My Great-aunt Doris has several women’s magazine prescriptions. After the magazines have made their rounds through the family, they end up coming to me so I can pick through them for recipes etc. Going through a stack of them this weekend I discovered an article in Ladies Home Journal (July 2010) by Catherine Bolgar (who I now believe is a complete idiot) on Birth Control that struck me the wrong way.
In my opinion, there were several misleading statements and an overall underplayed message about women’s fertility. Even our journalism is continuing this cycle of not educating women about their fertility and how their body works. It disturbs me greatly.
The first and second sentence of the article rubbed me the wrong way: “It seems as though every week another celebrity is talking about her quest to have a baby. There’s so much focus on infertility in the media these days that it’s easy to forget you can get pregnant right up until menopause.” WHAT? There is very little TRUE information about infertility in the media. The “celebrities” CHOOSE to have IVF, Multiples etc because they WANT to, not because they HAVE to. Thank you Ladies Home Journal for being so blasé about a very real issue that is certainly NOT discussed as it should be in the media.
Under the category of Single and Dating, one of the methods recommended is an IUD. “is much less trouble and works up to 12 years with lowest failure rates.” No mention of what COULD happen should you get pregnant with an IUD or the increasing frequency of pregnancies, ectopics and miscarriages with the IUD, not to mention that IUD’s can move with as little as a 10 pound weight increase or drop. More and more information is being learned about IUD’s, and info is changing all the time, for them to be so flippant about recommending this to a young woman.
Then there is the contradictory statements: “It can take you as long as a year to get pregnant after stopping Depo shots.” Very next sentence: “Talk to your doctor if you have trouble conceiving six months after suspending birth control.” Well, if it takes you up to a year as a healthy couple or AFTER suspending the shots, shouldn’t you wait 12 months before getting panicky? They go on to say, “the doctor uses the date you last ovulated to calculate your baby’s due date.” Why NO, no they don’t. They use your OVULATION date IF YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS, which the majority of women don’t and thanks to YOUR article probably won’t. They use the first cycle day (day 1 of your last period) and add 14 days to get an ESTIMATED Due date.
By this time I’m getting highly irritated at the complete lack of intelligence in the article but the next paragraph lends a doozy. “You can get pregnant a month after the baby is born, especially if you’re not breast-feeding.” Whoa. 1) I would hope you aren’t having sex in that first month as it is doubtful the doctor will release you for 6 weeks so shouldn’t that be 2 months? 2) The way that sentence is written leads you to believe if you are breast feeding you won’t get pregnant. WRONG.
Not ONE explanation of how your body works, the varying times of ovulation, not relying on the 14 day method etc. At the very end of the article they do a chart of options and the very last option with a blip for explanation: “Monitoring Your Fertility-This method has no hormones and is inexpensive but somewhat complicated. Has a high failure rate of 3-25%.”
O.M.G. No explanation as to WHAT it is, HOW you do it, etc. How fucking complicated is taking your damn temperature every morning and plugging it in to a chart? How hard is it to write a three sentence semi explanation and refer them to books or online resources should they want to investigate this method further. The whole article is promoting the IUD and even talks about sterilization but can’t even mention properly how to monitor your fertility or lack thereof?
This outdated view of requiring medical intervention, procedures or hormone inducing contraceptives pisses me off. We are not TEACHING women about our bodies and how they work and giving them the proper view of responsibility, we are shoving medications down their throats without blinking an eye. What kind of “journalist” and “women’s magazine” promotes that kind of misinformation? Do they really think they are helping women or are the writer’s and editors just that stupid?
The tag line touts “There are lots of choices…Here’s how to decide which method makes the most sense for your body and your life stage.” Yet, they do not give you real information, or an accurate overview. Way to go Ladies Home Journal. I am one of the least “crunchy” people I know, but I do not believe in belittling a woman’s intelligence and giving out such poorly written and researched information. You are officially off my reading list and I will shout it from the highest hills that you are the poorest choice for women’s health issues. You are basically a magazine with fluff ads on surgical weight loss and facelifts but have no care to represent what the majority of women NEED to know. How does it feel to be complete journalistic sell outs to your advertising dollars? You make me sick.
Showing posts with label charting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label charting. Show all posts
Monday, October 4, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
McFatty Monday: Finally a little progress!
