reusable menstrual products

My friend is making a zine, and I told him I'd write something about reusable menstrual products for his zine. So here goes!

Every month is the same, the mad dash to the store to buy pads and tampons. They are expensive, they leak, and they can cause allergic reactions and toxic shock syndrome. So why do we keep buying them? Most of us don't know there is an alternative. But there is! SO get rid of the plastic, paper and bleached cotton and get into something comfortable.

Lets start with pads which are made from layers of absorbant fabrics (cotton, hemp, flannel) which a lady uses while she is menstruating or during postpartum bleeding. After use, they are washed, dried and then reused. There are many options. You can even make your own cheap with minimal sewing skills (who else is gonna see them? they don't HAVE to be pretty). Personally my favorites are "pocket" type where the insert(s) can come out for washing. Basically you have a pad with wings that snap around your undies. Easy right? They might need to be changed more frequently, but the best part is you can customize the absorbency. You can also get fancy ones with organic bamboo velour, fun prints, waterproof backing, etc. They might seem like a big upfront cost, but remember that they will last a long time if taken care of. All you need to do is toss them in the washing machine. I use to wash them with my kids cloth diapers when my kids were little, now I just throw them in with the regular laundry. Sometimes they stain, but most of the time they don't. A good number to start with is 6-8 then go from there. You can always get more, wash more, etc. It is really up to you. Some of the best advantages of cloth pads are: they are eco-friendly, they are less likely to cause rashes, they don't smell the way disposable pads do after wearing them.

Next is the menstrual cup. Made out of silicone or latex. These cost about $25 and go inside the vagina to catch the blood similar to a tampon. Empty a few times a day and you are all set. Menstrual cups are safe and have no risk of toxic shock syndrome. Most cups last 5-10 years. Say goodbye to late night runs to the store to buy tampons. Also it pays for itself after a few months of use. It does have a learning curve to using it. But by the second cycle most people have it down. I have used mine for 5 years now with no complaints, taken it camping, gone swimming, used it overnight, and used it at work. When out and about it is a good idea to put on a cloth pad or liner while using the menstrual cup in case you can't get to a bathroom to empty it right away.

Some links to check out for reusable cloth pad patterns are
http://sites.google.com/site/shewhorunsintheforest/
http://sewgreen.blogspot.com/2007/05/cloth-pads.html
General cloth pad info:
http://partypantspads.com/sale/cloth-pad-curious-giveaway  (they will give you a free cloth liner, just pay shipping!)
http://www.gladrags.com/
http://lunapads.com/
And for the reusable menstrual cup check out:
http://www.divacup.com/
http://www.keeper.com/

cookies and ice cream!

Friday Alexa was home from school all day. Blake has surgery coming up on Tuesday. Blake's favorite toy blues clues dog has been missing for a few weeks (and he misses the dog lots) so we went to the mall to get a new Blue. I wanted Blake to have his beloved Blue for his surgery since it is his "favorite pal". We picked it out and headed off to explore the mall. Each kid also got a build a bear outfit for their already existing build a bears. We went to the play area, played trains at barnes and noble and just walked around. They were being really well behaved and it was nearing dinner time, so we went to friendly's. Each kid ate and got their kid-sized ice cream after.

                         Blake is fond of the BLUE m&m's. BLUE is his favorite color right now

Yesterday we just hung around the house. After dinner we baked cookies. The kids approved that they were good.

I love that my iphone camera is silent. I can actually get good pictures of Blake now since he has no idea he is getting his picture taken.


Here's some other random pictures from the last 2 days.

First one is me and Alexa. I'm not use to long hair. I will be redreading it in a month or two and I cannot wait. I hate having long hair, but when I did my dreads last time, they weren't sectioned great and my hair was a bit too short. I'm also not use to the glare on my glasses every time I take a picture. grr.

