Girly Stuff

[Eaquae Legit]

*another hug*

[Gravity Defier]

I have a cyst -that's the word I'm going with- in a "delicate" place that has me a little, though not overly, worried. Enough that I agreed, with myself, that if it didn't go away within a week or so, I'd schedule an appointment to have it checked out.

I think it's getting smaller, there have been some other signs that it wants to take care of itself, but I'm not a doctor and I'm not sure if I'm imagining the shrinkage.


Also, I'm being purposefully vague because apparently I'm inappropriately open/honest but at least a few people know what I'm talking about.


Anyway. It's Thursday, I discovered it Monday, and I was about to wave the little flag and say it probably won't be gone by next Monday, so I better schedule an appointment for that day, since it's the only time I could go, just to be safe and get some peace of mind.


And then I got my new and improved pay stub and I decided to hell with that. If this turns out to be some deadly but preventable/curable disease/illness, oh well!



All that to say, I'm still a little worried.

[Luet]

I have not actually seen any of these commercials on tv but, oh my goodness, they are hysterical. In an "I can't believe that they are real" kind of way.

[VelvetElvis]

please tell methose are not real. PLEASE.

[Gravity Defier]

I can't post in the other thread because, well, I'm not even getting into what I think on the topic with regards to myself but any of these would be fine for my "I don't need a man to want and get a pretty ring" ring:









If it ever became a possibility, though I seriously doubt that, just substitute all that for "engagement." I think I'll be buying myself something like that when I hit 30, which should (hopefully) just about coincide with being in Chicago for a year. It could be an anniversary present from the city to me.



As for one I already own but can't wear (and since it cost under $20 to get, I can't justify paying for one of the things Nomi linked to):



I got this ring on the last trip I took with my grandpa before he died.



Lastly, this should go in the wants thread but eh, I'm already in here.

I want enough money to be able to try boudoir photography (just for me to have and see) and an Ayurvedic organic massage.



ETA: I wore what I think is called a empress cut top today (band of fabric under the breasts, flows out underneath) and I felt really feminine without being skanky or uncomfortable. It helped me to really feel pretty. I liked that.

[Luet]

For an engagement type ring, I like the first one. For a regular ring, I like the last one.

[Gravity Defier]

I like them all equally, as either, but I'd also wear them all as a regular ring, so it's just a matter of what's available when I hit the big 3-0.

[Young Val]

I love opals; they're all gorgeous rings, Alea. I'd wear a few of them myself, the first one in particular.

[Eaquae Legit]

My engagement ring is an opal. The ring itself is shaped like the bottom one, but with little diamonds about the size of the the ones on the top one. Opals have always been a big favourite with me. So classic!

[VelvetElvis]

It's here! It's here!

My new bathing suit:


I've been wanting for years now, but I didn't know how it woud fit on me, considering my curves are much more present than that model's. But it's here! and it fits!

[Eaquae Legit]

ADORABLE! I am jealous!

[Petra456]

Super cute! Did you get it from Mod Cloth? They have that one and one similar that i'd love to have!

Meh, I bought a new swim suit last year and haven't had the chance to use it yet... We have no summer : (

[Jayelle]

I love it! It's awesome how old-fashioned styles make come-backs.

[steph]

Love it!! I want!!

[Luet]

Very cute! I had a similar one but navy instead of red.

[LilBee91]

Random question. Have any of you ever used the birth control that reduces your number of periods? It seems great in theory, but kind of grosses me out (what with the old, festering uterine lining).

[Jayelle]

I think Kim does. We discussed it at one point in this thread, let me find it. ETA: Here it is, page 15

I got my stupid period for the first time since Maggie was born. My body doesn't change. 8 months post-partum on the nose for both kids.

[powerfulcheese04]

Random question. Have any of you ever used the birth control that reduces your number of periods? It seems great in theory, but kind of grosses me out (what with the old, festering uterine lining).