Another week has come and gone. It’s insane how fast the time is going. Summer is half over, fall is just around the corner. I feel like I need to start Christmas shopping!
I finally started exercising this week on a consistent basis. A dear friend of mine, Beth, has been driving over with her dog and we have been walking ½ mile to a mile and then swimming laps afterwards. Our workouts have been consistently about an hour. On the few days she hasn’t come, I have done about 30 minutes in the pool. So last week I worked out Tuesday through Sunday, everyday in addition to gardening for several hours.
So how did I do on the food portion? Well, not great but not bad. My carb intake was WAY Too high but my calories and nutrition wasn’t bad. See, I have this little problem in the summer time. It’s called a fresh ripe tomato. When I have those in my garden I practically LIVE on turkey, lettuce and tomato sandwiches. They are so yummy, quick and I don’t feel weighted down afterward. I tried to stir things up with baked chicken, garden salads and boiled eggs. I had another little issue: Homemade Blueberry muffins with fresh picked blueberries. Again, CARBS.
My portion sizes weren’t bad, none of the items were that bad, but again, with PCOS I’m supposed to stay away from the carbs: sandwich bread, muffins, and fruit…all carbs. ::sigh::
Then last night disaster struck. Yesterday afternoon during our workout after church, I was hit with sharp abdominal pain. I went in to use the potty and was immediately wracked with coughing, puking, stabbing pain. It was awful. It was a throwback to my cyst rupturing, my gall bladder going bad and even my m/c pain though not quite as severe. Enough to have me crying and curled up in the fetal position though. My husband brought me some of the oxycodine pills from my M/C aftermath and that helped dull the pain and let me sleep through part of it. My parents came down and I was not up to swimming with them again or grilling out as I had never made it to the grocery store anyway. So we ordered pizza. I ate two slices of Pizza Hut, Stuffed Crust Veggie Pizza with no sauce.
A little ray of sunshine this morning was that I had lost two pounds, despite the pizza. So that’s good right? I’ve got to keep the exercising up! I think that’s the answer to getting over this weight loss hump. Hopefully this abdominal pain will go away soon. It’s been somewhat manageable this morning but it has already flared up on me once today causing me quite a bit of discomfort and agony here at work. I have a Dr’s appt scheduled at 3. Maybe I will get some answers in a few hours.
Between the abdominal pain and the classes at church (we are moving forward with starting a community/church group for IF/loss sufferers in our area) the next two nights in addition to possible storms, I do not foresee being able to workout in the next two days but I’m not letting that deter me. I am planning on Wednesday being back on the exercise wagon. Really, two days off a week is not going to affect my exercise. Many people workout every other day anyway.
So this week is going to be yet another busy week with gardening, canning, classes, working out, work meetings and then preparing for the in-laws visit this weekend (which means cleaning my house!).
In other news, my chart looks half way decent this month. FF has flip flopped between day 16 and 17 for O so I’m not sure how good our timing is though. For now, I will hold out a little hope as it’s the most decent looking chart we’ve had since starting the Clomid again.
I will probably test on Sunday if it still looks good so that if by chance I get a BFP I can get into the Dr. on Monday for Progesterone and Beta tests. Fingers crossed.
How is everyone else doing this week?
Metta (who hosted McFatty Monday this week and did an excellent job! You go girl and rock out that bathing suit!) asks
I finally started exercising this week on a consistent basis. A dear friend of mine, Beth, has been driving over with her dog and we have been walking ½ mile to a mile and then swimming laps afterwards. Our workouts have been consistently about an hour. On the few days she hasn’t come, I have done about 30 minutes in the pool. So last week I worked out Tuesday through Sunday, everyday in addition to gardening for several hours.
So how did I do on the food portion? Well, not great but not bad. My carb intake was WAY Too high but my calories and nutrition wasn’t bad. See, I have this little problem in the summer time. It’s called a fresh ripe tomato. When I have those in my garden I practically LIVE on turkey, lettuce and tomato sandwiches. They are so yummy, quick and I don’t feel weighted down afterward. I tried to stir things up with baked chicken, garden salads and boiled eggs. I had another little issue: Homemade Blueberry muffins with fresh picked blueberries. Again, CARBS.
