Melissa | Growing Green Nutrition – Page 34

Third cup’s a charm?

I’d been using the Diva cup for a little over a year when I found out I was pregnant with Gabriel, and the menstrual cup was relegated to the bathroom closet for over two years (9 months of pregnancy + 17 [wonderful] months of lactational amenorrhea).

Once I started cycling again, I wanted to continue using a menstrual cup, but I was uncertain about using it with an IUD, since some people talk about the suction from the cup pulling the IUD out of place. Some cup manufacturers said, “no big deal,” but some said “check with your doctor.”

To be honest, I doubt many GYNs are terribly familiar with menstrual cups, so my doctor saying that it “should be okay” wasn’t all that reassuring, when the IUD being in place and doing its job was all that stood between me and another pregnancy.

But I didn’t want to go back to tampons, when I knew there was a more sustainable, and, in most ways, more comfortable alternative, and I had a perfectly good menstrual cup sitting in my bathroom closet. (Note: the Diva cup manufacturers recommend replacing the cup every year, but manufacturers of other silicone cups, like the Moon Cup, claim you can use a cup for up to 10 years. I had already decided that I was going to get more than a year out of my cup.)

The Diva Cup comes in two sizes, and, at the time I bought mine, the smaller size was for women who had never given [vaginal] birth. In the months after G’s cesarean birth, this seemed one small positive — I could still use my smaller size menstrual cup — yay!

But for some reason, my trusty Diva cup wasn’t working. I remembered there had been a bit of a learning curve when I first started using it, so I double checked that I was doing everything correctly.

In the process of hunting around the Diva cup website, I came across their updated sizing recommendation, that ALL women over age 30, regardless of having ever given birth (and all women, regardless of age, who have given birth vaginally OR by Cesarean), should use the larger size cup (Model 2).

Humph, so much for getting more use out of my original cup!

I shelled out the thirty-five dollars for a new, “Model 2” Diva Cup, only to be met by more failure. I couldn’t get either size Diva Cup to fit correctly and comfortably and not leak, and I was almost ready to throw in the cup!

Then I came across Glad Rags, and their 90-day, money-back guarantee on the Moon Cup, another silicone menstrual cup. After consulting with a customer service rep, I chose the larger size Moon Cup (size A), placed my order, and hoped for the best!

After several months of use, I’m pretty happy with my Moon Cup. It is very similar to the Diva Cup, but, for whatever reason, it works for me, while the Diva Cups don’t (even though the smaller Diva had worked for me, for over a year). Both are medical grade silicone, but the Moon Cup seems to be slightly more flexible (and perhaps thinner?) than the Diva.

Moon Cup on the left, Diva Cup on the right

My only complaint: The Moon Cup does not work when I am lying down. This means that I still have to use a tampon sometimes, usually overnight on my heaviest nights, which averages out to about three nights a month — not perfect, but not bad!

I’ve also realized that, thanks to the comfort level with my body that developed while using a menstrual cup, I can use tampons without applicators, which really cuts down on the waste when I do need to go that route.

Garden update: May 2014

The cold winter and chilly start to spring delayed some things in the garden, but never fear — gardening is happening!

The garlic survived the cold winter, and is growing well. The spring crops (beets, carrots, peas, cruciferous, greens, onions) are growing, but slowly. If we continue to have a hot May, the spinach and many of the cruciferous veggies may bolt before yielding much.

Most of the summer harvest crops are in the ground: tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, green beans, and squash. We are still babying the eggplant seedlings here, in pots, trying to get them large enough to stay ahead of the flea beetles. And we’re awaiting our shipment of sweet potato slips, but those can go in the ground any time now.

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Just a few quick pics — if you want the “fancy” version of the spring garden tour, see this post from two years ago.

We went from a few weeks of small asparagus and arugula harvests, to this past weekend, when Matthew returned home with the asparagus, plus bags of kale, collards, and rapa (another green you cook), AND over five pounds of arugula (most of which he sold to Local Harvest).

The strawberries are set, and some are starting to blush. If Sir is lucky, some will ripen before he leaves for Florida next week. If the birds decide to share, it looks like we might have a decent harvest of tart cherries this spring, as well.

How does your garden grow? What crop are you particularly excited about this year?

Super bikey weekend (the best kind)

I kicked the weekend off with a bike shop date on Friday night, followed by a full day of CyclingSavvy on Saturday. We wrapped things up with a Mother’s Day picnic by bike.

Bike shop date night
Matthew experienced significant knee pain during and after his first real ride on the Roadrunner. Turns out, we hadn’t really taken time to get fit when we picked her up from the bike shop, and the maximum height on the seat post we started with was a good two inches lower than Matthew needed it.

