Blog From A Broad

you know you're getting a bit mental when...

...you find yourself getting really excited about your period. Maybe this needs a bit of context. Hmm nah, it'll probably still sound insane. The point is, I was really pleased to discover that this month (my first month off the pill), I had a "near perfect" 24 day cycle. I have been on the pill for approximately one kajillion years, off and on. During the times I wasn't on the pill, my periods were incredibly wonky. I'd go up to 6 months without one and then have a rip roarin' time for 2 weeks (or more) when it finally arrived. I was a lot fatter then, smoked, and was always stressed out, so perhaps things have become better now as a result of my healthier, less stressed lifestyle. Or maybe after this month, my next period won't happen until Halloween. Who knows. Still, I'm pretty excited. On a different note, I have been reintroduced to the world of PMS/PMT. A world with which I have been unfamiliar for many years and my brain has (deliberately?) forgotten. It wasn't too bad but it does explain some of the weirdness I wrote about a week ago.



I've also started taking my temperature every morning and marking it down faithfully in my little Boots fertility chart thingy. I always thought that when books recommended taking your temperature, it meant to take it...erm...down there with some sort of special thermometer. It made sense to me at the time - wasn't it to see if your body was at the right temperature for successful fertilisation? I can't be the only one who thought this. When I told my Mom that I got a funky new digital thermometer to take my temperature, she said that my aunt (a nurse) has a fancy one that takes it in a couple of seconds via the ear...but that it wouldn't be of much help for my purposes. Well, at least we know where I get some of my logic from.



I started reading "The Best Friend's Guide to Pregnancy" by Vicky Iovine, which has been annoying me for a couple of reasons. One, it's very American (it's not really a tangible complaint that I can describe very well, but suffice it to say that some of the writing style made me cringe slightly) and two, whoever "translated" it into Britspeak from American didn't really do a very good job of it, and I find that distracting. What is the point of changing certain references like "fill my car with gas" to "fill my car with petrol" but leave in references to Judge Judy and Chippendale dancers? I think you might as well leave anecdotal books like this in its original "language" because most people in the UK know what gas and PMS are. Otherwise, it's not a bad book but it's not quite for me (and in fact, I found it kind of depressing). I loved reading through Miriam Stoppard's "New Pregnancy and Birth Book", maybe because it's straightforward and has lots of fascinating pictures and diagrams (what can I say, I'm part of the TV generation and we need lots of colours and short simple bits of information). Most importantly, I take everything with a grain of salt and understand that every woman is different. No book can tell me exactly what my pregnancy will be like, but it'll be nice to have some references on hand.



Gosh, that was a long and rambly post. Sorry about that. Hormones, you see.