My portion sizes weren’t bad, none of the items were that bad, but again, with PCOS I’m supposed to stay away from the carbs: sandwich bread, muffins, and fruit…all carbs. ::sigh::
Then last night disaster struck. Yesterday afternoon during our workout after church, I was hit with sharp abdominal pain. I went in to use the potty and was immediately wracked with coughing, puking, stabbing pain. It was awful. It was a throwback to my cyst rupturing, my gall bladder going bad and even my m/c pain though not quite as severe. Enough to have me crying and curled up in the fetal position though. My husband brought me some of the oxycodine pills from my M/C aftermath and that helped dull the pain and let me sleep through part of it. My parents came down and I was not up to swimming with them again or grilling out as I had never made it to the grocery store anyway. So we ordered pizza. I ate two slices of Pizza Hut, Stuffed Crust Veggie Pizza with no sauce.
A little ray of sunshine this morning was that I had lost two pounds, despite the pizza. So that’s good right? I’ve got to keep the exercising up! I think that’s the answer to getting over this weight loss hump. Hopefully this abdominal pain will go away soon. It’s been somewhat manageable this morning but it has already flared up on me once today causing me quite a bit of discomfort and agony here at work. I have a Dr’s appt scheduled at 3. Maybe I will get some answers in a few hours.
Between the abdominal pain and the classes at church (we are moving forward with starting a community/church group for IF/loss sufferers in our area) the next two nights in addition to possible storms, I do not foresee being able to workout in the next two days but I’m not letting that deter me. I am planning on Wednesday being back on the exercise wagon. Really, two days off a week is not going to affect my exercise. Many people workout every other day anyway.
So this week is going to be yet another busy week with gardening, canning, classes, working out, work meetings and then preparing for the in-laws visit this weekend (which means cleaning my house!).
In other news, my chart looks half way decent this month. FF has flip flopped between day 16 and 17 for O so I’m not sure how good our timing is though. For now, I will hold out a little hope as it’s the most decent looking chart we’ve had since starting the Clomid again.
I will probably test on Sunday if it still looks good so that if by chance I get a BFP I can get into the Dr. on Monday for Progesterone and Beta tests. Fingers crossed.
How is everyone else doing this week?
Metta (who hosted McFatty Monday this week and did an excellent job! You go girl and rock out that bathing suit!) asks
How are you working through body image issues? What do you do when you find yourself on your own ledges of self loathing? How do you want to help your little ones, boys and girls, love themselves no matter what?Having always been overweight, I'm very self concious but I overcompensate for that sometimes by being a bitch. It's one of my biggest flaws (besides my roly poly stomach and waving underarms). I am proud of myself because I rarely give up. I threaten to, and I fall off the bandwagon, but in my life I have accomplished a lot and I hold my head high and DARE people to say anything to me about my flaws which includes my weight. There are more important things than a svelt physique thought being healthy should never be discounted. I try to remember everything I am good at and what my accomplishments are when I get on those loathsome ledges. I want to make sure that my children are very active and love being involved in activities that they enjoy so that they too have positive outlets. I want to insure that they have good habits in exercise and eating but also that they respect people's struggles and mind their manners. I will reinforce that all people are beautiful and as long as they continue to try and never give up on themselves, they should always hold their head high and be proud. Tomorrow is another day of this life's adventure.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Let me introduce you to my new BFF:
Mr. Enima. Never met him? well I was cordially introduced during a meltdown on Isle three in Food Lion today. Milk of Magnesia? Could Not Find it. There was Liquid Lemon Magnesium, and other Magna stuff but no Milk Of. There was more Colace and ExLax than I could shake a stick at but no MoM.
As I sat there, in tears, clutching my box of frozen spinach to my stomach, trying desperately not to shove it between my butt cheeks to soothe my sore bum with its icey goodness in front of the stock boys, I started to hyperventilate silently. After all, I have lost all dignity in the internet world by talking incessently about the state of my clogged ass for days, I'll be damned if I lose my Southern Lady rep at my local grocery store.
There, on the bottom shelf, winking up at me, was Mr. Enima. My mother had referred me to him earlier but I blew her off. Why would I possibly want to stick SOMETHING ELSE UP MY BUTT. I want things OUT OF MY BUTT.