Jan is right, I do! It's the second best medical decision I ever made (after having chronically infected tonsils removed.)

Your uterine lining doesnt sit in there and fester. the continuous hormones actually suppressess growth. My 4 periods a year are each lighter than any individual monthly period I had before I switched.

[Gravity Defier]

You know, I get at least one day of bad depression within a week of it, I get freaking acne about two weeks before, some awful cramps sometimes, tender breasts, and it is generally a pain in the ass, sometimes trying to schedule around it, messing with "feminine products" (and now imagining my fist being a talking vagina - fists and vaginas...no comment), feeling generally too gross to want to do much, including shower...but with all that said, I wouldn't go to fewer than 12 a year for anything. I'd take pills to help with the hormones but I wouldn't reduce the number. I'm not sure I could explain why.

[powerfulcheese04]

Apparently, a lot of women feel that way. My general feeling is that if I can beat my body into submission in something that I hate, WOO-f******-HOO! Though, I get that not everyone feels that way.

[LilBee91]

I think I could do with a few less periods. It seems a little unnatural, but then so does normal birth control. What can you do? If only you could just tell your body what to do--when to be fertile, when to have mood swings, when it was an okay time to menstruate... I'm all for beating the body into submission. (Mind, this is coming from a girl who has never taken an Advil or ibuprofen--but that's just because I don't want my body to be a wuss. And I can't swallow pills that easily.)

[Gravity Defier]

I definitely get the appeal. Let's see if I can even begin to say what's going on with my reasoning.


First, I consider myself a bit of a late bloomer with becoming (note, not all the way there yet) comfortable with my body. To be honest, there are still plenty of things that I question the normalcy of, that make me think, "I could have gotten away with asking about this when I was a teen but now...?" I kind of enjoy that this whole period thing makes me normal, I enjoy all the stuff I've figured out is normal about it, and I am enjoying the comfort I'm finally finding in being female. I don't tend to feel very feminine so this is kind of a "I'll take what I can get" thing.

Second, my periods were so wonky for the longest time (which is also normal to a degree) that I was concerned there might be issues, especially given my mom and grandma's histories. So I have also treated their happening as signs that I'm still healthy and, although it's not a legit thing to need to be reassured on given my lack of a sex life at the moment, not pregnant.

I don't know that I'd willingly give those reassurances up and I don't know that I'd get rid of one of the only things that makes me feel like a bona fide member of the female half of the species. I can't say never with any certainty but I can say, for now, that I really don't like the idea of it. I don't know if that makes any sense at all.

[LilBee91]

That make sense.

I feel a small bit of relief every month knowing that I'm not pregnant. Which is completely ridiculous because, last I checked, I'm not the Virgin Mary and haven't been participating in any forms of conception, immaculate or otherwise. But it's always nice to have a reminder, however inconvenient, that some things in life go as they should.

[VelvetElvis]

I have these moments of near panic when I think (for no particular reason at all) that I might be pregnant.

[Young Val]

Funny, I get a sad little moment of almost-disappointment when I get my period these days (actually, for the last year or so).

Logically, I know that I would prefer to plan to have a baby than to have a happy accident. I would like to be married first, and to have been married for a while so that we can just enjoy being a family of two before we become a family of three. But there is an AWFUL lot of fear-mongering out there about pregnancy post-30. And I'll turn 30 before I'm married, even. I know many 30+ women who have happy, healthy pregnancies, so I'm trying not to lose my cool completely, but seriously, people are AGGRESSIVE about waving the negative statistics around. It freaks me out.

[VelvetElvis]

Kelly, marriage does not a family make any more than a baby does.

[steph]

Sometimes I consider getting pregnant just to have a menstrual break. Knowing that my periods will be there until menopause will be a very depressing side-effect of having my tubes tied.

[Jayelle]

Funny, I get a sad little moment of almost-disappointment when I get my period these days (actually, for the last year or so).