So on Friday night, we loaded Roadrunner on our trunk rack (drove it there rather than biking, for various logistical reasons). Getting it on there was definitely a two-person job, but it wasn’t too bad. As you can see, the bike is quite a bit longer than our car is wide, which made for some nervous driving, but we made it to The Hub and back with no problems. We spent quite awhile there, but it was a good use of time and a decent way to spend our weekly date night.

There was that awkward moment during the fitting when I realized that I was surrounded by men (the bike shop mechanics, who, I guess, are all road riders) with hairless legs. If nothing else, my decisions about body hair removal clearly mark me a non-roadie!

Anyhow, we now have an extra long seat post, with each of our positions etched into it, for easy swapping back and forth. We are probably going to do something different with the handlebars, probably more of a flat bar, perhaps with an adjustable stem so we can quickly and easily customize that aspect for either of us as well.

CyclingSavvy
Saturday morning I was up and on my bike by twenty after seven, headed for a full day of teaching CyclingSavvy. We had a small class (below our usual minimum of four students required to go ahead with the class), but it was completely worth it!

Two past CS grads joined us for the Road Tour portion as we trekked through U City, Clayton, and Brentwood. You can read Rebecca’s wonderful recap of the experience on her blog, Fiets of STyLe, and there are more photos here. This course is SO rewarding to teach!

By the time I reached home, I’d been out and about on the bike, in the sun and the heat for nine hours. Not long after G’s bedtime, I was on the couch and it was pass-out-o’clock.

Mother’s Day
I wanted something simple and low-key for Mother’s Day, and a picnic lunch at a local park fit that bill perfectly. We loaded up the Roadrunner and headed over early, to take advantage of cooler morning temps on what would be an almost 90-degree day.

Gabriel and I are clearly ready for careers as professional bike models, no?

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We wrapped things up by heading to Ted Drewes for some frozen custard, where the longtail got lots of attention. Gabriel wanted to eat his mini cone in his bike seat. After our frozen custard, we headed home to rest.

All-in-all, it was a very lovely weekend by bike!

Ruminations on Sir’s birth

Earlier this year, I finally caved to spousal pressure and started reading Robert Jordan’s epic fantasy series, The Wheel of Time. Relatively early in the series, the main character, Rand al’Thor receives a wound that, at least as of the sixth book, never heals. A wound that never quite heals often feels like an apt descriptor of the emotional and mental scar I carry from Sir’s unplanned cesarean birth.*

Sunday will mark my third year of celebrating Mother’s Day as a mother. Time — to process, to grieve, to heal — has helped, but there’s still something there, a nagging thing that won’t quite go away. Usually, I don’t allow myself to go down the “what-if” path, because “what-if” is not what was, or what is. But I do believe in learning from the past, and I’m intrigued by the whole birth process.

I covered the whole “should have had an ultrasound to determine baby’s position with certainty” / “could have tried any number of methods to turn him if I’d known he was breech” thing pretty well in the above-linked post. That is certainly the crux of the matter, but I’ve had a couple of other thoughts recently.

First, when my water broke at 39+1, we (me, Matthew, and my midwife) all assumed that I was going into labor. However, given what transpired in the next 24-hours, I rather suspect I had premature rupture of membranes (PROM), meaning that, yes, my water had broken, but neither my body nor my baby were really ready for labor: weak, erratic “contractions,” that really felt mostly like unpleasant cramps; never dilating past 2-3cm; and, in general, a complete lack of signs of active labor.

Second, and I would have to do more research on this, I wonder if we could have tried some of the methods for turning a baby after my water broke. I’ve read a couple of stories about breech babies flipping to head down during labor, which makes me think it might have been possible, though maybe that was before the membranes ruptured (?). At any rate, I don’t really remember even exploring this with the midwife once we were at the hospital.

Finally, I’m a bit conflicted about the whole idea of a birth plan. On the one hand, if you want to have a natural birth, in this day and age of over-medicalized, intervention-heavy births, you have to research and plan. On the other hand, all of the planning and visualizing my “ideal” birth were, at least in part, what made it so hard when things took a 180° turn.

I’m glad that I was informed and knew about my birth options, but how much did that contribute to the aftermath — the weeks and months of grieving my planned homebirth and the post-partum depression that lingered long enough to probably not really count as “post-partum” anymore?

That said, were I not rather set on sticking to having just one child, I would almost certainly be researching and planning a VBAC (and perhaps an HBAC), and I often give in to the temptation to read the wonderful VBAC birth stories shared by the International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN).

*Writing can often be cathartic and healing, but I wonder if this writing is more like picking at a scab.

Roadrunner specs and accessories

The folks at Xtracycle offer a few different build options for the Edgerunner, with different gearing and brakes, but once we decided we wanted an internal hub, it was cheapest to just buy the frame and build from there, rather than buy one of the stock bikes and swap parts.

