This lack of pads and other feminine hygiene products is in no way related my ability to stock a bathroom cabinet. Each time I go shopping for these items I seem to buy more and more of them. I have bought them in bulk. I have bought one package and got the other one free. Somehow none of this matters, the more I put into the cabinet the more seem to disappear. It leaves me to wonder what she does with all these things. How can she possibly be using so many? Is there a black hole under my sink, or a pad stealing gnome?

Let me break it down for you. Like most women my age I have a pretty firm grasp on when I get my period each month. That being said, I am not a rocket scientist; I can’t predict the exact moment it will happen. Inevitably this leaves me in the same scenario each month. A day or two before I am due to get my period I check the cabinet and see pads. A day or two later when it comes a knocking I swing open the cabinet door only to see an empty bag.

Getting back to the question at hand, where are all the pads going? Is she giving them to the poor? Passing them out at school like party favors? Using them for arts and crafts? I decided to become a detective last month and I happened upon a few interesting discoveries. I found several unopened pads on her bedroom floor. However, that only accounted for some of my missing stash, so I pressed forward with my search. A good portion were recovered from a old purses and suitcases.

Is my daughter a hoarder of feminine hygiene products? Unlikely, if I am being honest I can remember my mother complaining to me that I went through too many pads and tampons each month. It is my belief that teens simply feel less secure in their ability to judge their feminine hygiene needs, so they take the “better safe than sorry” approach to stocking their suitcases and purses when they will be away from home. Plus, let’s face it most of them are too wrapped up in their own lives to think about putting back what they don’t end up using. Does this put the pads back under the sink where they belong? No, but at least I know where to look for them.

Okay, so I never had my own TV show, but I am 34 years old and I am the mother of a 16 year old daughter. Like many girls in my high school I got pregnant before I graduated when I was just 17 years old and I raised her as a single mom. Where was my reality TV series? Trust me, my story would have made for compelling TV. My daughter’s father and I had way more drama than Macy and Ryan from ‘Teen Mom’, or Adam and Chelsea from ‘Teen Mom 2’. Plus, like Kaitlynn from ‘Teen Mom 2’, I too had little help from my family in my daughter’s early years.

When I really think about it I can’t imagine putting myself out there for public scrutiny at such a young age. The girls on this show are treated like celebrities in many ways. They appear in tabloids and do interviews and press. Being a mother at such a young age was hard enough, I can’t imagine what it would have been like if everyone was outwardly judging me throughout the process. Anyone who has been a teen mom knows that you get enough dirty, disapproving looks and harsh comments being an average non-famous person.

I think it is safe to assume that when these young girls are making the decision to put themselves out there for this kind of judgement the money is a huge factor. Various sources including The Huffington Post, report that they make about $60,000 per season for being on one of the ‘Teen Mom’ shows. Since the stars of ‘16 and Pregnant’ only do one episode the reported figures are much less, about $5,000. None-the-less, coming from someone that was a “teen mom” that is an attractive sum of money. After all, young parents worry about more than just diapers and formula; many of them are trying to go to college too.

If this show was around when I was a teenager would watching it have helped me? Personally, I think it would have given me a better idea of what I was in for and maybe I would have been more careful. Despite what critics say, seeing this show is a new form of birth control in my opinion. Week in and week out we see screaming babies, fighting couples and despite the money they suffer financial hardships. So unless heartbreak and struggle are appealing I can’t see how this show glamorizes teen parenthood at all. That being said, I don’t regret my decision to be a “teen mom” at all because my daughter is irreplaceable and largely helped mold me into the woman I am today.

Take for instance my “first time.” It is not the thrilling story I always dreamed it would be. I had been dating my boyfriend Jerry for about 18 months when the “big night” happened. Despite a lot of intense flirting Jerry and I had never discussed having sex. We never asked one another about our sexual histories. The topic of when it would happen, where it would happen and what kind of protection we would use just never came up. Don’t get me wrong, Jerry and I spent hours on the phone every night. We talked around the topic of sex like it was the proverbial elephant in the room, but despite making many suggestive maneuvers and logging hours in calls it was obviously a topic we both wished to avoid like the plague.

Jerry and I got together every Friday and Saturday night. For the most part our evenings were pretty tame. Hanging out with friends, making out, listening to music. Normal teenage behavior; nothing out of the ordinary. We started dating when I was about 15 and continued dating right up until that fateful night.