Second is Alexa's kitten Luke. After anyone takes a bath or shower, he hops in the tub and licks the sides and then lays down. odd little kitty. Our new apartment has this huge beautiful claw foot tub. I just wish it wasn't so abused and stained. Trust me what you see is a huge improvement from when we moved in. But it really needs to be refinished and I'm not going to take on that kind of project when we won't be staying here for more than a year.

sunday-thursday

Sunday 1/9/11 I worked, which was pretty quiet, no calls in 16 hours.

yeah that's my sad van dash with over 200000 miles. Hopefully this march, it will be replaced with something newer.

Poor Blake had 3 nose bleeds on Sunday. He is not a fan of them, and generally just freaks out and lets the blood run everywhere because he doesn't like me holding a towel up to his nose and he refuses to do it himself most of the time.

***********************************************************************************
Monday 1/10/11 was back to school for Alexa and Jeremiah. Jeremiah leaves at 5am, so I am getting up with both kids and walking Alexa to school every morning and home in the afternoons. At the new school she is getting homework. She loves the new school and I think she will do really well there.

***********************************************************************************
Tuesday 1/11/11 was more of the same waking up and walking to school with both kids. Blake and I went to target while Alexa was at school (wow I have an exciting life, I'm blogging about going to target while one of my kids is at school). Tuesday also was the day that the laundry detergent bottle fell off the washing machine and exploded all over the floor. THEN the washing machine drain overflowed when I washed the overly soapy towels. Jeremiah had his weekly shadowrun game night, which meant it was laundry night for me. Alexa got to stay up late and eat chinese food with everyone. I was sleepy and hung out with Blake. Blake picked his "purple" jammies that night, which are more pink, but he was happy.

***********************************************************************************
Wednesday 1/12/11 I didn't take any pictures, instead I spent most of the day shoveling out the front walkway (I have a landlord who doesn't believe in prompt snow removal) and then cleared off my car. It was really TOO much snow. The news website said it was 26 inches! I couldn't walk. Alexa went outside around noon and lasted about 10 min because the snow was just too deep for her. That and she left her snow boots in the van and I wasn't going to get them just yet, she was impatient and decided to wear rain boots out in the snow and then realized that rain boots didn't keep the snow out that well because they are open in the top. I also braided Alexa's hair so that it could be
crimped when she took it out. It has been much easier to deal with in braids. Then by the evening she got feverish and her ear started to leak again. Thankfully we had a full bottle of ear drops from last time she had an ear infection (they gave us too much) and we started on those since we just moved and her current doctor is an hour away, plus it was a snow storm and I wasn't going anywhere. All they would do is call in the ear drops anyways. Saved me a trip.
***********************************************************************************
TODAY 1/13/11 Today was spent at "jimmies" (jeremiah's mom) house hanging out and playing in the snow. Alexa had fun in the snow and crawled around outside for a while. Blake went outside with her for about 10 min and then his boot fell off and I had to go rescue him. The snow was so deep for him. He was having a hard time today with his SPD before and after his brief outdoor time. Here's some links about SPD for those unfamilliar.
http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/     http://www.spdfoundation.net/



Now I'm at work and about to go to sleep. Here is my bed for the night. 

Snow day!

We woke up to snow today. About 3-4 inches. Blake and Alexa were really excited about the snow and hoped to go sledding. Alexa had to go to her bio dads house and Blake was hanging out with me while Jeremiah was working. After clearing off the car we headed out to the north east part of the state. Unfortunatly for the kids, they got considerably less snow than we got at home. Blake and I dropped Alexa off (she took her sled dispite only an inch of snow) and headed over to my grandparents. My grandpa was out and my grandma was home. No one had shoveled yet, so Blake and I took it upon ourselves to shovel for them. Blake had a blast with the little shovel and made "train tracks" and "painted the car white" while I did the bulk of the shoveling. Thankfully it didn't take very long and we had a lot of fun.

Once inside we watched some Diego (we don't have cable at home so going to my grandparents is a treat for TV) and I worked on Alexa's scarf which I started last night.