First, a shout out to the Facebook group (R)Evolutions Per Minute: Cargo Bikes in the US. Cargo bike owners and enthusiasts graciously answered questions and provided input throughout the entire longtail selection and building process, and their help was invaluable. (R)Evolutions Per Minute is the Facebook group of the Less Car More Go cargo bike documentary project (learn more and check out the Kickstarter campaign).

Also, thanks again to The Hub (our LBS) for taking on this project (there are no official Xtracycle dealers in StL) and to the folks at Xtracycle, for taking time to answer our questions.

The Build

Edgerunner frameset w/ FSA Pig PRO headset
Alfine 11 Hub with parts kit and shifter
Alfine chain tensioner (needed on vertical dropout frame)
SRAM PC830 chains
45 tooth front ring and an 18 tooth or 20 tooth cog on the rear (we asked The Hub for this build per the recommendation from Splendid Cycles; I’d actually have to go out and count the teeth to see whether or not this happened)
Avid BB7 Brakes Front and Rear, with Shimano centerlock adapter in rear
Brake levers: a longer city/hybrid style
Upgraded Avid Slickwire Brake Cable and housing to improve brake modulation and power (especially in rear)
Wheels: Shimano Rhyno Lite Rims, Butted Spokes, Brass nipples, Shimano XT front hub
Schwalbe Big Apples in black, front and rear. 26 x 2.15 with k-guard for front, and 20 x 2.15 with raceguard for rear
FSA Metropolis Cranks with Shimano UN-55 Bottom Bracket
Handlebar: Stock bar from a Kona Dew Delux that we tried and liked in the shop, similar to Civia Humbolt Handlebar
Kalloy UNO seatpost (will be swapping for a longer one, to accommodate Matthew’s height)
Dimension (or similar) stem
Hobson Easyseat noseless saddle — an extra one we already had
Shimano SPD pedals with SPD on one side, platform on the other

Xtracycle Accessories

FlightDeck [Two] rear deck: the new version has ports for the Yepp Easyfit seat built into the deck — this is both good and bad . . .
KickBack center kickstand
X2 cargo bags: We opted for the more expensive, waterproof X2 bags, rather than the X1 bags. We were warned that they might not play nicely with the Yepp seat. That is true, although we may not have fared much better with the X1 bags (more on that in a minute)
Standard Xtracycle racks: we liked the idea of the heavy duty P-racks, which also have the benefit of rails to accommodate any pannier, but the P-racks are taller than the standard racks, which would have meant a higher center of gravity for the rear load, so we stuck with the standard
Stock Edgerunner fenders (metal): Fenders are a must, and, with the different wheel sizes, it was easiest to order the set from Xtracycle, which comes with a 26″ front and a 20″ rear — the fenders provide great coverage and are very sturdy

Baby Jake on the left, Roadrunner on the right

Our Add-ons

Two brackets for use with our Planet Bike rear lights
One bracket for our Planet Bike “be seen” front headlight
This accessory mount for the handlebar
Mounting bracket for our Cygolite MityCross “see” headlights — for now, we moved the bracket from Matthew’s back-up bike, but at some point we may order an extra bracket
Water bottle cage (we had an extra sitting around)
Standard bike bell

IMG_4008_Edit — Front light mounts and bell

The FlightDeck doubled as a convenient tool stand while installing the rear light brackets

Child seat and bag compatibility issue

We were warned by Xtracycle that the Yepp Child Seat might not play nicely with the X2 cargo bags — specifically, that we would not be able to use the lids that are an integral part of making the X2 bags waterproof. Thinking long-term, we opted for the X2 bags anyway — in a couple of years, G will have outgrown the child seat, and we’ll have fully-functional bags — until then, we’ll just have to make sure cargo is protected from rain some other way.

Unfortunately, the compatibility issue seems to be exacerbated by the new FlightDeck design. The previous design required the use of the Yepp Easyfit adapter, which meant the Yepp seat was mounted a couple of inches above the cargo deck. While the new design, with the Yepp Easyfit ports built right into the cargo deck, is an improvement in terms of keeping the child’s weight lower and not having to buy the adapter, those extra vertical inches may have been key to the seat and the cargo bags playing nicely together.

The footrests on the Yepp seat, which straddle the cargo deck, do not fir over both the deck and the inside layer of the cargo bag when the seat is in the front port. For our initial test ride, we had to use the rear port for the Yepp seat, which put G’s weight further back on the bike, creating more balance issues.

The following morning, we came to the above compromise: we returned the Yepp seat to the front port and scrunched the bags toward the back of the rack, so the front of the cargo bag is behind the Yepp footrest. Not ideal, but seemingly our best option.

A note on the frame color

Though you can’t see much of the frame, what you can see in the pictures in this post actually come close to depicting the actual color. I did a little digging on the Crayola website, trying to find a way to describe our frame color, and found . . .

. . . robin’s egg blue! I think that is the closest color match I’ve seen.

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*Writing can often be cathartic and healing, but I wonder if this writing is more like picking at a scab.

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