The “big night” came in January. I was 16, soon to be turning 17. Sometimes we would all go roller skating on weekend nights, but this particular night we decided to hang out at my friend Jennifer’s house. Jennifer had very little supervision so her house was a popular choice for our group of friends when it came time to make plans. That night it was myself and Jerry along with Jennifer and her boyfriend Donny.

Jerry and I were alone in Jennifer’s bedroom making out. Fast-forward a few hours and hands started to wander farther south than normal. Typically, Jerry and I kept our activities above the waist, but on this night I guess we were feeling bold. After the touching over the clothes got boring one thing led to another and we tried to have sex, but it didn’t work.

How, you ask, does one fail at having sex? I direct you back to the beginning of this yarn. The mechanics of sex are complicated. Jerry and I being the novices that we were didn’t take our underwear off. We tried to just push mine aside and he just used the hole in his boxers to free himself. More experienced lovers may have been able to navigate these sexual hurdles, but for us it wasn’t in the cards. Penetration took place so technically it counts, but when I say the whole experience lasted for roughly two minutes before it popped out I am being generous.

After the technical difficulties occurred we both simultaneously stopped our session of passion. To this day I am not sure if I was alone in the feelings of awkwardness and inadequacy I felt in that moment because I broke up with Jerry about a week later. Being young and naive, I was too embarrassed to face him. Years later we reconnected, but I never had the guts to ask if it counted for him.

Now I’m most certainly not suggesting anyone stop having sex, if you get it on a regular basis. By all means, please enjoy it. I am however suggesting that if the situation arises where you’re no longer having sex (such as myself), you may want to experiment with giving yourself a carby or sugary treat. (But as I always say, everyone is different.)  I don’t think I’d ever go back to a high carb diet because I must admit I do have more energy when keeping my carbs and sugar low. In the mean time, I will allow myself a treat now and again.My vagina has felt very healthy. I’m still taking TheraCran, AZO Yeast, and Vitamin C. I’ve reduced my use of Rephresh to just the week after my period, since I’m trying to cut back on expenses lately. The once a month dose of Rephresh seems to be working out well for me, and oddly enough I’m not getting the clumps when I use it once a month. That really surprised me.

On another note, masturbating alone doesn’t seem to contribute to the frequency of flare ups either. Then again, I’m not using some giant dildo. For all of you ladies out there who are squeamish about the idea of masturbating, you’re totally missing out. There are so many benefits to it. I can’t think of a reason not to do it.  Masturbating really helps you to learn about yourself. Anyway, with that said, if you are one of those who pleases yourself from time to time or even every day, the same hygiene rules apply as they do for regular sexual activity. Make sure you wash your hands before you start, and also wash any toys once finished. Provide propper lubrication. If you’re sensing some friction, grab some lube. When you’re done, pee, and rinse your vagina off with water. You may even want to drink a glass or two of water to help flush out any bacteria that may have made its way into your vagina. If you’re curious about the benefits of masturbation (other than the obvious), as well as techniques. You can check out a site I came across, Love Life Plus. Enjoy!

My first period came right on schedule. It was pretty normal compared to what I was used to while on the pill. It was a day or two shorter. My PMS cravings were worse, but I didn’t have super sore breasts like I did on the pill. After my period, my sex drive seemed to have tapered off some and I wasn’t quite as wet (still wetter than when I was on the pill).  Since I stopped taking the pill, I also don’t have those horrible headaches I once had. This month’s period came on schedule, but was not a normal period. I still had strong PMS cravings. Once my period started, the first and second day were heavy. Then I was spotting for a day or two and then it disappeared.  Once it disappeared, my sex drive seemed to perk up. We’ll see how this month goes. So far it looks like the pill was making me dryer as well as affecting my sex drive. I read that it can take up to a year for your periods to become normal. So far my experience hasn’t been bad. I’ve read horror stories of people going off the pill and having irregular periods or bleeding for long periods of time. I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

The next day, it was starting to really hurt when I peed and not much was coming out. I took a few days worth of the antibiotics that my doctor gave me for flare ups, and it took care of the problem. I didn’t detect any yeast problems as a result of taking the antibiotics. Thank God! I’ve been off of them for several days now, I’ve been sticking to my diet, and I even had sex. Everything down there feels great. I guess there is no chance I’m ever going to go back on a high carb high sugar diet. It’s just not worth it. This is the second UTI I’ve had in two months. I went a whole year without having one, and the second I slack off on my routine of preventing them, I get one. It takes a great deal of will power to do low carb for life, but preventing UTIs is a great motivator.