In complete and utter desperation, I grabbed him (and went through the self check out line so as not to further my humiliation of waddling through the store with my ass cheeks tucked up under my spinal cord by having some teenager ring up my enima and then gossip about me when I walked out the door.
For two agonizing hours I procrastinated. I tried once more on my own, but it gets to a certain spot and becomes so painful that I know I can push it out. Quite frankly the enima terrified me though. I finally gave in. I was miserable and could not stand it (or sit) any more.
Now if you are like me and wonder how that thing is going to go up there, let me comfort you now, IT's PRELUBED! genius. I won't gross you with the details or the fact that I was so clogged I had to try twice. Fortunately, this thing is almost instantaneous. Maybe 1-2 minutes max and I was ready to go...with very little pushing. Was it wierd? OMG yes, but RELIEF. Sweet baby jesus, thank you lord, relief!
And with one little enima and bowel movement, I clogged the toilet. Why? WHY? Why should I have to deal with that TOO on top of this crap (literally?).
Anyway, it was quite impressive to say the least, and I now have NO FEAR of using an enima should the need ever arise again because those few moments of uncomfortable humiliation curled up on the bathroom floor with a gushing plastic bottle up my butt? (and the extra few moments retyping this?) are SO WORTH not walking around for four days with a painful cork.
Get thee an enima ladies. I promise. BEST FRIEND FOR LIFE! Now we can resume staring at our pretty charts and not discussing poop. YAY!
As I sat there, in tears, clutching my box of frozen spinach to my stomach, trying desperately not to shove it between my butt cheeks to soothe my sore bum with its icey goodness in front of the stock boys, I started to hyperventilate silently. After all, I have lost all dignity in the internet world by talking incessently about the state of my clogged ass for days, I'll be damned if I lose my Southern Lady rep at my local grocery store.
There, on the bottom shelf, winking up at me, was Mr. Enima. My mother had referred me to him earlier but I blew her off. Why would I possibly want to stick SOMETHING ELSE UP MY BUTT. I want things OUT OF MY BUTT.
In complete and utter desperation, I grabbed him (and went through the self check out line so as not to further my humiliation of waddling through the store with my ass cheeks tucked up under my spinal cord by having some teenager ring up my enima and then gossip about me when I walked out the door.
For two agonizing hours I procrastinated. I tried once more on my own, but it gets to a certain spot and becomes so painful that I know I can push it out. Quite frankly the enima terrified me though. I finally gave in. I was miserable and could not stand it (or sit) any more.
Now if you are like me and wonder how that thing is going to go up there, let me comfort you now, IT's PRELUBED! genius. I won't gross you with the details or the fact that I was so clogged I had to try twice. Fortunately, this thing is almost instantaneous. Maybe 1-2 minutes max and I was ready to go...with very little pushing. Was it wierd? OMG yes, but RELIEF. Sweet baby jesus, thank you lord, relief!
And with one little enima and bowel movement, I clogged the toilet. Why? WHY? Why should I have to deal with that TOO on top of this crap (literally?).
Anyway, it was quite impressive to say the least, and I now have NO FEAR of using an enima should the need ever arise again because those few moments of uncomfortable humiliation curled up on the bathroom floor with a gushing plastic bottle up my butt? (and the extra few moments retyping this?) are SO WORTH not walking around for four days with a painful cork.
Get thee an enima ladies. I promise. BEST FRIEND FOR LIFE! Now we can resume staring at our pretty charts and not discussing poop. YAY!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
I'm a Procrastinator, In Case You Didn't know
Most people have to be talked down from POAS too early. 7 dpo, if their chart looks good, they are itching to cock their leg on a pretty pink stick like a dog marking its territory.
This very feminine response is somehow absent from me. POAS scares the bajezus out of me. I haven't ever used that many in my lifetime. One or two when I first started trying but in the past 2 years? TWO. Both were positive within a day of each other. The second one was because I simply didn't believe the first one.
Last month I had to pee at the Dr.'s office before I had the lung scans just to make sure. The nurse and Dr. were so callous towards me anyway and their delivery of the news that it was negative hurt me deeply. They were so flippant about it, but these were the most rude, uncaring dr.'s I've ever come across in my lifetime. Seriously. I guess being a lung specialist doesn't require you to care about anyone. But I digress.
