Category Archives: Health

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.

IMG_3298
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.

 

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.*

IMG_6053

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.

IMG_6026

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.

IMG_6046

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.

On the bike: Over the weekend

I started my Saturday with a short trip to a meeting about school options in St. Louis City.  It’s a pretty hot topic if you have kids and want to stay in the city, and I appreciated our neighborhood group going to the effort of getting representatives from a number of school options (public, charter, and parochial) all in one place.

A local Catholic high school hosted the event.  I was disappointed when this sign greeted me upon arrival.

0412140843-00

Ugh!  So much for my hopes of finding a nice bike rack at the main entrance to the building.  While I know this is not an uncommon occurrence, I feel like the tide against this type of signage (and the policies they represent, which discourage active transportation) is turning.  This school needs to get with the program!

[A physical activity related side-note: One of the school reps at the event was excited because her school had PE and yoga once a week (as well as 50 minutes/day of recess).  Perhaps I remember wrong, but I feel like I had PE every day in elementary school.  I know this is one of the first things many schools cut, which is sad, for both the physical and school performance/behavior ramifications.]

0412140843-01

I resisted locking Baby Jake to the column with the sign on it only because this column actually had a narrower metal pole behind it (hidden in the photo), which worked better with my U-lock.  Fortunately, despite the sign, Baby Jake was still there, unmolested, when I returned.

Hot bike hair
Saturday’s biking in mid-80-degree temperatures was also my first experience of warm (hot, really, in my book) weather biking with shorter hair.  As I suspected, this in-between length (long enough to be on my neck, but too short to pull back completely) is not going to fly during hot weather.

If I let it keep growing, I could probably pull it back by June, but I think I may take the plunge and really truly chop it for the summer, then, unless I want to keep it very short, I’d hope it would grow enough over the winter that I can pull it back this time next year.

Sunday, rain day, bike day
Since Matthew spends most Saturdays at the garden, Sunday is the only day all three of us have together, and we like to make the most of the time.  We decided to laugh at the rain and bike to the Botanical Garden for a morning outing.  We departed under looming rain clouds, and it was starting to spit just a bit when we made a doughnut detour a few blocks from the garden.

After locking our bikes up, we had time for a little outside stroll in light drizzle, before ducking into the Climatron.  While we were in the Climatron, the skies opened up, and there was a decent little shower, but we were nice and dry inside.

I was wishing we had smartphones so we could check the radar and look for a break for biking home, but a quick peek outside showed clearing skies to the west.  Not sure how long it would last, we headed back outside for a bit more walking before rendezvousing with our soggy bikes (well, mostly the helmets were soggy).

We also had to dump the water out of the IBert (it pooled in both the back of the seat and in the foot rests — guess they need drainage holes!), but it wasn’t a big deal.  We had great weather for the ride home, and I was glad we didn’t let the clouds scare us into the car.

Where did you ride over the weekend?

 

Birthday, biking bodies, and a new doc in town

Let’s start with a mystery photo, shall we?

IMG_3796[1]

Make your guess now . . . and all will be revealed later.

Birthday
Early April through early May is a big birthday month in my family.  This week we celebrated Matthew’s birthday with not one, but two, homemade pizza dinners (now Sir thinks we should have pizza for dinner every night), and two rounds of birthday cake.

I made a chocolate chip banana cake with peanut butter frosting.  I used this recipe for the cake, omitting the orange zest and adding about 2/3 c. chocolate chips.  The cake was not bad, but it seemed more banana bread than banana cake.  I’m not exactly sure of the difference between the two, but it wasn’t quite what I was going for.

The frosting, however, definitely said “cake!”  If you’re into peanut butter, you should definitely make this frosting (or perhaps not, as it may be hard to avoid eating the whole batch!).   I started with this recipe, and made a couple of tweaks: 1) reduced peanut butter by 1/8 – 1/4 cup, 2) replaced the missing peanut butter with 1/8 – 1/4 cup plain, whole fat yogurt, 3) omitted the milk, 4) added 1 t. vanilla, 5) sifted the powdered sugar.  It was tasting good and starting to come together, but an extra couple of minutes with the highest speed on the mixer really elevated this frosting to the light and airy level.