I think one of the reasons I strayed from my diet was because I didn’t have anything I could eat in the house. I was hungry when I went to the grocery store and that made my cravings even worse. Lately I’ve been keeping the fridge stocked full of eggs, chicken, pork chops, and steaks. I also keep cheese and macadamia nuts handy. The macadamia nuts really seem to help when I get a craving for something I’m not supposed to have. They are so satisfying. It’s getting close to my period, and I always have strong cravings the week before I start. Last night I indulged in several handfuls of macadamia nuts. The best advice I can give to anyone who falls off the wagon and flat on their face, is get back on quickly!!

Through doing some research, surprisingly I’ve come across claims which say Stevia may not be safe. It’s natural, so one would assume it is safe. Then again, tobacco is natural and it isn’t safe. I stumbled across one site that said a group of European scientists in early 2006 conducted a study that showed when male rats were given high doses of Stevia for 22 months, their production of sperm was reduced severely. It also showed a decline in the weight of the seminal vesicles and an increase of cell proliferation in their testicles. It was stated that over time, this could likely cause infertility or other reproductive problems. Another study in female hamsters showed they had fewer and smaller offspring.

This information is enough to convince some people to either stop using Stevia or to never start using it. For me, it’s not quite enough. I find it hard to believe Stevia is really this harmful, if the Japanese have been using it since the 70s with no report of problems. Also, these studies don’t specify exactly how much Stevia was given in relation to the body weight of the subject. No specific details of the study were given, so I can’t help but doubt its credibility. In addition, I also came across references to studies claiming Stevia is completely safe and even offers health benefits such as regulating blood sugar levels, lowering high blood pressure, improving digestion, and also calming an upset stomach. These studies showed Stevia has absolutely no effect the reproductive system, even when given in large doses (2,500 mg or 2.5 grams per kilogram of body weight).

Stevia is not approved by the FDA as a food additive, which is why I wasn’t able to find any prepackaged products with Stevia. The reason it isn’t approved is not because tests show it’s unsafe but because the toxicological information on Stevia is too inadequate to determine its safety. Basically, no one has done enough extensive research to prove one way or another. Part of this may be because no one wants to spend the big bucks to get it tested. Since Stevia is a natural product, it requires no patent to produce, and that gives less of a motive for companies to take Stevia under their wing because anyone could take a piece of the market. However, the FDA did approve Stevia to be marketed as a dietary supplement.

My take on it is that Stevia is probably safe in moderation–just like the artificial sweeteners. I’m sure the same people who think Stevia isn’t safe, also feel artificial sweeteners aren’t safe. I’m going to give Stevia a try. There are a couple of reasons why I would like to try Stevia. One being, I would like to have an alternative to artificial sweetener because artificial sweeteners cause me to experience  gas, bloating, and headaches, when used regularly. Also, I have read that Stevia is a much better option for those prone to yeast infections because supposedly the yeast do feed off of the artificial sweeteners. I have severely cut back on my intake of artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols since I did my 2 weeks without them. Some weeks I don’t even have any, and when I do it’s only once during the week. Overall, my vagina feels healthier. Last week I had my period. The little irritation I feel after my period was still there for a day or two but didn’t last nearly as long as it had in the past when I was using artificial sweeteners or sugar alcohols daily. In the past, it would last an entire week after my period. I’m curious to see how things down there react to Stevia.

My husband seemed to like the fit and feel of the Naturalamb condoms much better than the polyurethane condoms. For me, it’s as close to not using a condom as you can get. It feels very natural and does not cause any irritation whatsoever. I also like the lubricant on the condom. It isn’t sticky and the condom doesn’t dry out quickly. If you like additional lubrication, both oil based and water based work with Naturalamb condoms (I prefer water based). Some people complain about the smell of the condom. They do have  a somewhat odd smell, but it isn’t nearly as strong or unpleasant as latex. Most of the time I don’t smell it. The only time I get a whiff of the smell is if my face is for some reason particularly close to the condom. I don’t smell it at all during sex. So far we haven’t experienced any problems with the condom breaking or sliding off, even after lengthy or rough sex sessions.

Naturalamb condoms are much pricier in comparison to latex or even polyurethane condoms (you’ll pay at least $20 for a box of 12). They are more expensive to make due to the fact that they are made from lamb intestine membranes. Depending on how often you have sex, the price of these condoms can really put a dent in your wallet. Some couples alternate between lambskin condoms and a cheaper condom to save money. We use Naturalamb all the time because it’s hard to go back once you get used to the barely there feeling.

(Rated 4/5 Stars)