So despite the fact that I'm 16 dpo, I continue to put off buying a pregnancy test. TCOYF says that if you go 18 dpo above the cover line, you are pregnant. Well, no discredit to you, TCOYF, but I'm not buying it until I see a positive test even though that's EXACTLY what happened to my last BFP.
Why you ask? Because not only am I a procrastinator, but I'm also a pessimist. Let me count the reasons I am not pregnant:
1) I have no clue if we had sex remotely close to the right time (DH thinks we did).
2) We didn't use Preconcieve and I have sucktastic CM if any at all.
3) I've never ovulated on my own
4) My body hates me.
5) My temperatures are hovering, not really rising
But to be fair, I'll recount why I COULD be.
1) I had INSANE, unexplainable back pain around my kidneys for several days which is identical to what I felt with the first BFP.
2) I'm having more gas than normal (and this morning the gas bubbles are hovering in my back and it hurts like hell).
3) Stupid FF is showing a tentative ovulation.
4) My temperatures are hovering which again, is reminiscent of my BFP.
I'm scared. I'm scared of seeing a negative after this hope. I'm scared of seeing a positive after what we went through last time. Therefore, I'm putting off POAS. If I put it off long enough, my head tells me AF will show up (but if miracle of miracles I AM PREGNANT, I know this isn't true.)
This very feminine response is somehow absent from me. POAS scares the bajezus out of me. I haven't ever used that many in my lifetime. One or two when I first started trying but in the past 2 years? TWO. Both were positive within a day of each other. The second one was because I simply didn't believe the first one.
Last month I had to pee at the Dr.'s office before I had the lung scans just to make sure. The nurse and Dr. were so callous towards me anyway and their delivery of the news that it was negative hurt me deeply. They were so flippant about it, but these were the most rude, uncaring dr.'s I've ever come across in my lifetime. Seriously. I guess being a lung specialist doesn't require you to care about anyone. But I digress.
So despite the fact that I'm 16 dpo, I continue to put off buying a pregnancy test. TCOYF says that if you go 18 dpo above the cover line, you are pregnant. Well, no discredit to you, TCOYF, but I'm not buying it until I see a positive test even though that's EXACTLY what happened to my last BFP.
Why you ask? Because not only am I a procrastinator, but I'm also a pessimist. Let me count the reasons I am not pregnant:
1) I have no clue if we had sex remotely close to the right time (DH thinks we did).
2) We didn't use Preconcieve and I have sucktastic CM if any at all.
3) I've never ovulated on my own
4) My body hates me.
5) My temperatures are hovering, not really rising
But to be fair, I'll recount why I COULD be.
1) I had INSANE, unexplainable back pain around my kidneys for several days which is identical to what I felt with the first BFP.
2) I'm having more gas than normal (and this morning the gas bubbles are hovering in my back and it hurts like hell).
3) Stupid FF is showing a tentative ovulation.
4) My temperatures are hovering which again, is reminiscent of my BFP.
I'm scared. I'm scared of seeing a negative after this hope. I'm scared of seeing a positive after what we went through last time. Therefore, I'm putting off POAS. If I put it off long enough, my head tells me AF will show up (but if miracle of miracles I AM PREGNANT, I know this isn't true.)
Monday, November 30, 2009
Crapcrapcrapcrap
DH and I have been so careful about using condoms. Less careful about temping but really, what is the likelihood I can even ovulate on my own much less on the miscarriage cycle? (and to boot without the aid of Preseed lube).
Last night, during a passionate interlude on the sofa, we got a little carried away and didn't bother with protection.
Low and behold, my temperature shot up this morning from the norm. Granted I'm on day 35 so its probably a fluke (or the beginnings of a cold or Swine Flu since I was possibly exposed to that this weekend...thanks SIL).
Momentary freakout ensuing (hopefully to go away tomorrow morning). Flame away for my carelessness.
Last night, during a passionate interlude on the sofa, we got a little carried away and didn't bother with protection.
Low and behold, my temperature shot up this morning from the norm. Granted I'm on day 35 so its probably a fluke (or the beginnings of a cold or Swine Flu since I was possibly exposed to that this weekend...thanks SIL).
Momentary freakout ensuing (hopefully to go away tomorrow morning). Flame away for my carelessness.
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