Logically, I know that I would prefer to plan to have a baby than to have a happy accident. I would like to be married first, and to have been married for a while so that we can just enjoy being a family of two before we become a family of three. But there is an AWFUL lot of fear-mongering out there about pregnancy post-30. And I'll turn 30 before I'm married, even. I know many 30+ women who have happy, healthy pregnancies, so I'm trying not to lose my cool completely, but seriously, people are AGGRESSIVE about waving the negative statistics around. It freaks me out.

The best statistic I ever heard was from Dr. Sears.

"If a doctor says to a mother 'At age 35, you have five times the chance of having a Down Syndrome baby then you did at 20' that would scare many people from conceiving. Here's the real risk factors: At age 20, you had a 99.95% chance of not delivering a baby with Down Syndrome; at age 35, your changes are 99.75%. Doesn't that figure sound more reassuring?"

[steph]

Thanks, Jan. That's an awesome quote!!!

[Young Val]

Kelly, marriage does not a family make any more than a baby does.

So very true, Helen. Sometimes, even being biologically related doesn't make a family. I do think, though, that for me, being married will be different than just being engaged. Just I am finding the experience of being engaged is different than being just a girlfriend. And I want some time to experience just being a wife, before I also become a mother.

Also, Jan, that is awesome. And I'm promptly going to shove all other statistics out of my head until pregnancy is more imminent.

[VelvetElvis]

It IS so very, very different. I didn't think it would be, but it is!

[Eaquae Legit]

Funny, I get a sad little moment of almost-disappointment when I get my period these days (actually, for the last year or so).

Logically, I know that I would prefer to plan to have a baby than to have a happy accident. I would like to be married first, and to have been married for a while so that we can just enjoy being a family of two before we become a family of three. But there is an AWFUL lot of fear-mongering out there about pregnancy post-30. And I'll turn 30 before I'm married, even. I know many 30+ women who have happy, healthy pregnancies, so I'm trying not to lose my cool completely, but seriously, people are AGGRESSIVE about waving the negative statistics around. It freaks me out.

Kelly, my mom had her first baby at 29, and the last at 39. Not only did we turn out all healthy, but I sincerely believe that we benefited from all the experience she had gained in life before we came along. It's not the only way to do it (see, for example: Steph!), but I guess the key is having them when you're ready for them.

[Gravity Defier]

I have a cyst -that's the word I'm going with- in a "delicate" place that has me a little, though not overly, worried. Enough that I agreed, with myself, that if it didn't go away within a week or so, I'd schedule an appointment to have it checked out.

I think it's getting smaller, there have been some other signs that it wants to take care of itself, but I'm not a doctor and I'm not sure if I'm imagining the shrinkage.


Also, I'm being purposefully vague because apparently I'm inappropriately open/honest but at least a few people know what I'm talking about.


Anyway. It's Thursday, I discovered it Monday, and I was about to wave the little flag and say it probably won't be gone by next Monday, so I better schedule an appointment for that day, since it's the only time I could go, just to be safe and get some peace of mind.


And then I got my new and improved pay stub and I decided to hell with that. If this turns out to be some deadly but preventable/curable disease/illness, oh well!



All that to say, I'm still a little worried.

This is gone, now, and has been for at least a few days but most likely longer. I'm still going to bring it up in my next appointment in October (turning out to be a "busy" month for me) but I am immensely relieved by this.

This is going to sound stupid but I feel like this helped me pass another milestone in my whole "getting more comfortable with my body" goal/thing.

[Luet]

I actually think these things are fairly normal, though I don't know what they are called. I have gotten them on rare occasions and they eventually go away on their own.

[Gravity Defier]

Bartholin cysts, if I (with the help of CT on SR) self-diagnosed correctly. I am a worrier, so even though I knew then that it was normal, it still put me on edge. Especially fun was talking to my mom about it. Seriously, I was being a s*** but I have a weird sense of humor, so I would enjoy that talk.