IMG_3864[1]

Then I got all fancy and melted chocolate to decorate the cake (I almost never bother with the “decoration” step, but I had fun here).  Also, there is extra peanut butter frosting, to be eaten on chocolate graham crackers.

Nothing like a birthday to make us reflect on health, right?

Matthew’s Knee
After I wrote this post, Matthew saw an orthopedic specialist who ordered an MRI.  The doctor expected to find some cartilage that needed to be removed, but the MRI came back clear, so instead of surgery, Matthew got physical therapy, aimed at correcting muscle imbalances in his leg that are making his knee cap rub when he bikes.

He has returned to biking, but the pain is not gone.  Both the physical therapy (an hour of exercises ev.er.y day) and the warmer weather seem to help, but in all honesty, surgery to remove some deteriorated cartilage would likely have been a quicker fix.

He’s also experimenting with clipless pedals again, so he can balance his muscles while biking, by getting the “pull up” motion, as well as the “push down.”  He used birthday money to purchase a pair of Keen cycling sandals, which, while not nearly as roomy as biking in Birks, have much more toe space than a standard bike shoe.

My Back
My back is my back.  After two visits to a chiropractor (the first followed by intense neck pain, that I tried to attribute mainly to sleeping wrong), I’ve decided that is not the route for me.  On the second visit, I gently mentioned the neck pain, not blaming her, but suggesting we stay away from that area.

This seemed like a perfectly reasonable request to me, given that the issue that brought me to her office was pain in the MIDDLE of my back.  I mean, I know it’s all connected, but still.   Unfortunately, this chiropractor (and I suspect most others would be similar) could NOT stay away from my neck, and my neck doesn’t seem to like chiropractic care.

I discovered that some sun salutations seem to help (if not cure) the pain, so I’m trying to do those daily, along with a few of my previous PT exercises.  That’s the current plan, given that the pain, if annoying in duration, is usually quite minimal and doesn’t really limit my activities — I can live with it.

If it gets out of hand, I can always go see our new doctor . . . .

DrGabe

. . . . Dr. Gabe!  He’s definitely into alternative healing; little pink super balls can work wonders, apparently.  Or maybe he just has a healing smile!

And now, to return to our mystery photo . . . perhaps not all that mysterious — if you guessed winter squash, you get the honor of being correct!  I love working with this variety of winter squash — a long, solid neck and very sweet flesh with a nice texture — and I loved how it looked on the tray after slicing.

My errand boy has a bum knee

Matthew has a couple of normal routes to/from work, that, with small detours, can easily include a stop at the library, a store on The Hill, or Local Harvest Grocery.  Since we’re rather heavy library users (we traded paying for Netflix for free DVDs from the library), having a branch conveniently located along his work commute is not only convenient, but rather essential for picking up holds and returning materials in a timely manner to avoid fines.

Part of Matthew’s motive in getting a road-ish bike (first the Surly, then the Salsa) was the hope that a different riding position/posture would address some ongoing knee pain he’s had since at least this time last year.  While the pain may just be an overuse thing, he’s been wondering if it’s related to the crash he had in the October 2012.  At the time, the severely sprained toe got all the attention, but it’s certainly possible he damaged his knee at the same time.

Anyway, after buying the Salsa, and then going through a series of bike fittings, adjustments, and part swaps (new handlebar stem, new saddle) to tweak his position on the bike, he hoped to resolve the problem, but the pain persists, and it seems that cycling is the one thing that aggravates it.

He has an appointment with a doctor, and he also decided to take a hiatus from biking to work.  This is a bummer on many levels: 1) instead of coming and going on his own schedule, he has to work around the bus schedule; 2) he’s not getting his usual physical activity; and 3) he can’t easily run the library and grocery errands.

For the time being, we’ve switched our library requests to the branch that is closer to our apartment (which is [usually] more convenient for me than the branch on his way to work).  The grocery errands end up being delayed until one or the other of us will be in the vicinity with the car (or until I will be in the vicinity on my bike), since I don’t usually have time to make a bike trip just to run that one errand.

For all of our sake’s (but mostly his), I hope we figure out the knee thing soon.  Biking is a great form of transportation, but while you certainly don’t have to be an Olympic athlete to commute by bike, it does depend on having a relatively healthy, able body.