugs not specifically required to correct a complication. ( References )
8. Encourages all mothers and families, including those with sick or premature newborns or infants with congenital problems, to touch, hold, breastfeed, and care for their babies to the extent compatible with their conditions.( References )
9. Discourages non-religious circumcision of the newborn.( References )
10. Strives to achieve the WHO-UNICEF "Ten Steps of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative" to promote successful breastfeeding:

• Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff;
• Train all health care staff in skills necessary to implement this policy;
• Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding;
• Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within a half-hour of birth;
• Show mothers how to breast feed and how to maintain lactation even if they should be separated from their infants;
• Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breast milk unless medically indicated;
• Practice rooming in: allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day;
• Encourage breastfeeding on demand;
• Give no artificial teat or pacifiers (also called dummies or soothers) to breastfeeding infants;
• Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from hospitals or clinics.

©1996 by The Coalition for Improving Maternity Services(CIMS).

Some places you should visit

The Bee in your Bonnet on Nursing in Public

BembosZoo (click on W first, would you? It's extra special!) (So is D) (but not as special as W)(O is really cute too though)

Wall-E wasn't about pollution after all (nope, it was about sex!)

And, if you've ever miscarried, or known someone who has, SarcasticMom has a series of posts that will rip your heart out...and I know exactly how she felt. I just didn't have a blog yet when I was miscarrying.


And this one isn't something to read per se...but I just wanted to officially declare my love of the Natural LDS Living forums. There are LDS forums, and there are crunchy forums (such as Mothering.com), but this one was set up specifically for those of us who are both...most 'crunchies' seem to look down on religion, and most religious folks seem to think we're psycho hippies...so it's nice to have a place where I can fit in fully. (By the way, the forums are totally private, so you won't be able to see anything unless you actually join...that said, once you are a member, you can post away in privacy and peace!)

Breast Cancer and Breastfeeding

Time for monthly breast self exams!
I have not been very good about remembering to post these regularly...but I'm trying to work on that. Meanwhile, a "feel yourself up" post by itself isn't terribly exciting, so I've decided to start adding Breast Cancer facts to these monthly posts.

This month: breastfeeding
(while I am staunchly pro-breastfeeding, please realize that I'm not saying that breastfeeding is a sure-fire way to prevent breast cancer...just the research shows a correlation...)

Dr Andrew Weil: "Breastfeeding does appear to protect against breast cancer, probably by affecting levels of estrogen in a woman's body. Results of a study published in the July 20, 2002, issue of The Lancet showed that the more babies a woman has and the longer she nurses them, the lower her risk of breast cancer. The researchers reviewed 47 reports of studies in 30 countries that contained information about 50,000 women with breast cancer and almost 97,000 women who didn’t develop breast cancer."

[According to the study mentioned above] "breastfeeding lowers the risk of breast cancer by 4.3% for every year of feeding. There is also a 7% reduction in risk of breast cancer for each child born. A 4% lowering of risk doesn't sound much but, as breast cancer is quite a common disease in developed countries, breast feeding every child for an extra 6 months would mean about 1,000 fewer cases of breast cancer in Britain each year.
"Interestingly, in Japan 90% of women who have children breast feed. Japan is often talked about in relation to the incidence of breast cancer because, although it is obviously a developed country, breast cancer rates are much lower than they are in Western countries. Usually, people talk about diet as the explanation for this. But it may well be cultural differences in feeding babies that explains it."
http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp?page=5105

"After analyzing data from 98 studies on lactation and breast cancer risk, the group said the evidence is now "convincing" that breastfeeding lowers the risk of both pre-menopausal and post-menopausal breast cancer. There is a 2 percent drop in breast cancer risk for each five months of breastfeeding." The Boston Globe, April 2008

And for those who have, or have previously had breast cancer, the FDA has some comfort to offer:
"Breast cancer is not passed through breast milk. Women who have had breast cancer can usually breast-feed from the unaffected breast. There is some concern that the hormones produced during pregnancy and lactation may trigger a recurrence of cancer, but so far this has not been proven. Studies have shown, however, that breast-feeding a child reduces a woman's chance of developing breast cancer later."

Some Political Thoughts...

I'm going to go ahead and delve into politics again. I don't do that very often, but sometimes writing about things helps me sort them out in my own head. I have been struggling to reach conclusions about our current presidential race, and I guess I just want to ramble about it a little.
I do not vote by party, nor do I declare affiliation with any party. I try to learn all I can about the issues and the candidates' positions, and then I vote by those. My views on things have not really changed over the years, however as I become aware of more and more issues, my preferred candidates have varied. I consider myself a moderate, although it's more accurate to say that on certain topics I'm very conservative, and on others I'm very liberal...I actually don't stand on middle ground on many issues at all...I just appear to land there because of the diversity of my other views. (If you really want to know my specific views, I'll answer questions in the comments...feel free to ask what you like.) In liberal Washington state, I voted for the most conservative guys. In conservative Utah, I was a "bleeding liberal." Alaska is an interesting place, because we appear 'conservative' on many fronts, but then we go off and legalize marijuana for personal use (yup, you can grow your own, you just can't sell it to anybody...I can see gro-lights in kitchen windows here in town). We're pro-gun and pro-oil...and also concerned about the environment, endangered animals, and climate change. Many of us run on hydro-power.
Of course, the big news this week is that my governor has been selected as McCain's vice presidential nominee. (Scribbit: Motherhood in Alaska, wrote a nice little piece about her today.) When I first heard that I (like many others) thought it was some kind of last-ditch effort to get attention away from Obama (and the timing was exquisite in that regard), but now I am seeing the wisdom in his choice. Sarah Palin was elected before we got to Alaska, and until this week I knew very little about her--just that she'd had a baby this last spring. But the more I learn of her the more I like her. If only the ticket were Palin/McCain, I would not have any trouble deciding how to vote!
If you've been reading here for long, you know that I've mentioned pro-Obama things before, and my feelings on him have not really changed--he is a rousing speaker and definitely gets me excited. I want change too! I agree with his stance on many many issues, and I don't have a problem with him being a celebrity, or being young and less-experienced...however I have begun to question his integrity, and that concerns me. McCain, on the other hand, seems quite trustworthy, and I trust that he'll do what he says...I'm just not sure how much I agree with him about what he should do!! McCain's speech last night did put my mind at ease about his positions and plans on a number of issues, although I still disagree with him on some things. Then, of course, there is always the option of voting for a third party candidate, someone like Nader (green party) who is closer to my personal convictions anyway, even though I know he won't win. With Palin on the republican ticket, there's little doubt as to which way this state will swing, so maybe I should say to heck with the big guys and use my vote instead to make a statement about what I really think of two-party politics.

Independent